As one of only 2 people I know who have or at least will admit to landing in a 45 Kt (not MPH) direct X-wind and not bent anything I can tell you the technique depends a lot on the runway. If wide it really doesn't make much difference. If it is narrow I will let give you some things to think about and let you make your own decision. First as you land crabbed, the advancing wing as it swings around gaining speed gains lifts and the retreating wing slows down loosing lift. For the first point and one of which there is no dispute, is to touch down at the slowest possible speed possible. In other words hold it off until it quits flying. Now once on the ground the airframe swings around to track down the runway and you find yourself riding on the nose gear and the down wind wheel. Since this is not a tandem configuration when you apply brakes (it is essentially differential braking) it DOES swing the nose away from the wind, if a wide runway you have plenty of time to catch it as long as you do not brake too hard. If you steer into the upwind wing the ailerons will drop the wing but the nose gear will swing the nose into the wind. Again done carefully you will not exit the upwind side of the runway either. Now if the runway is wide you can get away with either if done carefully. You can also combine them and take out 99% of the pucker factor and handle a fairly narrow runway. Now I can tell you from experience since I was landing in trail about 300 feet behind my formation partner, a position which afforded an unusual view to say the least, that while he had a hairy ride his wing tip never got closer than 18 inches from the pavement. Remember there is a lot of dihedral keeping the tip out of the dirt. Since he felt in relative control and the runway was wide he elected to ride it out without taking any drastic measures. He tracked straight down the runway but did steer slightly into the wind to maintain direction. His version of the story was it took about 5-6 seconds to drop the wing, but in reality was only about 3-4 seconds. I've listened to all the experts but until they have landed in a 45 kt direct X-wind I will grant them only the right to speculate. Having actually done so, and talked it through with the other pilot involved and compared notes we both feel comfortable in technique and could, and would repeat if necessary. For me it was more a non-event since I have not only rudder pedals but the "split tail" which allowed me to land much slower and with a combined slip and crab. Not having to work so hard allowed me the ability to watch him closely. The takeoff was less dramatic, we just departed from the tiedowns across the ramp and were airborne in 50 - 75 feet. Take it for what it's worth, you have all the information here you need to make a rational and educated decision. I am sure there are those with far less actual experience in a similar situation who will argue several points and to them I can only say when you've done it I'll be willing to discuss your experience. Dave
At 03:53 PM 3/13/00 -0800, you wrote: >So there was a big ol' gusty crosswind blowing today at N85, and I went >out to play in it. > >First landing I did at normal 75 down final. Crosswind was about 8 knots across >the runway. She behaved well. > >Second one, I found the 15-knot windsock pointing rigidly, I guess there >was a solid >15 at a 90-degree angle. That's what it looked like from downwind, anyways. >So I held >80 MPH down final, thinking to reduce the effect of the X-wind. That led to >a floaty >landing. > >When I did touch down, I got into the classic conundrum... > >I touched down in a crab, as the plane tried to straighten out, the upwind >wing >wanted to keep flying. Trying to bring it down with aileron, of course, led >to heading >for the upwind edge of the runway. Not too terrifying on our fairly wide >runway, but >on a narrow one it definitely would have sucked. > >After a moment of bewilderment, I decided to nudge the brakes a bit. That >seemed >to solve the ambiguous air vs. land vehicle question, and settle things down. > >In retrospect, I think I may have been relying on taildragger 'bury the stick' >instincts rather than getting the nosewheel down to make use of the negative >angle of incidence that I know I have (my tail is properly up where it >belongs). > >Comments? What's the best tactic when that upwind wing seems to have >a mind of its own? > >As I was taxiing back, a 172 came on the Unicom, planning to use the same >runway I was. I suspected because I was. It's our big runway, and the cross >runway is pretty narrow and a bit shorter, rarely used. > >I let them know that they shouldn't follow my example, as I was 'out playing >with the cross-wind.' I think they would have been in a world of hurt had they >tried it. When I saw them come down final for the other runway, they looked >like they were stopped. > >Greg > > >_________________________________________________________________________ __ _____ >To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >_________________________________________________________ >Enlighten your in-box. http://www.topica.com/t/15 > > __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________ Enlighten your in-box. http://www.topica.com/t/15
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