Flight Simulation

Crosswind Landings

I'm pretty good at the default weather conditions landing, take offs, pattern work, etc. So I decided to crank in another level of realism by adding 10 knots of crosswind. At my home field (Fort Myers' Page Field) the runway I'm using is R/W 5 (51 degrees magnetic), so I added 10 knots of wind from 321 degrees, exactly 90 degrees left of the R/W heading.

It is amazing how much difference this makes. Whereas in the past I always put the a/c "on the numbers" perfectly lined up with the runway, I'm now struggling to keep the track at 51 (lined up with the runway) as I point the nose of the plane into the wind around 10-15 degrees.

There are two ways to land in a crosswind. The first has the plane "crab" into the wind, wings level maintaining a proper track to the numbers, then at the last moment "kick" the rudder to get the plane's axis lined up with the runway.

The second way is to drop the windward wing and apply some reverse (right in this case) rudder to hold the plane's nose lined up with the runway. This is called "slipping" or the maneuver is called a "side slip".

So far I can't do either very well even missing the runway entirely. But I just started to learn this phase of flying, so I'll keep everyone posted as to my progress.

posted by Dr. Bob @ 7:05 AM