Crosswind Technique

[Carbon Life Form]

At my company I see all different methods,
from wing down to removing drift before touch
-down, and surprisingly most common, landing
with drift on, or no correction.

What are your techniques? and are these s.o.p
for your aircraft, does it depend on a wet or
dry runway?

Please state Aircraft type, and any special
considerations such as four engine types with
pod scrape concerns.

[Oz_Pilot]

Hold drift angle (or crab, if you're that way inclined) until 30' then rudder to straighten in the flare. Aileron as required to keep the wings basically level as the mains touch down. All on the -400.

Autoland will accept up to 10 degrees upwind wing low which is initially introduced at 500' then refined at 200'.

[Bearcat]

Keep her in the crab until you are flaring and as the other guy said maintain wings level. I have heard of guys straighting her up at 100feet which is the best excuse of not landing on the centreline and second goin into the grass. I tell all my guys , the centreline is god and thats where it starts and ends. Thers nothing that pi**es me off as some one who lands off the line by a lot.

Capt Bear

[before landing check list]

Wings level in the 8 due to inboards ability to suck up asphalt. And centerline maybe under the mains and not the nose, bearcat.
j

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For a plane to fly well, it must be beautiful.

— Marcel Dassault

[This message has been edited by before landing check list (edited 20 December 2000).]

[Check-in]

And , particularly if it is a high winger such as 146, F27 etc, remember to apply more into-wind aileron as it slows down, to keep the wing from lifting and sending the whole show scarpering to the downwind side of the runway. Will need to counteract with opposite rudder until slow enough for nosewheel steering to be effective. With these types of aeroplane, you can't rely too much on the nosewheel steering, especially if the runway is wet, so use those primary flight controls until speed is slow. 737 on the other hand is quite forgiving of landing with drift on and will let you get away with holding the ailerons fairly neutral. More important not to scrape a pod by overdoing the aileron control, but still need to keep on the rudder for directional control. As always, horses for courses.

[Air Conditioned]

It is interesting to note that at least one major manufacturer suggests that a pilot should maintain whatever technique he has used on his previous types, so it doesn't seem too critical.

For my part I have never used anything but kick-staight, perhaps due to early tailwheel experience! This scheme gets the maximum number of wheels on the deck soonest and that is Good. It works on light aircraft and Jumbos and everything between.

The point about aileron after touchdown has to be emphasised - be ready for full wheel, it may be necessary, and brief your copilot to be ready to assist.

Another point; if the a/c does not touch down when expected, drive it on and use whatever it takes to stay on the centreline while doing it, including putting the drift angle back on. The breeze will start sending you onto the grass very shortly after you straighten.

[6000PIC]

Firstly, KNOW YOUR LIMITS , ( and those of your aircraft). I have actually landed a Metroliner on a 75`wide paved runway with a 55 knot wind @ 90 degrees.....quite regularly, but that is another story...What I see lately is " experienced" guys that haven`t a clue what to do with a 10 knot wind @ 90 degrees. It makes me sick that there`s many pilots flying jets these days that couldn`t do an adequate job , even in a Cessna. Stick, rudder, skill, experience and training are required. If you have to ask, well what the hell are you doing ? I hope you`re passengers aren`t aware.........

[scroggs]

I use the wing-down technique, and have since starting to fly the C130 many years ago. I now fly the 747 and, believe me, it works just as well on this. The main advantage is the stability of the approach, and that you have become accustomed to the adjustment technique before it becomes critical. That's why the kick-off method is more likely to result in you departing the runway if you flare high. Sure, there are disadvantages - one being the greater liklihood of a pod strike when landing in gusty conditions. At the end of the day, it's what you feel most comfortable with. As a final point, it's probably true to say that the lower the Vref, the less suitable the wing down technique becomes - I have visions of a C152 with 30 degree bank to hold a 20kt crosswind!

[Code Blue]

scroggs:

At the risk of stepping out of my league :), the wing low technique works very well for light a/c. The Canadian Flight Training Manual for PPL/CPL recommends it.

As you point out the bank angles needed with approach speeds of 60-70kias limit the max crosswind component for a 152 to 12kts. The Seminole has a 17kt limit presumably for the same reason.

...back to the Light league..... :)


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[BOING]

I started airline flying with the kick-off drift technique but I frightened too many captains who had seen nothing but the wing down technique so I converted. (These fellows were all convinced I was going to impact with great amounts of drift on. Then the sudden rudder input and aileron movement near the ground really made them jump!). All the Boeing series I've flown, 727, both 747s, 757 and 767 handle nicely with the wing down technique despite the low slung engines. Since I am not as young and sharp as I used to be I put the wing down at 100 feet to make sure I am stable before the flare. Otherwise I will probably mess up the landing. In fact, in the 727 you could get a better overall landing by rolling one wheel on, wing down, and then flying the other wheel down.

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Happiness is a warm 727 with a 10 kt. quartering crosswind FROM THE FRONT!!

[This message has been edited by BOING (edited 31 December 2000).]

[scroggs]

Code Blue - hey, don't worry! If your experience is relevent and valid, chip in. It's interesting to hear that wing down is recommended on the 152 (it's not in my logbook, I'm afraid). I guess that, even in 12kt across, the drift of 10 degrees plus is perhaps a bit too much to safely use the kick-off technique.

[Code Blue]

scroggs:

(encouraged by comments ;))

the gear for c150-182 cannot tolerate much lateral stress on landing so the kick out technique tends to get a mention as something not to learn with such types.

From a hold short line the kick out technique certainly looks more elegant.

Happy new One to all

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[scroggs]

Yep, that's the same reason we used it on the C130!