PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Demonstrated X wind a pointless figure ?
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Old 8th Feb 2016, 11:38
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9 lives
 
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I would agree that there are a few older "certified" taildraggers out there for which ground control in strong winds would be a challenge. I would think that none of these aircraft were manufactured recently enough to be provided with a flight manual stating a demonstrated crosswind value. Other non certified types are on their own, so to speak, as they would not have an approved flight manual at all.

Those aircraft are from an era which predated the design requirements that explicitly stated directional control.

My certified taildragger can be landed in a direct crosswind of 19 knots, which exceeds the approved flight manual value of 12 knots, but experience has shown me that taxiing in that strong a wind will be difficult, and on ice, impossible. During my crosswind experimentation on a frozen lake, I found that the rudder became ineffective at speeds slower than around 10 knots with power off, so if there was no tailwheel friction to the surface, I was going to be blown around.
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