obvious the wind is not going to let up,
so go elsewhere to land, on a runway
more aligned with the wind.
Whichever technique you or the air-
craft manufacturer favor, do not consider
the landing inished at touchdown. A
crosswind, particularly one with gusts
varying its inluence, requires continu-
ing pilot inputs during the rollout. Make
sure the downwind tire is in solid contact
before applying the brakes, or you’ll get
an antiskid cycle, if not a lat spot on
the tire from locking up the wheel. Once
you’ve rolled of the runway, keep a hand
on the controls to avoid wind damage
from a gust forcefully shoving a control
surface to the stop. After parking, apply
gust locks and any other devices needed
to preclude wind injury.
WHAT’S THE LIMIT HERE?
Every aircraft has crosswind limita-
tions, and you’ll need to respect them
by calculating the amount of sidedraft
you’ll be taking on. Crosswind charts
depict windspeed arcs and radial lines
to match the angular diference between
wind and runway, with the headwind
component shown in the vertical scale
and the crosswind component at the
bottom, on the horizontal scale. For a
rough rule of thumb, consider winds
blowing at 30 to 45 degrees of the
runway to be half crosswind and half
headwind; if the wind is 50 degrees or
greater to the runway direction, I’ll treat
it as all crosswind.
If the wind is reported as gusting, use
the higher gust igure in your calcula-
tions. Ask the tower controller for a
wind check on short inal, if there’s any
uncertainty. If the airport has perim-
eter and midield wind readouts, you’ll
want to use the wind report closest to
the touchdown zone, but beware of
rapidly-shifting winds if a thunderstorm
is close by.
his windshear danger is particu-
larly noteworthy during a takeof and
climbout, when the aircraft is heavyand additional power is not available.
Respect the ops manual’s crosswind
limitations; they are not suggestions,
they were derived from testing, using
average piloting techniques, and they
are probably close to the aircraft’s lim-
its. An airplane’s maximum crosswind
capability is reached when running
out of downwind rudder that can be
applied to maintain runway alignment.
At the risk of scraping a lap or wingtip,
one can always force a wing down with
aileron in an efort to generate more
sideslip, but if you can’t counter that
bank with rudder, it will simply turn the
aircraft into the wind. Plant the aircraft
irmly, without trying to loat it gently
onto the runway, and get the nosewheel
down quickly to gain its steering and
rolling resistance.
Crosswinds are simply a fact of mod-
ern aviation; gone are the days of “lying
ields” with expanses of greensward
allowing operation into the wind. Be
prepared to do combat. PP