66 AUGUST 2018 ÇPlane&Pilot
wind inluence that will be encountered
on the base leg. With a following wind
on base, you’ll need to turn in earlier to
reach a straight inal approach without
correction, and you may wind up a bit
high on the glidepath, because there will
be less time spent on the base leg. If a
headwind is expected on base leg, the
reverse will be true; the inal turn should
come a little later than usual, and you
might need to add some power to stay
at or above the glideslope lights, since
you have been lying on the base leg for
a longer period of time.
If starting out in the clouds, you’ll
see the crosswind’s efect developing
as you join the inal approach course.
here will be a noticeable split between
the inbound course and the heading
required to stay on track. Expect that
number to change as you descend, but
you should increase your scan rate to
watch the localizer symbology more
closely. If lying manually, don’t just turn
onto the published inbound course. Be
prepared to ly a heading that keeps the
localizer centered.
At breakout, do not be surprised tosee the runway behind a windshield
frame or in the right side of the wind-
screen. hat’s your clue that it’s time
to go to work. Part of lying a stabilized
approach is have the airplane’s track in
alignment with the runway. his may not
always mean lying down inal approach
with the downwind rudder pedal bent
over and aileron cranked in to lower a
wing, thus generating sideslip to exactly
cancel the wind drift. Crosswind correc-
tion technique depends on pilot and air-
craft preference. However, at some point
before touchdown the aircraft’s longitu-
dinal axis will have to be brought around
to approximate the runway heading.
A slipping approach, lareout and
touchdown is a proper technique learned
from training in light aircraft, whose slow
groundspeed allows a crosswind compo-
nent have a greater inluence. A wing-low
landing works in faster, heavier aircraft
as well, but banking into the wind, in
an efort to plant the upwind wheel in
advance of the downwind maingear, has
to take into account things like large
wing laps that might be scraped against
the runway. Use the recommendedcrosswind landing techniques from the
airplane’s operating handbook or tips
learned in transition training.
he crabbing approach, turned into a
wings-level touchdown by a last-minute
application of downwind rudder to line
the tires up with the pavement, works
quite adequately in larger aircraft, which
have enough inertia to keep the aircraft
moving along the centerline for a few
seconds after “decrabbing” until the
tires hit. If there’s some yaw/roll cou-
pling in the design, however, you’ll have
to counter the rudder use with some
opposite aileron to keep the upwind
wing from rising.IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER
Be ready to go around at any point up
to and even during touchdown. Anyone
can encounter a last-second gust that
catches them by surprise, perhaps
exceeding the plane’s capability. Whether
it’s the pilot’s skill level or the amount
of rudder provided to generate sideslip,
there are limits beyond which it’s better
to go around and try again. If you have
to abort three successive attempts, it’sKnowing your plane's and your personal maximum crosswind components is a critical part of the calculus. If the crosswind is greater than either allows, it's
time to find a runway better aligned with the winds.