Flight Training - November 2013 - 30

Configuration C: Same

Configuration A: Crab

Configuration B: Slip

REGARDLESS of which technique is
used for the crosswind approach, the
crosswnd landing must end in a wingdown, slipped condition. Passengers
prefer the crabbed method (Configuration A), but the slip method (Configuration B) sets up the landing earlier in the
approach.

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At this stage you should have the ailerons almost fully deflected
into the wind; remember that as your aircraft slows down, control
surfaces lose some aerodynamic effectiveness, requiring greater
control pressures. The footwork you have been doing to keep the
aircraft pointed down the runway now can be augmented with
some judicious braking. Once you are rolling on all three wheels,
the same yoke pressures apply regardless of which technique got
you there.
As for common training errors, consciously or otherwise, what
often plagues many pilots when touching down from a nicely
executed crosswind final approach is a reluctance to land in the
banked attitude. It is often observed that pilots tend to neutralize
all controls at touchdown—including sometimes letting the nosewheel come down with an unnerving thud.
Why does this happen? Just a theory, but for a student pilot
who has only recently learned basic no-wind landing techniques—
where the emphasis is on keeping the ailerons neutral—the
crosswind landing represents a first departure from the newly
acquired habit pattern for landing. Fortunately, that also makes its
mastery an important learning milestone—one that teaches a pilot
to make whatever control inputs are necessary to keep the airplane
properly positioned throughout any approach and landing.
Once crosswind landings become part of your practice program,
double down by taking advantage of every opportunity to practice
them, and by creating those opportunities. That can mean a short
jaunt to that nearby airport where light traffic or runway alignment
gives you a better chance to practice. Or it can mean picking a runway that makes practice possible, traffic permitting, at the home
airport. Returning from a cross-country or a session in the practice
area and finding that a crosswind condition exists, fly a few practice patterns before calling it a day (fuel permitting). At a towered
airport, see if you can maximize the benefits by requesting left and
right traffic patterns. You will notice that the left and right base
legs have considerably different groundspeeds, requiring you to
adjust for the difference when judging your turn to final approach.
Although flying a longer-than-usual final approach is not
recommended, it certainly pays to have your crosswind inputs
established as early as possible on final, to stabilize your approach
and to be comfortable with the sight picture and any odd sensations of slipping generated by the necessarily crossed controls.
Those sensations are sometimes advanced as a reason to crab
instead, especially for passenger-carrying flights.
At a towered airport, it doesn’t hurt to ask for a wind check;
there’s also that wonderful visual aid—the windsock—down there
at ground level. It may provide a different perspective on wind
speed and direction.

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Flight Training - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - November 2013