Robert, I don't know that I can agree with you. I have landed in some pretty stiff crosswinds and quite frankly, I usually don't have time to watch what is going on. But my impression is that I don't believe I steer downwind at all. I think the key to a crosswind in an Ercoupe is tracking the runway center line with the wings level before you touch down. Then, when the mains touch, relaxing the grip on the wheel and allowing to plane to swing by itself. Once I let go of the yoke, I don't steer anything until the plane aligns itself with the centerline and usually by then all the wheels are on the ground. Then all I have to do is hold that alignment. When I first saw the Lufthansa footage (which I received from half a dozen people), I felt that the plane was drifting across he runway rather than aligned with the centerline. This could be a result of extreme gusty conditions or pilot input. Given the inability to track the runway, I personally probably would not have touched down in my coupe and would have tried to find a runway more closely aligned with the wind. I'm not familiar with transport aircraft and have no knowledge as to how that aircraft should be landed under those conditions or its max crosswind component. Unless the aircraft has extremely strong gear, an Ercoupe type landing would probably not be appropriate.
John Roach N 2427H robertbartunek wrote: > > --- In [email protected] > <mailto:ercoupe-tech%40yahoogroups.com>, Hartmut Beil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >I think everyone is missing what the real danger is in crosswind > landings. When you watch the Lufthansa landing depicted on the news > and You Tube, the hairy part starts when the upwind wing comes up > just after the pilot tries to kick the crab out prior to touchdown. > The Ercoupe displays that same characteristic even when landing in a > crab because you must steer downwind after touchdown to keep the > aircraft from weathervaning further into the wind on landing rollout. > That means the right aileron goes down and the wing comes up. Don't > take my word for it, go out and make several takeoff and landings in > a real stout crosswind and see what happens. > > > > Folks. > > > > Last weekend we had a storm called Emma passing through Germany. > > It created abnormal situations even for the pilots of the big guys. > The following video shows the benefits of having practiced crabbed > cross wind landings. > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8CjKBsCEo > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8CjKBsCEo> > > > > Yes, the wing hits ground. > > > > > > Hartmut > > __________________________________________________________ > > Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! > > http://biggestloser.msn.com/ <http://biggestloser.msn.com/> > > > >
