Plane & Pilot - August 2018

64 AUGUST 2018 ÇPlane&Pilot

If I am called upon to evaluate a pilot’s

airmanship, the one series of maneuvers

I’d like to see is a crosswind takeof,

circuit and landing. hat tells me if the

person at the controls truly has gained

command of the aircraft, because air-

planes do not cope with a sideways wind

on their own. Left to their own devices,

they will be happy to depart the narrow

conines of the runway, drifting away

under the inluence of an angled wind.

Of course, we were all taught the

rudiments of crosswind operation in

the early days of our piloting career,

but it never hurts to review the basics

of hands-on lying. he objective, during

any runway operation, is to maintain

landing gear alignment with the aircraft’s

track, which hopefully will be along the

runway centerline. At the same time,

lateral movement, caused by wind acting

at an angle to the aircraft’s longitudinal

axis, must be resisted.

PICKING UP THE GAUNTLET

As takeof begins, the friction of the

landing gear rolling against the runway

surface will hold the airplane on a

straight path, but as the wings begin

to develop lift, particularly at rotation

when the nosewheel is removed from

contact, resistance of the landing gear

lessens and aerodynamic forces become

primary. A crosswind component will

then act to push the aircraft toward

the downwind side of the runway, and a

weathervaning yaw will attempt to turn

the aircraft’s longitudinal axis into the

wind. In the absence of pilot input, the

forces produced by sideways scrubbing

of the maingear tires will develop severe

stress on the gear, alleviated only by

liftof if not corrected.

Hopefully, the pilot will have antici-

pated the wind’s inluence and will steer

straight, irst with the nosewheel and

then with more reliance on downwind

rudder as the takeof run progresses.

Additional rudder input may be needed

as rotation occurs. With an unknown

amount of crosswind component await-

ing us, it doesn’t hurt to apply full upwind

aileron at the beginning of the run, spoil-

ing any tendency of the upwind wing

lifting irst. However, as the ailerons

become efective, the amount of delec-

tion needs to be reduced. Upwind roll

control application, applied to create

sideslip and negate the crosswind, must

be used judiciously, to avoid excessive

drag from the upward-delected aile-

ron. Use only enough aileron to counter

the wind drift. Once free of the surface,

rudder pressure is released and a crab

angle is set up that keeps the climbout

path aligned with the centerline. In some

instances, this crab angle may have to

be modiied to comply with a “maintain

runway heading” assignment by ATC.

THE ARRIVAL

Anticipation of the wind’s efect should

be in mind long before reaching the run-

way. Listen to the ATIS broadcast or look

at the uploaded current weather for the

airport to calculate the efective cross-

wind for the expected runway in use.

Low altitude wind experienced during

the arrival segment may not mirror the

surface winds, particularly above 1,000

feet AGL. You should also consider the

On a crosswind landing, as seen here with this Cessna Skyhawk, it's important to plant that upwind tire, keep the plane heading stragiht down the runway

and then get the nose down without delay to maximize surface contact. Many instructors teach using less than full flaps, too.