Great video. As a retired navy fighter pilot and airline pilot, I was always amazed how many of my copilots did not try this technique. Many would simple fly in a crab all the way to touchdown or try and kick out the crab with rudder right before touchdown. I used this technique on my fighters, B-727, B-737 (once in a 40 knot direct crosswind at Midway Airport) and the A-300. This technique works great but I can see why many pilots are afraid of cross controlling close to the ground.
Okay, you've exposed me! I don't. I might be 2" or 24"... can't tell. I'm just trying to be more precise than saying "close." The real answer is "as close as you can without touching." In fact, with students, I fly the throttle and let them fly the other controls and tell them, "No matter what, don't let it touch. If it does touch, pull it off immediately but gently" It doesn't take long for them to develop a good sense of being marginally above the runway. Great comment!
Thanks Rick and Doug. Nice add. I also use this technique in my tail wheel RV-8 and it works well. I learned to fly in a J-3 30 years ago and you had to slip it in any time you were too high!
my instructor taught me how to land in a 17 knot, gusting to 25 knot , full left arerlon , full right rudder getting the left main on the ground, waiting for the right main wheel , then jocking for nose wheel on center line i must have done 30 landings, he just sat there watching me, and smiling on each landing, total time was about 9 hours, i soloed in 13 hours, all at KBLI,BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON..
Every time I watch one of these videos it makes me really appreciate my instructor. He was the best, when the Santa Ana winds would kick up in SoCal he’d call me up and say let’s go practice some crosswind landings and slips. He didn’t miss a trick and everyday I’m surprised that so many instructors fail to teach such critical information.
I learned to fly at an airport with one runway and frequent crosswinds. One of the first things my instructor taught me was how to do a proper crosswind landing by doing a side slip. It soon became second nature to me. I never realized this was unusual among pilots. Thanks for teaching it! By the way, side slips are also a good way to lose excess altitude without gaining airspeed. Coming in a bit too high on short final? Crossing those controls will take care of it quite nicely.
When I started learning to fly back in 1981, I was taught the cross-control or slip technique from my very first landing. I had read about crabbed approaches, using the rudder to kick out the crab just before touchdown. When I asked my instructor why the slip was better, he said he would show me. He took me into the maintenance hangar and showed me a badly damaged 152. It seems the student pilot had failed to cancel the crab in time and touched down at a rather sharp angle. Enough to roll the tire off the rim of the nose wheel. The rim then struck the pavement, still at an angle to the forward motion. That bent the fork holding the wheel and the force was transmitted up the gear assembly and bent the firewall it was attached to. That visual had more impact on me than all the words my instructor could have said. I have cross-controlled every landing I’ve ever made as a result. He also showed me another 152 with tire tracks on top of the wing, victim of a student pilot who didn’t properly check for traffic on short final before taking the active to takeoff. That was another strong visual lesson!
The crab and straighten is required procedure for certain large transport aircraft, as I recall the 737ng, the risk of catching an engine on the ground is greater than the risk of landing gear damage, and for some others touching down on one wheel isn't strong enough near max load.
I am in the UK and just done 5 hours and that was very helpful - I will be looking at more of your videos and thank you for taking the time to publish ......
Finally a video that explains cross control on a crosswind - much easier than trying to right a crab at the last moment. Thanks for the step by step explanation.
I got to witness this technique for the 1st time as a student pilot yesterday. Landing was on a 275 heading with a 210 crosswind at 8 knots. I didn't think it was that significant given the approx 30 degree deviation from direct cross and only 8 knots, but I could really feel the winds aloft, so I wasn't surprised he took the controls. Having studied this video many times, I was interested to see he was cross controlling rather than crabbing it in, with significant right rudder input. I was tempted to step on the left rudder to correct, but because of this video I knew EXACTLY what he was doing, but didn't say anything until we were taxiing to tie downs. Awesome experience, just wish I would have had more input. He told me they teach students to "crab it in", so I found it ironic that he was using the cross controlling method. Very young CFI (23) wise and mature beyond his years - pretty impressive guy.
It amazes me that some schools teach crabbing it in. That is easier but can lead to really serious problems in marginal conditions. And marginal conditions is not a good time to be trying to remember what to do when the crosswind is strong. .... thanks for your comment
Nice video Douglas. Crosswind technique is as important for a good take-off as well as landing. The same principals apply. Whether you're flying a J-3 Cub or B-767 it's the same. In the airline business we add speed to allow for winds. Vapp (approach speed) is Vref (reference speed, 1.3 x stall speed) plus half of the steady state wind and ALL of the gust. If winds were 10 gusting to 20 we would add 5 (half the steady state) plus 10 (the gust) and wind up with an additive of 15 knots. Vapp would go from 135kts to 150kts in this case. Runway length would be checked to see if the increased speed was okay. Some of the pilots who had the most trouble with crosswinds were former fighter pilots. I flew the F-5 and its wings were so short and stubby that cross-controll on landing was prohibited. The fuselage would blank out the downwind wing too much. They were landed in a crab. Learn cross-control as it's involved in most landings! Instructors can do 50' flybys down the runway and show crab, perfect cross control, and over cross control (crabbing downwind). An airplane is an airplane no matter its size. Listen to Douglas.
Thanks Jerry, I agree with all you said. High wing-loaded airplanes like the F5 you flew, are much easier and safer to land in a crosswind that a light plane like the J3 Cub I learned to fly in. I've noticed that some airlines always land in a crab... Lufthansa for example. But there is a now famous video of them getting a wingtip strike because they did not recognize that the crosswind component was so strong that if they didn't get the upwind wing down, the wind would pick it up resulting in the downwind wingtip hitting the runway. That's what happened which proves your point that an airplane is an airplane. If the wind is strong enough an A380 is a light plane. Thanks again for your wisdom.
Douglas, I can't comment on Lufthansa's crosswind policy. Landing in anything but the slightest of crab angle is contrary to Boeing's guidance. When I first upgraded to F/O on the 727, I flew with a nice fatherly check airman for a month. He was with Delta, but a former NorthEast pilot (remember the "yellow birds"). I noticed that at lift-off, sometimes there was a tugging and shaking moment. He explained it was the result of insufficient aileron into the wind. This lateral skipping and scrubbing is evident on many take-off videos. Planes, big or little, need the proper crosswind inputs for take-off and landing. Keep up the good work!
That's my feeling. But every landing I have experienced sitting in the back of a Lufthansa was wings level crosswind or not. From that I assumed that was their policy.
There is no simple answer. In a J-3 Cub, I pull the throttle back to idle when I pass the end of the runway on downwind. In my Cessna 320, I pull the throttles back when the mains touch. In a 1966 C-206, I had to leave about 17 "Hg until the nose wheel was on when there were two of us up front and no passengers because there was not enough elevator authority at idle power to keep from spiking the nose gear. If you are flying a C152 category light plane, I would recommend pulling the power to idle no later than when you start the transition from approach glide to slow flight over the runway. But even then, if you were making a soft/rough field landing, you would leave some power on until you taxied to a hard/smooth surface. I think you get the point... no set rule.
Thank you, Mr. Daniel. All I hear these days touts the crab-style of landing. I've been a pilot for over 50 years and more than 20,000 hours. I've tried the crab method a couple of times and absolutely did NOT like it. If nothing else, the side loads on the gear made me very uncomfortable. I started flying as a USAF cadet and wound up flying fighters for 27 years. I was taught the cross-control method. Glad to see this video.
Most pilots will not master this method until they get the experience of landing in a tail wheel airplane. After I got my tail wheel endorsement I started flying all types of aircraft using this technique. It really works. One thing to note is if you have very moderate Crosswinds it is best to use minimum flap settings. Landing in a 13 knot crosswind with full flapsIs more dangerous than landing with just one or maximum two notches of flaps. One more thing to remember is to increase your air speed by five nights or so I do not use abrupt control of the elevator or you may go into a stall spin situation.
If we could get the wind to stay the same, these landings would be much easier. In the real world, the wind is constantly changing in speed (as well as direction sometimes), so you've got the aircraft lined up and heading down final when the wind changes and poof....you're off the centerline again. Especially when it's gusting! Argh. So your hand (one hand because the other is on the throttle! ) and feet are constantly moving. There's no 'set it and forget it'. I have no idea why anyone would down vote this video - it does a great job explaining how it's done. Kudos to Mr Daniel.
Be patient. Before you can land, you need to be able to do all the little things that go into a landing. Trying to land before you can 1. control airspeed with pitch, 2. change angle of bank without changing heading, 3. hold constant altitude and heading in slow flight, 4. etc. etc. is biting off too much. Each can be taught in less than a half hour. If you try to land before you've mastered those skills, you're going to be very frustrated. I'm going to put up a video that will link to Landing Secrets which tells you about those techniques. --Good Luck!
This was a good video. I just started PPL training. I've only had a couple of lessons, and haven't even tried crosswind landing yet. I think this will be helpful.
Good job, however, you forgot to mention that the plane is going to land on the upwind wheel only. As the plane slows, the downwind wheel is going to settle to the runway. As it does and the plane slows down, the crosswind correction with aileron and possibly rudder should be increased. Also, be aware of any buildings or hangars by the runway as they might block the wind, and suddenly the crosswind decreases. In the Be18s and DC-3s I used to fly, the controls were rather heavy, so I used differential power to save wear and tear on my legs. Also , this came in handy at LAX in a Sant Ana blowing from the North directly across the runway at 30+ kts. In this condition, aileron, rudder and if you still aren't lined up, brakes come into play. I learned in taildraggers, and In over 11,000 hrs. I have not ground looped or dinged an airplane. All in all this is the best explanation of cross controls I've seen on You Tube. In a tailwheel airplane, in these conditions always do a wheel landing.
Your points are right on, however I needed to keep the video short. There are many subtleties that this video doesn't address. -- Thanks for sharing your insights.
Hello, Douglas. I am just now checking out your very informative, and well illustrated tutorial. Yes, cross control landing is a darn good technique. Pilots would do well to practice this skill. May I suggest that you review the role of cross control and touchdown of the nose wheel. My Piper has a nose wheel that is steered by the rudder pedals even when the nose gear has not contacted the runway. Therefore, a pilot needs to "kick" the rudder to center the aircraft upon landing. It's really no fun to touch down and then take a sharp turn off the runway. Cessna, on the other hand, has a nose wheel disconnect when the aircraft pitches up. Therefore, the Cessna nose wheel will stay neutral until the aircraft lands, and the airframe settles on the hydraulic assembly.
Thanks for your input. Your point is well taken. I suppose that it is a matter of technique. I have found that when flying a Cherokee, if I let the nose wheel on gently that there is no sudden swerve to the side of the runway. There just isn't enough pressure on the nose wheel to give it much yaw authority. Once I feel the nose start to pull, I automatically compensate with my pedals but keep the ailerons rolled into the wind.
A cessna nose wheel does not disengage when fully extended. It always has spring linkage with the rudder pedals. So when the nose wheel comes on, it automatically casters into the direction of travel.
I teach my students to use both side slips and forward slips. I teach them to use full opposite rudder in a slip to loose excess altitude if and when necessary and to use appropriate rudder for longitudinal directional control with opposite aileron to correct for crosswind drift while on final. I teach them to feel comfortable in a slip as slips are spin resistant and are a very useful tool throughout the base and final legs of an approach. Point is, I’m good with the concept of slips. However, even though I feel you made a lot of great points in this video I do not at all agree with the concept that a slip should be used for every landing and I think it is inappropriate to teach students that. There is , of course, nothing wrong with landing on both mains in a no wind or headwind situation. If a pilots airspeed and pitch control are correct, the plane will settle onto the runway properly without having to use a slip to increase the rate of descent to get out of ground effect. Further, if you teach someone to slip you need to explain to them that the airspeed indicator becomes less accurate in a slip. That should be part of this lesson (maybe I missed that?). Also, the crab is a legitimate attitude when on long final for crosswind correction with a transition to a slip as the student approaches short final. That should not be omitted in a review of crosswind landing techniques....which, in my opinion, is really what this video is about. One more point...airspeed on final should not absolutely always be the same. A statement like that will confuse students. If the wind is gusting, add 1/2 the gust factor to landing speed.
TheAirplaneDriver I really appreciate your accurate critique as well as your criticisms when applicable. I wholeheartedly agree that slips should not be used on every landing.
Actually, I don’t say that slips should be used on all landings. I say the pilot should keep over the centerline with ailerons and aligned with rudder. There’s a subtle but real difference.
Excellent video! Let me share a trick I was taught when I learned to fly on a Piper PA-28 Tomahawk. I'd taken flying lessons 10 years earlier at age 22 but couldn't land to save my ass. I was focusing on short final at the nose of the aircraft (An American Yankee) and would panic at the last second as the ground rushed up because I didn't know WHEN to flare the aircraft, chop the throttle and settle onto the runway. When I got the bug to fly again 10 years later, the instructor saw the problem and immediately showed me a trick that works EVERY TIME. On short final, take your eyes off the nose of the aircraft and instead focus on the numbers at the FAR END of the runway. When the numbers start to disappear, at that EXACT moment, start your flare, level the nose, and cut the throttle. When the aircraft starts to sink, use the elevator to stop the sink, then wait a second or two as it starts to sink again, a little more elevator to stop it again, etc. etc. until you grease the wheels on the runway. I never had a problem with landings again.
Good tip! I agree with your instructor -- looking down the runway give you a better overall view of the situation that looking just over the nose. Isn't a Tomahawk a PA 38? Just asking
Look Pal! I'm 66 years old and it was a long time ago. I mean, I need to look at my driver's license every morning to remember who I am and hide my own Easter eggs. But to answer your question in a civil and unambiguous manner ... yes ... you're right. The Tomahawk is the PA-38. :)
I agree, I tell my students to focus down the runway, not over the nose. If course when the horzison is obscured by the cowling, it is hard to look just in front of the airplane.
My instructor had me do this 1hr into ever flying anything and I was so afraid I’d do something seriously wrong I told him I didn’t feel comfortable! Although I had him next to me I had a hard time understanding what I was doing or how to counterattack should something happen or a correction, I did make make 5 landings that day though and I’m glad he pushed me, he told my wife “ he knows how to fly but does know it yet” I’m lacking confidence landing with crosswinds ( ground up 200ft was not smooth) so my next training is next Tuesday so I have been playing this back in my head which I believe is and was helpful, I’m rambling a bit but maybe someone could say something from there 1st flight or experiencing of what I was doing on day 1 and is my feelings normal? Thanks everyone for the comments I have gained great information!
When I was a student, the most useful thing I did between lessons was to go through each flight mentally, imagining that I was doing what I should be doing (as opposed to what I had been doing!) Keep it up!
Thank you. I stopped flying over 20 years ago due to a growing family; with only about 90 hours of time on the book. I've felt that my initial training was a little sub par. This was very good and confirmed my gut feeling.
My home airport (9D4)has a North/South runway. Consequently there is typically a crosswind from the west. I'm a low time pilot but with your technique I've gotten very competent at cross wind landings. Thanks for sharing this technique!
One thing I really love about this method is that you always know if the crosswind exceeds your redder authority. And you know it with adequate margin to do a go round. You just stay in control, all the time; or you find another runway or another airport. That happened to me one time and I landed at a nearby airport on 350 where I could not on 270 at my home grass strip. After a coffee and a change in the winds I was able to return to 270 and land with no problems.
With forward visibility limitations in a tail dragger (in my case a Pitts), the cross control landing technique gave me visibility to the runway. Even without a cross wind, I would go heavy rudder, and compensate with aeleron. Also, with the limited glide in a Pitts, stayed high and used the cross control technique to bleed attitude. This was 25 years ago, before kids. My instructor never had a name for it. Just how I was taught to land a Piits. If / when I start flying again, why use any other technique? KISS. FYI - my oldest son starts USAF pilot training at Vance AFB 1/4/2019. Great video!
I learned the hard way in an airplane similar to a pitts to either sideslip until in slow flight or to make a wheel landing. Good luck to your son and thanks for the input!
Douglas Daniel. Great informative video. In the sequence (step 2), I see you dip your wing to the up-wind and use right rudder while the wind is directly at your 9. Assume the wind is quartered or slightly to your left, can you safely use this technique?
Manuel Saldivar Hi Manny, The only thing you care about is the crosswind COMPONENT. Your cross controlling is to off-set the crosswind component. This technique works in all conditions even when there is no crosswind. When there is no crosswind, you still keep the airplane centered with your ailerons and aligned with your rudder. If you have a quartering crosswind then you have a tailwind and, unless the conditions are unusual, you would be landing on the runway in the opposite direction so you would have a headwind combined with a crosswind rather than a tailwind combined with a crosswind. this is not a technique to be used only in a crosswind condition.
Yup, cross controlling is the way a plane is put into a slip. If you use the technique I described, and the winds have no crosswind component, calm or not, your wings will be level and you will not be slipping.
Thanks for such a nice video! I am a novice sir. May I ask a question? If the wind is coming from the right and often gusting, what technique shall I apply?
+Razee Islam If the wind is coming from the right, and you'll need to lower your right wing using ailerons to keep you centered and keep the nose pointed down the runway with your rudder. Gusting will require you to adjust your angle of bank and rudder deflection as the wind speed changes.
Amazing to realise that this approach to a landing was never taught to me other than a way to dump altitude or a way to line up in a crosswind and kick straight just before contact with the runway, but the idea of flying with the aircraft in a straight approach with a banked wing never suggested itself to me. Thanks for showing the method and I will talk about it with the odd friend or two that are still flying and get their reaction Cheers from Downunder🙂
While you certainly can fly a cross controlled approach glide, and it is easier for low-time pilots, I recommend cross controlling during the flare. It's less bothersome to the passengers and accomplishes the same objective.
Thank you, Douglas .. we glider pilots learn cross controls on day one .. in absence of spoilers it is the best glide path control (gliders) .. best, oc
old cat Ditto! As a glider pilot I am shocked that this isn’t taught right out of the gate. It’s like air breaks when you don’t have them. You retain your speed & control your descent. Because I learned gliders first I just assumed this was business as usual. Thanks for this video and if you don’t know this technique you should get some instruction and learn it.
Great Vid and proper teaching, DD... I taught exactly this technique back in the mid '70' back in FAY, NC .... 2,000 hours as an instructor made you good... Equipment was C-150's 172, 177, 182, 210 (my favorite twin) .... Again, you're GOOD....! Thanks for posting this Vid...! Gordon in Maryland (Ret from the Airlines as a AB-320 Cpt with just short of 20,000 hrs abt 14 years ago... YOU make me miss it...!)
Good old CFI Roger. I learned this technique, but he never really explained it as such for landing. It was just using aeleron to control drift, and rudder to keep her straight. Cross controlling, as explained by him, was used to lose altitude. Fast. Quite useful if your high on final. However, I now realize it also taught me to be comfortable with an amount of cross-control beyond what you'd ever use for landing, and so using it while landing seemed normal andf natural. Like "Uh... Doesn't everyone Land like that?" It might be worth mentioning that I did all of my training and check ride in tail-draggers. Citabria 7ECAs, specifically.
Certainly cross controlling is not an efficient way to fly an airplane so it is a way of losing altitude quickly without gaining airspeed. I use it in airplanes without flaps.
+Mukund Shivakumar reverse thrust is rarely used before touchdown. However, I was a passenger on a DC-8 when the Captain used reverse thrust to expedite his descent.
+Douglas Daniel Fantastic! I learned a great deal about flying through simulators before I ever crawled into a cockpit. As a result, I soloed in 6:20 when the US average is around 15 or 16 hours.
Great video. I love the slip landing. It allows you to approach safe and high and drop right down on the numbers without gaining excessive airspeed. An aggressive slip will dump tons of altitude quickly yet converts right back to a normal sink rate instantly just by moderating the slip when you get to your desired glide path. I always felt that it was the safest and most controllable approach. Even more so in a crosswind where you just land on the upwind wheel and your nose is already aligned with the stripes - unlike a crab that has you pointed into the wind and forces you to make rapid last second adjustments to align your nose. The crab also leaves the upwind wing up and prone to catching a gust. I remember scaring the wits out of one of my instructors by doing a slip on a too high final. He kept saying to point the nose at the ground to get down quickly and he didn't understand what I was doing. My dad had taught me the slip to correct a high approach and I assumed that the instructor would be familiar with it but he wasn't.
Must have watched this video a dozen times now. I think I got it. That's how important I think this information is. Lean or roll into the wind, but do the normal rudder control to keep your tail from being pushed around by the wind. Sounds simple but unless you got it mentally down pat visually then don't expect to be able to do it under stressful conditions.
You're right! You need to practice each of these maneuvers one at a time in a practice area until you can put them all together in cross controlled, landing configuration slow flight at constant altitude leading to a stall or near stall. Since cross controlled stalls are the most hair-raising, have plenty of altitude before you try.
I'd suggest going up to a bit higher altitude, and playing with it. Perhaps with a CFI. I was taught to use cross controlling to lose altitude quickly while keeping airspeed up. You might be surprised at how much "crossed input" you can put in and still be in controlled flight, well above stall speed. As mentioned in my comment above, I only realized that the cross control inputs I used for landing seemed quite natural after watching this video. In literally didn't think there was another way to land! (Unless maybe you wanted too do a more robust cross control for a steep approach, then "kick it out" for the final phase to show off just a tad).
Douglas Daniel I was wondering if it would be possible to crab all the way down to the point in which you are just above the runway then let the crosswind push the aircraft into a straight path on the runway just before touching down?
CME Gordy The crosswind cannot push the aircraft into a straight path. It does not change the orientation of the airplane. Only the pilot can change the orientation. If the pilot aligns the airplane with the runway but does not cross control by dropping the upwind wing, the crosswind will blow the airplane to the side.
CME Gordy That is a VERY good idea. I read everything I could before I had enough money to take lessons. The result was that I soloed in 6 hrs 20 minutes ... AND I am NOT a natural at all.
CME Gordy Sorry, the crosswind cannot change an airplane's orientation in space. You'll have to cross-control to get the airplane both aligned with the runway and flying along it.
This is pretty much how I always land... cross-wind or no cross-wind. Sadly, I was never taught this technique (or anything similar) during private pilot training. However, once I got my "single engine land" pilot certificate, all I wanted to do is fly to impossibly crazy, short, rural airstrips... or completely native unimproved mountain ridges or mountain tops where nobody ever landed before. I love landing on steep uphills just short of a ridgeline or mountaintop, because one can come to full stop so quickly. Anyway, what you describe is what I figured out to make super-short landings. Of course first I practiced landings at the regular paved airport where I got my training and rented airplanes (Monterey, California) until they were second nature. Then on "short" airstrips (though even the shortest were vastly longer than I needed with this technique). Then finally in crazier places. Here is how I describe this technique from my perspective. Obviously you figure out the crosswind direction. If there is none (no wind or pure headwind), I would also lower the left wing and press the right rudder, because that makes visibility ahead excellent (because the left/pilot side is looking downward and also is facing forward to some extent). If the crosswind is right to left, then opposite. One good aspect of this orientation is, wind never gets under the wind and flips the airplane over (or tries to). I always enter and start final very high compared to most pilots. The reason is, I'm always full flaps and zero power on most of final. Add to this the greatly increased drag from the crab AKA cross-control (which is usually about 3/4 as much crab as is feasible with the airplane), and the airplane is going very slow... on purpose. Then push the nose down to keep velocity just above any possible stall and also keep the descent steep. Note that the nose is quite high up during this, which sounds quite wrong to most pilot I'm sure. Initially (in early final) the reason is to reduce forward speed as much as possible, and as final progresses, the reason is because that's the natural attitude given so much drag from flaps and substantial crab. But in the end, how high the nose is depends entirely on how far one needs to push the stick/yoke forward to keep the speed just above stall. Once you intimately know the airplane, the stall horn will be blaring the last half or third of final. Because the airplane is going so damn slow, this steep and very stable descent on final sometimes seems to take forever. But that's good, because you have plenty of time to see whether your trajectory is heading you somewhat short of where you want (your flare point) or somewhat long. If you're coming in somewhat short, it is easy to extend the trajectory by easing up on the crab (the wing-down and opposite rudder). If you're coming in somewhat long, it is easy to shorten the trajectory by adding more crab (more wind-down and opposite rudder). Note that engine is *always* at idle. Why is this good ... and super safe? Because who cares whether you have an engine failure! Because you're so high and on such a steep descent, you can shorten or extend the touchdown point by tweaking the extent of the crab. No need for engine, so no chance you'll die in the trees short of the runway if your engine fails. And you won't get into a stall or spin either for the same reasons... you can always push your nose down further (or rather, reduce the degree of your nose-up attitude)... to increase speed and stay above stall. Given this type of approach you have total control over the landing, absent some radically extreme downdraft or wingtip-vortex from a large plane landing just before you (extremely unlikely because your speed is so slow and because wingtip-vortices tend to fall downward and you are very high (given you are in a very steep descent). One partial difference from this technique and what the video described is... the crab AKA cross-control in this technique is generally much or modestly greater. The crab is not just enough to compensate for the cross-wind, but usually a great deal more too. And so, when one enters the flare, the crab is reduced to pretty much exactly as described in this video (just enough to keep going straight down the centerline with nose pointing straight ahead). Truth is, the precision of doing this precisely is rather forgiving, because the airplane was already just above stall speed, and the flare at 0 to 1 foot above the runway immediately kills the slight excess and stalls the airplane onto the ground in an extremely short distance and at the slowest speed the airplane can fly, even in ground effect. This is the only way I land. Truth be told, it is almost true that I don't know how to land in conventional ways any more. Probably the reason I retain enough memory of the conventional technique is because now and then when landing at a real airport (not common for me), ATC asks me to speed up the landing because they didn't leave enough space behind me for the next airplane in line. At MRY they knew what to expect (recognized my voice, I guess) and most controllers left extra space behind me to compensate. On the rare occasion another pilot (or better yet, an instructor) came with me on a flight, the whole landing process terrorized them! Hahaha. Okay, maybe not quite terrorized, but only because I always explained my technique in advance so they knew what to expect. But I must say, it was funny to watch other pilots (and especially flight instructors) get white knuckles during final and landing. However, to their credit, they would also say after landing "that was by far the shortest and slowest landing I have ever seen". BTW, never adopt this technique in an airplane until you have "become one with the airplane". Really, I consider this the safest landing technique of all ... *BUT* ... you *DO* need to be completely used to the behavior of the airplane at very low speeds and near stall speeds. That all needs to become second nature via practice at several thousand feet AGL first. Then practice the technique in milder form to real landings for a while, then gradually work closer to the final desired (and proven feasible at altitude) technique with real landings. Once you are fluent with the technique you are only modestly close to stall speed until you get close to touchdown, so you're never really at risk of stalling until you are so close to the ground that at worse you have a slightly abrupt landing. Incidentally, once you get good at this technique, you can get your wheels to touch the ground within a few feet of your target spot... another benefit of a long, stable, very [and increasingly] slow final approach. Here is one non-intuitive aspect of this technique. I don't know if this is fully real, or just "seems like" real. But when in a very steep descent as is optimal for this technique, it really does seem like the airplane flies slower than stall speed. What it feels like to me is, the reported speed is actually the forward velocity, while the actual speed during a steep descent is the rate at which the airplane passes through the air --- which is [nearly] as much vertical speed as horizontal. What this means is, if your approach is extremely steep, your forward speed is much slower than stall speed before the airplane actually stalls. Which is great, because the slower the airplane is going, the shorter the landing and the less that can go wrong once the airplane touches down. Like I said, to me this is the safe way to land. However, beware flying airplanes you're not familiar with. In my opinion, one really needs to "work up to" good landing techniques in any new airplane one flies... whether one lands with this technique or some other [more conventional] technique. Anyway, love this video, and love to see pilots present what I consider more rational and prudent techniques to fly... and land.
At some point over the runway, the plane will stall to settle on the deck. What are the effects of a stall in a cross controlled configuration? Since cross controlling increases the tendency to stall, since lift is less, do you recommend any approach speed correction?
No I don't for two reasons. The increase in stall speed is insignificant when you consider that your approach speed just before starting the flare to land is ordinarily 1.3 times the stall speed in landing configuration. Admittedly when we intentionally spin an airplane, we start with a cross controlled stall. But don't let that scare you; when you stall at a foot or so, there is not enough time or height above the runway for your your airplane to do anything but land albeit with the upwind gear first.
There's also the fact that you're well into ground effect at the flare, and that can do wonders for stall speed. I've flown some of the hottest Air Force fighters out there (F-104, F-106, F-111), and they flew cross-controlled landing perfectly. In fact, I'm not at all sure a 104 could make a crabbed landing without rolling it up in a ball.
Let's assume that the wing has no flaps, slats, etc. Then the shape doesn't change. With this constant shape wing, lift is determined by two things, the angle of attack and airspeed. Angle of attack (how much the wing is tilted up) increases the lift proportionally. This means that double the angle of attack and double the lift. But when the angle of attack exceeds a certain angle, called the critical angle of attack, lift diminishes abruptly to almost nothing. At a constant angle of attack, lift increases with the square of the airspeed. This means that double the airspeed and quadruple the lift. So the pilot controls the lift via angle of attack and airspeed. In a landing, the pilot reduces the power enough that the air's drag on the airplane continues to slow it down. As the airspeed drops the lift drops. To keep the airplane barely above the runway, the pilot increases the angle of attack by tiling the airplane up with its elevator control. The pilot increases the angle of attack as the airspeed bleeds off -- keeping lift exactly equal to the weight of the plane. That keeps the airplane just above the runway until the last possible moment. Then the pilot lets the airplane land by holding a constant angle of attack very near the critical angle of attack. Since the airplane continues to slow, it loses lift and settles to the runway. Or the pilot continues up to the critical angle at which time the wing cannot generate enough lift and the airplane settles to the runway.
Lift is controlled three ways, pitch attitude, air speed and flaps. During the final stage of a landing, the flaps are fully deployed, the power at or near idle causing the plane to slow. As it slows, the pilot increases the pitch attitude just enough for the wing to generate constant lift. Eventually 1.) the wing reaches its critical angle of attack and stalls, the wing loses lift and the airplane lands, 2.) the airplane reaches its landing attitude and the pilots holds that attitude steady as the airplane continues to slow, losing lift and landing, or 3.) the elevator reaches its maximum up position, the nose drops as the airspeed bleeds of and the airplane lands.
I have been have a bear on the last phase of the landing... I hope that s helps. And alignment on my 30' runway has worried me every landing. I hope practicing this approach will smooth out the approach so I can enter the other phases with confidence.
I would say that it is a side slip into the wind. Since all slips are to the side, the term forward slip is a bit confusing. If there were no crosswind component to speak of and you were a little high, and had no flaps, you could slip while moving toward the runway to lose altitude without gaining unwanted airspeed. I would call that a forward slip.
+VV Kim Not sure what you mean by 'face winds.' You probably understand the concept, but to be sure, let me say that you only need to concentrate on using your ailerons to keep you over the runway center and your rudder to keep you in line with it. Your point about the wings is correct. Since the wings provide the airplane's lift and your ailerons control the direction of you wings' lift by controlling your angle of bank, it is true that the wings are pulling your airplane into the wind just as fast as the wind is trying to blow you off the runway.
+Douglas Daniel I meant ailerons by wings. "Use my ailerons to keep me over the runway center and my rudder to keep me in line with it." This is exactly what I meant by what I said above. Thanks.
Wait, let me get this straight. So if the wind is coming at your plane from the side, you roll your plane from where the wind is coming from (I.e. wind is coming from the right, therefore, you tilt your plane right a little bit by using your ailerons)? And when the wind is coming in a diagonal direction towards your plane, you will need to move your nose towards the wind by using your rudders? I'm thinking of becoming a commercial pilot, I'm just trying to get a headstart (sorry if I didn't get the right terminologies).
+Is This Nikko? If the wind is coming from the right, lower your right wing. You don't care if it is a direct crosswind or not, just lower your right wing to keep the airplane over the runway center AND use your rudder to keep the plane pointed down the runway. Your objective is ALWAYS to keep the airplane centered over the runway and aligned with it when you touchdown.
When I learned to fly in the early 1980's, flight simulators were expensive and pretty rudimentary. If I had what is available now in flight sims, I'd have had a MUCH easier time as a student pilot. The BEST thing you can do to start is get a good flight simulator software package with a good throttle, yoke and rudder pedals setup. This will be a VERY good way to start and save you a buncha money you'd otherwise have to pay a flight school learning flight basics. Also, get the FAA approved course materials to study for the written exam. Don't waste your time with a cheap joystick because you won't be really learning how to feel the controls while you're flying.
You need to think of the wind coming from the right or left. The should always be coming from in front of you or you would be landing in the opposite direction (with a few rare exceptions). How much the wind is coming from the front is not important to you as cross control in a landing (it is important when you make your decision to land on that runway or not) forget about the exact direction the wind is coming from and just focus on staying over the runway and aligned with it. So, yes, when the wind from the right or right front, lower your right wing and yaw your nose to the the left until you are pointed parallel with the runway and centered over it. Keep centered with your ailerons and aligned with your rudder.
No, don't dip your nose into the wind. The only thing you can sense from the cockpit or care about is how much the wind is coming from the side, called the crosswind COMPONENT of the wind. You dip your nose and you accelerate. Dip or raise your nose only for airspeed control
Time marker 3:09 your lift is always vertical. G force is a result of the elevator input that forms the turning component which will be absent here because you're slipping. The elevator would be used to correct the accelerated descent caused the apparent foreshortening of the wingspan. What about power management on final approach?
Hello Douglas. Thank you very much for taking valuable time to make such a great video. As I hear your explanation, I get a bit confused. Cross control is scary. The question i have is: On final, you bank towards the wing and press opposite rudder. However, when you overshoot for final, the way pilots stall during final is doing exactly that, cross control. So how much are you supposed to press the rudder and turn the yoke. Thank you.
Hi Juan, Thanks for asking. Pilots who stall when they overshoot the runway centerline while flying base leg try too hard to get back on the extended runway centerline. When they aggressively make that turn they may pull back on the elevator too hard, causing the wing to exceed its critical angle of attack and stall. The cause of ALL stalls is exceeding the wing's critical angle of attack. If they were cross controlled when they stalled, stall recovery is that much more difficult. Cross controlling does NOT cause stalls. There is no question that stalling while cross controlled can lead to some pretty exciting situations. Now... to answer your question. When on short final you should be over the extended centerline of the runway. You should be flying wings level when you start to cross control. You cross control by doing two almost independent things. You press on the downwind rudder to align the airplane with the runway. You continue to push harder until the airplane is aligned. That is how hard you push, how much the rudder control moves. Simultaneously, you lower the upwind wing using your aileron control to prevent the airplane from drifting downwind. You use however much aileron deflection is necessary to keep the airplane's position centered over the runway center and however much rudder deflection as is needed to keep aligned with the runway. If you find that you cannot push the rudder far enough to keep aligned or cannot push the aileron far enough to stay centered then the crosswind is too strong for a safe crosswind landing. You should level the wings, apply full power, go to best rate of climb pitch attitude, start retracting the flaps while you execute a go-around. Hope this helps.
The turn to final is no time to cross control. Always wait until you are established on the centerline of the runway before starting to cross control. Finally, always do things smoothly in an airplane. If you enter your cross controlled configuration smoothly, you'll do a better job, your passengers will not get upset, and you'll be more precise.
Hello Juan Carlos. I’m newly certificated Private Pilot, so take anything I say as rookie talk. To avoid stall during cross-controlled crosswind landings, I make sure to keep the nose down enough so my speed stays in the safe zone. Watch out - your airspeed gauge can get some error when plane is slipping: check your POH. (Cessna 150 airspeed reads low when static port is low & reads high when static port is high.) Also I remember which rudder pedals to use in cross-control by thinking, “Step on the high wing.” Practice with an instructor and tell them what you’re doing. PS it is better to say things like “I’ll speed up” and “I’m fixing my altitude” rather than scare the instructor by saying unclear things like “whoops” or “uh-oh”! PPS: thanks to Douglas for the video!
I don't understand how or why you would cross-control on every landing. Does that include landings with NO crosswind? If so, then how and why would you cross-control your landing?
I've been waiting for someone to ask that question. Thanks. By using cross controlling techniques, I mean: use your rudder to keep the airplane aligned with the runway and your ailerons to keep centered over it. If there is no crosswind component, then that technique will have you centered over the runway (albeit with level wings) and aligned with it. The advantages of always using the same technique are: 1.) You only have to learn and practice one technique. 2.) You never have to decide if the crosswind component is strong enough that you should use crosswind techniques. Will you be in a slip in a no-crosswind landing? No, it will be ordinary coordinated flight as long as you stay centered and aligned.
This is an excellent explanation for all landings both tricycle and tailwheel. It took me several years to master this technique in my Cessna 170 and it has never failed me.
I appreciate the confirmation from pilots who find this technique viable. (For the benefit of those who might not know, a Cessna 170 is a tailwheel equipped airplane.)
You don't. It is just a guess. There are techniques for learning when you are very very close to the ground but not yet touching that I teach but don't have a video on.
Great instruction! The only thing I would add is that once you start to achieve your final "distance off the runway", you need to transition your eyes further down the runway or most likely you will bounce it in.. : )
Only issue for me is selecting full flaps. I would use approach flaps appropriate for runway length and approach. Love the concept of flying the plane to touchdown.
I use full flaps because that configuration ensures lowest landing speed, maximum aerodynamic braking, minimum roll-out distance, a consistent landing attitude, and it simplifies landings.
Agreed. My chief pilot at the flight school where I worked in the late 1970s outside of Chicago was an ex WWII P-51 pilot. He insisted all landings by primary students be made with full flaps for the same reason. He also wanted us to teach the students to have the plane in a full stall slightly above the runway so as to "drop in" the final 6 inches or so rather than make a greaser. He wanted the plane fully stalled when it hit the ground. I know there will be many who might argue with this but it does make some sense.
Unknown landings that announce themsekves with tire chirp instead of a thump are much more impressive to the passengers. My first Comm checkride the examiner told me something Ive never forgotten... "You can do all the snappy manuvers... now you must learn to fly like you have 40 people in the back."
The rationale is that although your home airport may have a mile and a half long runway(like mine), you will often be arriving at strange little airports with short runways, so you should be good at always landing in as little distance as possible without putting unnecessary wear and tear on the aircraft
I agree with him. In heavier airplane is it not always smart to full stall them on. But I strongly believe that any pilot should master full stall landings first.
I was taught this technique very early in my flight training a long time ago. As I got more experience, I modified it to crab into the wind on final, then as I started the flare I would cross control to lower the upwind wing and point the nose down the runway just before touchdown. I much prefer that, although it does require somewhat more skill.
I just have only five hours of flying so far I really enjoy it,I was practicing this technique yesterday at about 2,000 feet after watching this video I feel much more confident learning it technique,thanks for the video
Roll into wind enough to offset the crosswind then apply top rudder to maintain centreline. The plane will then present more drag to the airflow as you are now in a forward slip. Apply more throttle to maintain airspeed / glideslope or nose down elevator to increase rate of descent. I find this technique so much more sensible than the crab approach, in anything more than the most gentle crosswind.
IMO of 50 yrs... EXCELLENT. The biggest problem Ive seen is that there arent very many good pilots/good instructors. We should teach control PRESSURES not movement. Teaching a neophyte to land with flaps (especially with 30-40* on Cessnas) is poor technique. Airspeed changes too rapidly and stalls too abruptly. Nothing is more negative to a new student than a thump landing. Teach them to touch down smoothly rather than a thump and they will be more confident and learn more quickly. Ever wonder how WWII Cub pilots soloed in 5-6 hrs?? Keep up the good explanations.
I advocate using whatever it takes to put the airplane in the desired attitude. I only think about moving the controls in terms of direction, not distance and I use more pressure if i'm not in the right attitude yet and less pressure if I over shoot.
When I was learning to fly I nearly crumpled up a 172 by not having been trained to land as described. I stopped flying for a while but when I started back I learned this method. As far as I am concerned this is the ONLY way to get back on the ground safely every time.
Used to practice crossed controls with a crosswind at altitude, coupla hundred feet or so, track a runway, road, power line etc. Not only keep the aircraft inline but also maintain a constant altitude.
@@DouglasDanielMOT Excellent instruction, concise, clear and to the point without any fluffing. The main reason I do not like crab approaches is that at the final moment when you kick the plane to line up with the runway you suddenly loose your cross wind air speed component resulting with sudden reduction in lift and invariably either over correct descent with elevator / throttle and balloon or come thumping to the ground. Great stuff.
I am not much of a pilot, but the very first time I flew out of a commercial airport on the first lesson (actually it was supposed to be just a pleasure flight, but get us hooked in first time right!) I was handed the controls just after the pilot started the aircraft. I said to him that he has got to be kidding me, he said after hearing what I said in the room before flying he thought I could do it. No pressure right! Anyway, he went over the brakes and controls quickly and said I had to touch the left brake on the run out. He talked to control tower and then told me what to do, anyway, half way through he asked me to throw the aircraft about the sky as much as i wanted to. He told me the stall speed in the classroom before we left and he asked me only once "What speed will you stall at?" I replied it is just a little below the what we are doing while turning, but I am keeping an eye on it. Well first time out I thought it was just move it around the sky a bit, then he said, "No, throw it around the sky but for god sake don't loop the loop or you will rip the wings off". So I did more and more until I got my confidence up, maybe a bit to much, but I loved it. Only mistake I made was when we took off I didn't climb quick enough, but I kept an eye on air speed and scanned the instruments all the time as well as looking around for other aircraft, I saw him watching everything I was doing and smiling every time I scanned the instruments and looked around. Then we went to land and he said we had been out twice as long as was allowed for the flight that was paid for. When we got clearance to land he kept looking over his shoulder saying "I know the controller very well and he is counting on me getting out of the way of the Speedbird (British Airways Airliner) landing behind us, don't make me look stupid me by making the Speedbird go round. "Trust me, I won't" and speed up, he told me the speed to land and then he still took the time to tell me this information that is in this video and what he said was "Go as close to the ground as you dare, if it touches lift it off gently and keep it just off the ground, until it either drops in a stall or lands by itself." I did exactly what he said and had a perfect touchdown. He then said looking over his shoulder, not much time so back right away to the club, he (Speedbird) is almost on top of us, about one and a half miles. It is supposed to be three miles so please do not make a fool of me." I didn't and got off the runway very quickly but safely remembering about the slope going to the club. He said I was the best he ever had as a first timer and he was sorry he was not going to be there "Was I sure I had never flown before?" I replied I had never even been up in an aircraft before." He said "Wow, I didn't realise you had never been off the ground before, I would have loved to stay and get you your licence, but I am starting a job flying as co-pilot next week and then in a few months I am to get a job as captain if I pass their in-house training," "What aircraft are you going to fly" i asked? "747 he said, but I have done lots of hours on the simulator, it is this airline that has offered me the job. Cost a lot of money and I have to be co-pilot for a while but it is worth it. My second flight elsewhere didn't go so smoothly, the pilot was always taking control and didn't allow me such freedom and it was another aircraft type and it was not trimmed very well, but just as I was about to touch down a gust of wind caught the aircraft and turned it sideways, he took control and landed it on a grass strip. It was a lot rougher than I expected, but it was a big runway I last landed at. The second pilot never mentioned landing techniques which I was surprised at. I thought unusual that he said he was going straight to 747s but he said he had put in so many hours and had indeed flown a few as co-pilot to get hours in and he was not paid as he was flying as back up in the spare seat. But he was allowed to fly to get his hours up I wish he was still there training as he was so calm and never touched the controls, except to start and to make the fuel rich before I did some throwing around as he called it. Great instructor, wish there were more like him.
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Great video. As a retired navy fighter pilot and airline pilot, I was always amazed how many of my copilots did not try this technique. Many would simple fly in a crab all the way to touchdown or try and kick out the crab with rudder right before touchdown. I used this technique on my fighters, B-727, B-737 (once in a 40 knot direct crosswind at Midway Airport) and the A-300. This technique works great but I can see why many pilots are afraid of cross controlling close to the ground.
Thank you! Us silver foxes need to stick together.
Okay, you've exposed me! I don't. I might be 2" or 24"... can't tell. I'm just trying to be more precise than saying "close." The real answer is "as close as you can without touching." In fact, with students, I fly the throttle and let them fly the other controls and tell them, "No matter what, don't let it touch. If it does touch, pull it off immediately but gently" It doesn't take long for them to develop a good sense of being marginally above the runway. Great comment!
Thanks Rick and Doug. Nice add. I also use this technique in my tail wheel RV-8 and it works well. I learned to fly in a J-3 30 years ago and you had to slip it in any time you were too high!
Me too. I soloed in a J-3 in 1966, sitting in the back seat looking over my instructor's shoulder.
Rick Blake good post. I like your comments
I'm just watching this so I can use it in a flight sim
my instructor taught me how to land in a 17 knot, gusting to 25 knot , full left arerlon , full right rudder getting the left main on the ground, waiting for the right main wheel , then jocking for nose wheel on center line i must have done 30 landings, he just sat there watching me, and smiling on each landing, total time was about 9 hours, i soloed in 13 hours, all at KBLI,BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON..
+Doug Gibson I agree with your instructor's technique 100%. Congratulations!! You soloed about 6 or 7 hours sooner than the national average.
Every time I watch one of these videos it makes me really appreciate my instructor. He was the best, when the Santa Ana winds would kick up in SoCal he’d call me up and say let’s go practice some crosswind landings and slips. He didn’t miss a trick and everyday I’m surprised that so many instructors fail to teach such critical information.
Amazing that some airline pilots don't know how to do this.
I learned to fly at an airport with one runway and frequent crosswinds. One of the first things my instructor taught me was how to do a proper crosswind landing by doing a side slip. It soon became second nature to me. I never realized this was unusual among pilots. Thanks for teaching it!
By the way, side slips are also a good way to lose excess altitude without gaining airspeed. Coming in a bit too high on short final? Crossing those controls will take care of it quite nicely.
I agree 100%
When I started learning to fly back in 1981, I was taught the cross-control or slip technique from my very first landing. I had read about crabbed approaches, using the rudder to kick out the crab just before touchdown. When I asked my instructor why the slip was better, he said he would show me. He took me into the maintenance hangar and showed me a badly damaged 152. It seems the student pilot had failed to cancel the crab in time and touched down at a rather sharp angle. Enough to roll the tire off the rim of the nose wheel. The rim then struck the pavement, still at an angle to the forward motion. That bent the fork holding the wheel and the force was transmitted up the gear assembly and bent the firewall it was attached to. That visual had more impact on me than all the words my instructor could have said. I have cross-controlled every landing I’ve ever made as a result. He also showed me another 152 with tire tracks on top of the wing, victim of a student pilot who didn’t properly check for traffic on short final before taking the active to takeoff. That was another strong visual lesson!
The crab and straighten is required procedure for certain large transport aircraft, as I recall the 737ng, the risk of catching an engine on the ground is greater than the risk of landing gear damage, and for some others touching down on one wheel isn't strong enough near max load.
I truly wish every pilot could see what you saw.
You're a really good teacher. Thanks!
Thanks
I am in the UK and just done 5 hours and that was very helpful - I will be looking at more of your videos and thank you for taking the time to publish ......
Finally a video that explains cross control on a crosswind - much easier than trying to right a crab at the last moment. Thanks for the step by step explanation.
You're welcome
I got to witness this technique for the 1st time as a student pilot yesterday. Landing was on a 275 heading with a 210 crosswind at 8 knots. I didn't think it was that significant given the approx 30 degree deviation from direct cross and only 8 knots, but I could really feel the winds aloft, so I wasn't surprised he took the controls. Having studied this video many times, I was interested to see he was cross controlling rather than crabbing it in, with significant right rudder input. I was tempted to step on the left rudder to correct, but because of this video I knew EXACTLY what he was doing, but didn't say anything until we were taxiing to tie downs. Awesome experience, just wish I would have had more input. He told me they teach students to "crab it in", so I found it ironic that he was using the cross controlling method. Very young CFI (23) wise and mature beyond his years - pretty impressive guy.
It amazes me that some schools teach crabbing it in. That is easier but can lead to really serious problems in marginal conditions. And marginal conditions is not a good time to be trying to remember what to do when the crosswind is strong. .... thanks for your comment
Nice video Douglas. Crosswind technique is as important for a good take-off as well as landing. The same principals apply. Whether you're flying a J-3 Cub or B-767 it's the same. In the airline business we add speed to allow for winds. Vapp (approach speed) is Vref (reference speed, 1.3 x stall speed) plus half of the steady state wind and ALL of the gust. If winds were 10 gusting to 20 we would add 5 (half the steady state) plus 10 (the gust) and wind up with an additive of 15 knots. Vapp would go from 135kts to 150kts in this case. Runway length would be checked to see if the increased speed was okay. Some of the pilots who had the most trouble with crosswinds were former fighter pilots. I flew the F-5 and its wings were so short and stubby that cross-controll on landing was prohibited. The fuselage would blank out the downwind wing too much. They were landed in a crab. Learn cross-control as it's involved in most landings! Instructors can do 50' flybys down the runway and show crab, perfect cross control, and over cross control (crabbing downwind). An airplane is an airplane no matter its size. Listen to Douglas.
Thanks Jerry, I agree with all you said. High wing-loaded airplanes like the F5 you flew, are much easier and safer to land in a crosswind that a light plane like the J3 Cub I learned to fly in. I've noticed that some airlines always land in a crab... Lufthansa for example. But there is a now famous video of them getting a wingtip strike because they did not recognize that the crosswind component was so strong that if they didn't get the upwind wing down, the wind would pick it up resulting in the downwind wingtip hitting the runway. That's what happened which proves your point that an airplane is an airplane. If the wind is strong enough an A380 is a light plane. Thanks again for your wisdom.
Douglas, I can't comment on Lufthansa's crosswind policy. Landing in anything but the slightest of crab angle is contrary to Boeing's guidance. When I first upgraded to F/O on the 727, I flew with a nice fatherly check airman for a month. He was with Delta, but a former NorthEast pilot (remember the "yellow birds"). I noticed that at lift-off, sometimes there was a tugging and shaking moment. He explained it was the result of insufficient aileron into the wind. This lateral skipping and scrubbing is evident on many take-off videos. Planes, big or little, need the proper crosswind inputs for take-off and landing. Keep up the good work!
That's my feeling. But every landing I have experienced sitting in the back of a Lufthansa was wings level crosswind or not. From that I assumed that was their policy.
Very good point!
Thanks for the helpful advice.
At what point in the landing sequence do you pull the power off?
There is no simple answer. In a J-3 Cub, I pull the throttle back to idle when I pass the end of the runway on downwind. In my Cessna 320, I pull the throttles back when the mains touch. In a 1966 C-206, I had to leave about 17 "Hg until the nose wheel was on when there were two of us up front and no passengers because there was not enough elevator authority at idle power to keep from spiking the nose gear. If you are flying a C152 category light plane, I would recommend pulling the power to idle no later than when you start the transition from approach glide to slow flight over the runway. But even then, if you were making a soft/rough field landing, you would leave some power on until you taxied to a hard/smooth surface. I think you get the point... no set rule.
Thank you, Mr. Daniel. All I hear these days touts the crab-style of landing. I've been a pilot for over 50 years and more than 20,000 hours. I've tried the crab method a couple of times and absolutely did NOT like it. If nothing else, the side loads on the gear made me very uncomfortable. I started flying as a USAF cadet and wound up flying fighters for 27 years. I was taught the cross-control method. Glad to see this video.
I like when somebody explain things without so much technical. It is easy to understand. Thanks, I like your video.
Thanks Mr. Douglas... very helpful.. though im nt a pilot but have great interest in aviation...
Most pilots will not master this method until they get the experience of landing in a tail wheel airplane. After I got my tail wheel endorsement I started flying all types of aircraft using this technique. It really works. One thing to note is if you have very moderate Crosswinds it is best to use minimum flap settings. Landing in a 13 knot crosswind with full flapsIs more dangerous than landing with just one or maximum two notches of flaps. One more thing to remember is to increase your air speed by five nights or so I do not use abrupt control of the elevator or you may go into a stall spin situation.
I learned to do this in a J3 Cub, but I have taught it for years in Cessnas, Pipers and other, both tricycle and taildragger.
If we could get the wind to stay the same, these landings would be much easier. In the real world, the wind is constantly changing in speed (as well as direction sometimes), so you've got the aircraft lined up and heading down final when the wind changes and poof....you're off the centerline again. Especially when it's gusting! Argh. So your hand (one hand because the other is on the throttle! ) and feet are constantly moving. There's no 'set it and forget it'. I have no idea why anyone would down vote this video - it does a great job explaining how it's done. Kudos to Mr Daniel.
If it were easy, everyone would fly airplanes.
Thank you for this. I am making my second flight in 3 days. Landing first time was done by instructor but I had no idea what he did
Be patient. Before you can land, you need to be able to do all the little things that go into a landing. Trying to land before you can 1. control airspeed with pitch, 2. change angle of bank without changing heading, 3. hold constant altitude and heading in slow flight, 4. etc. etc. is biting off too much. Each can be taught in less than a half hour. If you try to land before you've mastered those skills, you're going to be very frustrated. I'm going to put up a video that will link to Landing Secrets which tells you about those techniques. --Good Luck!
This was a good video. I just started PPL training. I've only had a couple of lessons, and haven't even tried crosswind landing yet. I think this will be helpful.
Good job, however, you forgot to mention that the plane is going to land on the upwind wheel only. As the plane slows, the downwind wheel is going to settle to the runway. As it does and the plane slows down, the crosswind correction with aileron and possibly rudder should be increased. Also, be aware of any buildings or hangars by the runway as they might block the wind, and suddenly the crosswind decreases. In the Be18s and DC-3s I used to fly, the controls were rather heavy, so I used differential power to save wear and tear on my legs. Also , this came in handy at LAX in a Sant Ana blowing from the North directly across the runway at 30+ kts. In this condition, aileron, rudder and if you still aren't lined up, brakes come into play. I learned in taildraggers, and In over 11,000 hrs. I have not ground looped or dinged an airplane. All in all this is the best explanation of cross controls I've seen on You Tube. In a tailwheel airplane, in these conditions always do a wheel landing.
Your points are right on, however I needed to keep the video short. There are many subtleties that this video doesn't address. -- Thanks for sharing your insights.
Hello, Douglas. I am just now checking out your very informative, and well illustrated tutorial. Yes, cross control landing is a darn good technique. Pilots would do well to practice this skill. May I suggest that you review the role of cross control and touchdown of the nose wheel. My Piper has a nose wheel that is steered by the rudder pedals even when the nose gear has not contacted the runway. Therefore, a pilot needs to "kick" the rudder to center the aircraft upon landing. It's really no fun to touch down and then take a sharp turn off the runway.
Cessna, on the other hand, has a nose wheel disconnect when the aircraft pitches up. Therefore, the Cessna nose wheel will stay neutral until the aircraft lands, and the airframe settles on the hydraulic assembly.
Thanks for your input. Your point is well taken. I suppose that it is a matter of technique. I have found that when flying a Cherokee, if I let the nose wheel on gently that there is no sudden swerve to the side of the runway. There just isn't enough pressure on the nose wheel to give it much yaw authority. Once I feel the nose start to pull, I automatically compensate with my pedals but keep the ailerons rolled into the wind.
A cessna nose wheel does not disengage when fully extended. It always has spring linkage with the rudder pedals. So when the nose wheel comes on, it automatically casters into the direction of travel.
I teach my students to use both side slips and forward slips. I teach them to use full opposite rudder in a slip to loose excess altitude if and when necessary and to use appropriate rudder for longitudinal directional control with opposite aileron to correct for crosswind drift while on final. I teach them to feel comfortable in a slip as slips are spin resistant and are a very useful tool throughout the base and final legs of an approach. Point is, I’m good with the concept of slips.
However, even though I feel you made a lot of great points in this video I do not at all agree with the concept that a slip should be used for every landing and I think it is inappropriate to teach students that. There is , of course, nothing wrong with landing on both mains in a no wind or headwind situation. If a pilots airspeed and pitch control are correct, the plane will settle onto the runway properly without having to use a slip to increase the rate of descent to get out of ground effect. Further, if you teach someone to slip you need to explain to them that the airspeed indicator becomes less accurate in a slip. That should be part of this lesson (maybe I missed that?).
Also, the crab is a legitimate attitude when on long final for crosswind correction with a transition to a slip as the student approaches short final. That should not be omitted in a review of crosswind landing techniques....which, in my opinion, is really what this video is about.
One more point...airspeed on final should not absolutely always be the same. A statement like that will confuse students. If the wind is gusting, add 1/2 the gust factor to landing speed.
TheAirplaneDriver
I really appreciate your accurate critique as well as your criticisms when applicable. I wholeheartedly agree that slips should not be used on every landing.
Actually, I don’t say that slips should be used on all landings. I say the pilot should keep over the centerline with ailerons and aligned with rudder. There’s a subtle but real difference.
Excellent video! Let me share a trick I was taught when I learned to fly on a Piper PA-28 Tomahawk.
I'd taken flying lessons 10 years earlier at age 22 but couldn't land to save my ass. I was focusing on short final at the nose of the aircraft (An American Yankee) and would panic at the last second as the ground rushed up because I didn't know WHEN to flare the aircraft, chop the throttle and settle onto the runway.
When I got the bug to fly again 10 years later, the instructor saw the problem and immediately showed me a trick that works EVERY TIME. On short final, take your eyes off the nose of the aircraft and instead focus on the numbers at the FAR END of the runway. When the numbers start to disappear, at that EXACT moment, start your flare, level the nose, and cut the throttle. When the aircraft starts to sink, use the elevator to stop the sink, then wait a second or two as it starts to sink again, a little more elevator to stop it again, etc. etc. until you grease the wheels on the runway.
I never had a problem with landings again.
Good tip! I agree with your instructor -- looking down the runway give you a better overall view of the situation that looking just over the nose.
Isn't a Tomahawk a PA 38? Just asking
Look Pal! I'm 66 years old and it was a long time ago. I mean, I need to look at my driver's license every morning to remember who I am and hide my own Easter eggs. But to answer your question in a civil and unambiguous manner ... yes ... you're right. The Tomahawk is the PA-38. :)
Exactly! Few instructors teach or even know this. I use this technique from the A320 to my Citabria.
I agree, I tell my students to focus down the runway, not over the nose. If course when the horzison is obscured by the cowling, it is hard to look just in front of the airplane.
Costa Rica Flyer thanks
My instructor had me do this 1hr into ever flying anything and I was so afraid I’d do something seriously wrong I told him I didn’t feel comfortable! Although I had him next to me I had a hard time understanding what I was doing or how to counterattack should something happen or a correction, I did make make 5 landings that day though and I’m glad he pushed me, he told my wife “ he knows how to fly but does know it yet” I’m lacking confidence landing with crosswinds ( ground up 200ft was not smooth) so my next training is next Tuesday so I have been playing this back in my head which I believe is and was helpful, I’m rambling a bit but maybe someone could say something from there 1st flight or experiencing of what I was doing on day 1 and is my feelings normal?
Thanks everyone for the comments I have gained great information!
When I was a student, the most useful thing I did between lessons was to go through each flight mentally, imagining that I was doing what I should be doing (as opposed to what I had been doing!) Keep it up!
Thank you. I stopped flying over 20 years ago due to a growing family; with only about 90 hours of time on the book. I've felt that my initial training was a little sub par. This was very good and confirmed my gut feeling.
Bad instructors (airplane herders or drivers) have ruined more students than time can count.
My home airport (9D4)has a North/South runway. Consequently there is typically a crosswind from the west. I'm a low time pilot but with your technique I've gotten very competent at cross wind landings. Thanks for sharing this technique!
+George Peach Thanks George! Comments like that make the time I spend putting these videos together worth while.
One thing I really love about this method is that you always know if the crosswind exceeds your redder authority. And you know it with adequate margin to do a go round. You just stay in control, all the time; or you find another runway or another airport. That happened to me one time and I landed at a nearby airport on 350 where I could not on 270 at my home grass strip. After a coffee and a change in the winds I was able to return to 270 and land with no problems.
Exactly. Me too.
4:30 “I was completely blown away” nice pun
Thanks, but unintended.
Thanks for the feedback! Doug
Easy to understand, nice relaxed narration. Thanks!
With forward visibility limitations in a tail dragger (in my case a Pitts), the cross control landing technique gave me visibility to the runway. Even without a cross wind, I would go heavy rudder, and compensate with aeleron. Also, with the limited glide in a Pitts, stayed high and used the cross control technique to bleed attitude. This was 25 years ago, before kids. My instructor never had a name for it. Just how I was taught to land a Piits. If / when I start flying again, why use any other technique? KISS. FYI - my oldest son starts USAF pilot training at Vance AFB 1/4/2019. Great video!
Wish him luck on my birthday.
Excellent points .. 👍
I learned the hard way in an airplane similar to a pitts to either sideslip until in slow flight or to make a wheel landing. Good luck to your son and thanks for the input!
Douglas Daniel. Great informative video. In the sequence (step 2), I see you dip your wing to the up-wind and use right rudder while the wind is directly at your 9. Assume the wind is quartered or slightly to your left, can you safely use this technique?
Manuel Saldivar Hi Manny, The only thing you care about is the crosswind COMPONENT. Your cross controlling is to off-set the crosswind component. This technique works in all conditions even when there is no crosswind. When there is no crosswind, you still keep the airplane centered with your ailerons and aligned with your rudder. If you have a quartering crosswind then you have a tailwind and, unless the conditions are unusual, you would be landing on the runway in the opposite direction so you would have a headwind combined with a crosswind rather than a tailwind combined with a crosswind. this is not a technique to be used only in a crosswind condition.
I know this was posted some time ago .. but you're the MAN - "Douglas" - thank you for the easy to understand and follow video!!! Kudos to you pal!
Great video! Thank you for this. You made it nice and easy to understand.
By cross control you mean put it into a forward slip right? Do you put it into a slip even with calm winds?
Yup, cross controlling is the way a plane is put into a slip. If you use the technique I described, and the winds have no crosswind component, calm or not, your wings will be level and you will not be slipping.
Thanks for such a nice video! I am a novice sir. May I ask a question? If the wind is coming from the right and often gusting, what technique shall I apply?
+Razee Islam If the wind is coming from the right, and you'll need to lower your right wing using ailerons to keep you centered and keep the nose pointed down the runway with your rudder. Gusting will require you to adjust your angle of bank and rudder deflection as the wind speed changes.
Amazing to realise that this approach to a landing was never taught to me other than a way to dump altitude or a way to line up in a crosswind
and kick straight just before contact with the runway, but the idea of flying with the aircraft in a straight approach with a banked wing never suggested itself to me.
Thanks for showing the method and I will talk about it with the odd friend or two that are still flying and get their reaction
Cheers from Downunder🙂
While you certainly can fly a cross controlled approach glide, and it is easier for low-time pilots, I recommend cross controlling during the flare. It's less bothersome to the passengers and accomplishes the same objective.
Excellent video, Thank you. Bit unnerving at first, but I'm using this technique from now on.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, Douglas .. we glider pilots learn cross controls on day one .. in absence of spoilers it is the best glide path control (gliders) .. best, oc
old cat Ditto! As a glider pilot I am shocked that this isn’t taught right out of the gate. It’s like air breaks when you don’t have them. You retain your speed & control your descent. Because I learned gliders first I just assumed this was business as usual.
Thanks for this video and if you don’t know this technique you should get some instruction and learn it.
I, too, learned it in an airplane without flaps.
Great Vid and proper teaching, DD... I taught exactly this technique back in the mid '70' back in FAY, NC .... 2,000 hours as an instructor made you good... Equipment was C-150's 172, 177, 182, 210 (my favorite twin) .... Again, you're GOOD....! Thanks for posting this Vid...! Gordon in Maryland (Ret from the Airlines as a AB-320 Cpt with just short of 20,000 hrs abt 14 years ago... YOU make me miss it...!)
Thanks for the kind words.
Good old CFI Roger. I learned this technique, but he never really explained it as such for landing. It was just using aeleron to control drift, and rudder to keep her straight.
Cross controlling, as explained by him, was used to lose altitude. Fast. Quite useful if your high on final. However, I now realize it also taught me to be comfortable with an amount of cross-control beyond what you'd ever use for landing, and so using it while landing seemed normal andf natural. Like "Uh... Doesn't everyone Land like that?"
It might be worth mentioning that I did all of my training and check ride in tail-draggers. Citabria 7ECAs, specifically.
Certainly cross controlling is not an efficient way to fly an airplane so it is a way of losing altitude quickly without gaining airspeed. I use it in airplanes without flaps.
on a jet powered aircraft should i use reverse thrust before or after touchdown?
+Mukund Shivakumar btw im just 16 and started using flight sim 8 years ago
+Mukund Shivakumar reverse thrust is rarely used before touchdown. However, I was a passenger on a DC-8 when the Captain used reverse thrust to expedite his descent.
+Douglas Daniel Fantastic! I learned a great deal about flying through simulators before I ever crawled into a cockpit. As a result, I soloed in 6:20 when the US average is around 15 or 16 hours.
Seriously???
I soloed at 6:19.
;)
Yeah, right, tell me another story Daddy!
Great concise information, wish I had heard this 30 years ago. Thanks
I'm trying to get the word out. If you know any pilots that you think would benefit from this, please share it with them.
well explained. thanks for posting
i have my lesson today, great tips
Very good instruction!
Great video. I love the slip landing. It allows you to approach safe and high and drop right down on the numbers without gaining excessive airspeed. An aggressive slip will dump tons of altitude quickly yet converts right back to a normal sink rate instantly just by moderating the slip when you get to your desired glide path. I always felt that it was the safest and most controllable approach. Even more so in a crosswind where you just land on the upwind wheel and your nose is already aligned with the stripes - unlike a crab that has you pointed into the wind and forces you to make rapid last second adjustments to align your nose. The crab also leaves the upwind wing up and prone to catching a gust. I remember scaring the wits out of one of my instructors by doing a slip on a too high final. He kept saying to point the nose at the ground to get down quickly and he didn't understand what I was doing. My dad had taught me the slip to correct a high approach and I assumed that the instructor would be familiar with it but he wasn't.
I agree Carl. Instructors are like any other profession, some are excellent and others leave you shaking your head.
Must have watched this video a dozen times now. I think I got it. That's how important I think this information is. Lean or roll into the wind, but do the normal rudder control to keep your tail from being pushed around by the wind.
Sounds simple but unless you got it mentally down pat visually then don't expect to be able to do it under stressful conditions.
You're right! You need to practice each of these maneuvers one at a time in a practice area until you can put them all together in cross controlled, landing configuration slow flight at constant altitude leading to a stall or near stall. Since cross controlled stalls are the most hair-raising, have plenty of altitude before you try.
I'd suggest going up to a bit higher altitude, and playing with it. Perhaps with a CFI. I was taught to use cross controlling to lose altitude quickly while keeping airspeed up. You might be surprised at how much "crossed input" you can put in and still be in controlled flight, well above stall speed. As mentioned in my comment above, I only realized that the cross control inputs I used for landing seemed quite natural after watching this video. In literally didn't think there was another way to land! (Unless maybe you wanted too do a more robust cross control for a steep approach, then "kick it out" for the final phase to show off just a tad).
Great explanation and good video..thx for sharing..
Yess this is the best video. More and more video. This channel can make 1 jt subscribers. Nice video
Thanks for your kind remarks
Douglas Daniel I was wondering if it would be possible to crab all the way down to the point in which you are just above the runway then let the crosswind push the aircraft into a straight path on the runway just before touching down?
CME Gordy The crosswind cannot push the aircraft into a straight path. It does not change the orientation of the airplane. Only the pilot can change the orientation. If the pilot aligns the airplane with the runway but does not cross control by dropping the upwind wing, the crosswind will blow the airplane to the side.
oh ok thank you for the information I am not yet in flight training just trying to learn all I can before I start.
CME Gordy That is a VERY good idea. I read everything I could before I had enough money to take lessons. The result was that I soloed in 6 hrs 20 minutes ... AND I am NOT a natural at all.
CME Gordy Sorry, the crosswind cannot change an airplane's orientation in space. You'll have to cross-control to get the airplane both aligned with the runway and flying along it.
In the description it says fight instructor
This is pretty much how I always land... cross-wind or no cross-wind. Sadly, I was never taught this technique (or anything similar) during private pilot training. However, once I got my "single engine land" pilot certificate, all I wanted to do is fly to impossibly crazy, short, rural airstrips... or completely native unimproved mountain ridges or mountain tops where nobody ever landed before. I love landing on steep uphills just short of a ridgeline or mountaintop, because one can come to full stop so quickly.
Anyway, what you describe is what I figured out to make super-short landings. Of course first I practiced landings at the regular paved airport where I got my training and rented airplanes (Monterey, California) until they were second nature. Then on "short" airstrips (though even the shortest were vastly longer than I needed with this technique). Then finally in crazier places.
Here is how I describe this technique from my perspective. Obviously you figure out the crosswind direction. If there is none (no wind or pure headwind), I would also lower the left wing and press the right rudder, because that makes visibility ahead excellent (because the left/pilot side is looking downward and also is facing forward to some extent). If the crosswind is right to left, then opposite. One good aspect of this orientation is, wind never gets under the wind and flips the airplane over (or tries to).
I always enter and start final very high compared to most pilots. The reason is, I'm always full flaps and zero power on most of final. Add to this the greatly increased drag from the crab AKA cross-control (which is usually about 3/4 as much crab as is feasible with the airplane), and the airplane is going very slow... on purpose. Then push the nose down to keep velocity just above any possible stall and also keep the descent steep. Note that the nose is quite high up during this, which sounds quite wrong to most pilot I'm sure. Initially (in early final) the reason is to reduce forward speed as much as possible, and as final progresses, the reason is because that's the natural attitude given so much drag from flaps and substantial crab. But in the end, how high the nose is depends entirely on how far one needs to push the stick/yoke forward to keep the speed just above stall. Once you intimately know the airplane, the stall horn will be blaring the last half or third of final.
Because the airplane is going so damn slow, this steep and very stable descent on final sometimes seems to take forever. But that's good, because you have plenty of time to see whether your trajectory is heading you somewhat short of where you want (your flare point) or somewhat long. If you're coming in somewhat short, it is easy to extend the trajectory by easing up on the crab (the wing-down and opposite rudder). If you're coming in somewhat long, it is easy to shorten the trajectory by adding more crab (more wind-down and opposite rudder).
Note that engine is *always* at idle. Why is this good ... and super safe? Because who cares whether you have an engine failure! Because you're so high and on such a steep descent, you can shorten or extend the touchdown point by tweaking the extent of the crab. No need for engine, so no chance you'll die in the trees short of the runway if your engine fails. And you won't get into a stall or spin either for the same reasons... you can always push your nose down further (or rather, reduce the degree of your nose-up attitude)... to increase speed and stay above stall. Given this type of approach you have total control over the landing, absent some radically extreme downdraft or wingtip-vortex from a large plane landing just before you (extremely unlikely because your speed is so slow and because wingtip-vortices tend to fall downward and you are very high (given you are in a very steep descent).
One partial difference from this technique and what the video described is... the crab AKA cross-control in this technique is generally much or modestly greater. The crab is not just enough to compensate for the cross-wind, but usually a great deal more too. And so, when one enters the flare, the crab is reduced to pretty much exactly as described in this video (just enough to keep going straight down the centerline with nose pointing straight ahead). Truth is, the precision of doing this precisely is rather forgiving, because the airplane was already just above stall speed, and the flare at 0 to 1 foot above the runway immediately kills the slight excess and stalls the airplane onto the ground in an extremely short distance and at the slowest speed the airplane can fly, even in ground effect.
This is the only way I land. Truth be told, it is almost true that I don't know how to land in conventional ways any more. Probably the reason I retain enough memory of the conventional technique is because now and then when landing at a real airport (not common for me), ATC asks me to speed up the landing because they didn't leave enough space behind me for the next airplane in line. At MRY they knew what to expect (recognized my voice, I guess) and most controllers left extra space behind me to compensate.
On the rare occasion another pilot (or better yet, an instructor) came with me on a flight, the whole landing process terrorized them! Hahaha. Okay, maybe not quite terrorized, but only because I always explained my technique in advance so they knew what to expect. But I must say, it was funny to watch other pilots (and especially flight instructors) get white knuckles during final and landing. However, to their credit, they would also say after landing "that was by far the shortest and slowest landing I have ever seen".
BTW, never adopt this technique in an airplane until you have "become one with the airplane". Really, I consider this the safest landing technique of all ... *BUT* ... you *DO* need to be completely used to the behavior of the airplane at very low speeds and near stall speeds. That all needs to become second nature via practice at several thousand feet AGL first. Then practice the technique in milder form to real landings for a while, then gradually work closer to the final desired (and proven feasible at altitude) technique with real landings. Once you are fluent with the technique you are only modestly close to stall speed until you get close to touchdown, so you're never really at risk of stalling until you are so close to the ground that at worse you have a slightly abrupt landing.
Incidentally, once you get good at this technique, you can get your wheels to touch the ground within a few feet of your target spot... another benefit of a long, stable, very [and increasingly] slow final approach.
Here is one non-intuitive aspect of this technique. I don't know if this is fully real, or just "seems like" real. But when in a very steep descent as is optimal for this technique, it really does seem like the airplane flies slower than stall speed. What it feels like to me is, the reported speed is actually the forward velocity, while the actual speed during a steep descent is the rate at which the airplane passes through the air --- which is [nearly] as much vertical speed as horizontal. What this means is, if your approach is extremely steep, your forward speed is much slower than stall speed before the airplane actually stalls. Which is great, because the slower the airplane is going, the shorter the landing and the less that can go wrong once the airplane touches down.
Like I said, to me this is the safe way to land. However, beware flying airplanes you're not familiar with. In my opinion, one really needs to "work up to" good landing techniques in any new airplane one flies... whether one lands with this technique or some other [more conventional] technique.
Anyway, love this video, and love to see pilots present what I consider more rational and prudent techniques to fly... and land.
I wasn't taught it either. Had to work it out for myself after a near accident.
Question! Are you using cross control until wheels hit the ground, or is there a point where you level out again before touchdown? Great video btw!
Keep it cross controlled throughout touchdown and roll-out.
At some point over the runway, the plane will stall to settle on the deck. What are the effects of a stall in a cross controlled configuration?
Since cross controlling increases the tendency to stall, since lift is less, do you recommend any approach speed correction?
No I don't for two reasons. The increase in stall speed is insignificant when you consider that your approach speed just before starting the flare to land is ordinarily 1.3 times the stall speed in landing configuration. Admittedly when we intentionally spin an airplane, we start with a cross controlled stall. But don't let that scare you; when you stall at a foot or so, there is not enough time or height above the runway for your your airplane to do anything but land albeit with the upwind gear first.
There's also the fact that you're well into ground effect at the flare, and that can do wonders for stall speed. I've flown some of the hottest Air Force fighters out there (F-104, F-106, F-111), and they flew cross-controlled landing perfectly. In fact, I'm not at all sure a 104 could make a crabbed landing without rolling it up in a ball.
104... what effect does wind have on a rocket with two feathers out the side?
How does an airplane control the lift? The shape of the wing will not change then won't the lift continue?
Let's assume that the wing has no flaps, slats, etc. Then the shape doesn't change. With this constant shape wing, lift is determined by two things, the angle of attack and airspeed.
Angle of attack (how much the wing is tilted up) increases the lift proportionally. This means that double the angle of attack and double the lift. But when the angle of attack exceeds a certain angle, called the critical angle of attack, lift diminishes abruptly to almost nothing.
At a constant angle of attack, lift increases with the square of the airspeed. This means that double the airspeed and quadruple the lift.
So the pilot controls the lift via angle of attack and airspeed.
In a landing, the pilot reduces the power enough that the air's drag on the airplane continues to slow it down. As the airspeed drops the lift drops. To keep the airplane barely above the runway, the pilot increases the angle of attack by tiling the airplane up with its elevator control. The pilot increases the angle of attack as the airspeed bleeds off -- keeping lift exactly equal to the weight of the plane. That keeps the airplane just above the runway until the last possible moment.
Then the pilot lets the airplane land by holding a constant angle of attack very near the critical angle of attack. Since the airplane continues to slow, it loses lift and settles to the runway.
Or the pilot continues up to the critical angle at which time the wing cannot generate enough lift and the airplane settles to the runway.
Thank you so much you are a great teacher so can I make a toy plane myself?
Lift is controlled three ways, pitch attitude, air speed and flaps. During the final stage of a landing, the flaps are fully deployed, the power at or near idle causing the plane to slow. As it slows, the pilot increases the pitch attitude just enough for the wing to generate constant lift. Eventually 1.) the wing reaches its critical angle of attack and stalls, the wing loses lift and the airplane lands, 2.) the airplane reaches its landing attitude and the pilots holds that attitude steady as the airplane continues to slow, losing lift and landing, or 3.) the elevator reaches its maximum up position, the nose drops as the airspeed bleeds of and the airplane lands.
Thanks Doug.
Much appreciated.
Chris
Sydney, Australia.
Thanks!
I have been have a bear on the last phase of the landing... I hope that s helps. And alignment on my 30' runway has worried me every landing. I hope practicing this approach will smooth out the approach so I can enter the other phases with confidence.
Hope it works for you
Thanks, I've found your video so interesting. Greetings from Argentina !
Hi. Great vid. I'm not a native English guy, so probably I missed something in the vid. Is this technique is the forward slip or similar one? Thanks
I would say that it is a side slip into the wind. Since all slips are to the side, the term forward slip is a bit confusing. If there were no crosswind component to speak of and you were a little high, and had no flaps, you could slip while moving toward the runway to lose altitude without gaining unwanted airspeed. I would call that a forward slip.
So use wings to face winds and use rudders to keep the plane in line with the runway. Right?
+VV Kim Not sure what you mean by 'face winds.' You probably understand the concept, but to be sure, let me say that you only need to concentrate on using your ailerons to keep you over the runway center and your rudder to keep you in line with it.
Your point about the wings is correct. Since the wings provide the airplane's lift and your ailerons control the direction of you wings' lift by controlling your angle of bank, it is true that the wings are pulling your airplane into the wind just as fast as the wind is trying to blow you off the runway.
+Douglas Daniel I meant ailerons by wings. "Use my ailerons to keep me over the runway center and my rudder to keep me in line with it." This is exactly what I meant by what I said above. Thanks.
Great programme
Wait, let me get this straight.
So if the wind is coming at your plane from the side, you roll your plane from where the wind is coming from (I.e. wind is coming from the right, therefore, you tilt your plane right a little bit by using your ailerons)?
And when the wind is coming in a diagonal direction towards your plane, you will need to move your nose towards the wind by using your rudders?
I'm thinking of becoming a commercial pilot, I'm just trying to get a headstart (sorry if I didn't get the right terminologies).
+Is This Nikko? If the wind is coming from the right, lower your right wing. You don't care if it is a direct crosswind or not, just lower your right wing to keep the airplane over the runway center AND use your rudder to keep the plane pointed down the runway. Your objective is ALWAYS to keep the airplane centered over the runway and aligned with it when you touchdown.
Douglas Daniel Alright, thanks so much Douglas :)
When I learned to fly in the early 1980's, flight simulators were expensive and pretty rudimentary. If I had what is available now in flight sims, I'd have had a MUCH easier time as a student pilot.
The BEST thing you can do to start is get a good flight simulator software package with a good throttle, yoke and rudder pedals setup. This will be a VERY good way to start and save you a buncha money you'd otherwise have to pay a flight school learning flight basics. Also, get the FAA approved course materials to study for the written exam. Don't waste your time with a cheap joystick because you won't be really learning how to feel the controls while you're flying.
You need to think of the wind coming from the right or left. The should always be coming from in front of you or you would be landing in the opposite direction (with a few rare exceptions). How much the wind is coming from the front is not important to you as cross control in a landing (it is important when you make your decision to land on that runway or not) forget about the exact direction the wind is coming from and just focus on staying over the runway and aligned with it. So, yes, when the wind from the right or right front, lower your right wing and yaw your nose to the the left until you are pointed parallel with the runway and centered over it. Keep centered with your ailerons and aligned with your rudder.
No, don't dip your nose into the wind. The only thing you can sense from the cockpit or care about is how much the wind is coming from the side, called the crosswind COMPONENT of the wind. You dip your nose and you accelerate. Dip or raise your nose only for airspeed control
Time marker 3:09 your lift is always vertical. G force is a result of the elevator input that forms the turning component which will be absent here because you're slipping. The elevator would be used to correct the accelerated descent caused the apparent foreshortening of the wingspan. What about power management on final approach?
Simply use power to control glide path and pitch to control airspeed.
You make things easy to understand. I am not a pilot.
Well... give it a try!
Hello Douglas. Thank you very much for taking valuable time to make such a great video. As I hear your explanation, I get a bit confused. Cross control is scary. The question i have is: On final, you bank towards the wing and press opposite rudder. However, when you overshoot for final, the way pilots stall during final is doing exactly that, cross control. So how much are you supposed to press the rudder and turn the yoke. Thank you.
Hi Juan, Thanks for asking. Pilots who stall when they overshoot the runway centerline while flying base leg try too hard to get back on the extended runway centerline. When they aggressively make that turn they may pull back on the elevator too hard, causing the wing to exceed its critical angle of attack and stall. The cause of ALL stalls is exceeding the wing's critical angle of attack. If they were cross controlled when they stalled, stall recovery is that much more difficult. Cross controlling does NOT cause stalls. There is no question that stalling while cross controlled can lead to some pretty exciting situations. Now... to answer your question. When on short final you should be over the extended centerline of the runway. You should be flying wings level when you start to cross control. You cross control by doing two almost independent things. You press on the downwind rudder to align the airplane with the runway. You continue to push harder until the airplane is aligned. That is how hard you push, how much the rudder control moves. Simultaneously, you lower the upwind wing using your aileron control to prevent the airplane from drifting downwind. You use however much aileron deflection is necessary to keep the airplane's position centered over the runway center and however much rudder deflection as is needed to keep aligned with the runway. If you find that you cannot push the rudder far enough to keep aligned or cannot push the aileron far enough to stay centered then the crosswind is too strong for a safe crosswind landing. You should level the wings, apply full power, go to best rate of climb pitch attitude, start retracting the flaps while you execute a go-around. Hope this helps.
The turn to final is no time to cross control. Always wait until you are established on the centerline of the runway before starting to cross control. Finally, always do things smoothly in an airplane. If you enter your cross controlled configuration smoothly, you'll do a better job, your passengers will not get upset, and you'll be more precise.
Hello Juan Carlos. I’m newly certificated Private Pilot, so take anything I say as rookie talk. To avoid stall during cross-controlled crosswind landings, I make sure to keep the nose down enough so my speed stays in the safe zone. Watch out - your airspeed gauge can get some error when plane is slipping: check your POH. (Cessna 150 airspeed reads low when static port is low & reads high when static port is high.) Also I remember which rudder pedals to use in cross-control by thinking, “Step on the high wing.” Practice with an instructor and tell them what you’re doing. PS it is better to say things like “I’ll speed up” and “I’m fixing my altitude” rather than scare the instructor by saying unclear things like “whoops” or “uh-oh”!
PPS: thanks to Douglas for the video!
Confidence is the result of being able to display performance repeatedly without error.
True
Thank you so much for breaking it down step by step
No sweat.
I don't understand how or why you would cross-control on every landing. Does that include landings with NO crosswind? If so, then how and why would you cross-control your landing?
I've been waiting for someone to ask that question. Thanks. By using cross controlling techniques, I mean: use your rudder to keep the airplane aligned with the runway and your ailerons to keep centered over it. If there is no crosswind component, then that technique will have you centered over the runway (albeit with level wings) and aligned with it.
The advantages of always using the same technique are: 1.) You only have to learn and practice one technique. 2.) You never have to decide if the crosswind component is strong enough that you should use crosswind techniques.
Will you be in a slip in a no-crosswind landing? No, it will be ordinary coordinated flight as long as you stay centered and aligned.
Ah. I see. Thank you for explaining that.
Awesome information
Thanks, hope it helps
This is an excellent explanation for all landings both tricycle and tailwheel. It took me several years to master this technique in my Cessna 170 and it has never failed me.
I appreciate the confirmation from pilots who find this technique viable. (For the benefit of those who might not know, a Cessna 170 is a tailwheel equipped airplane.)
How do you know when you are a foot, a wing span etc..?
You don't. It is just a guess. There are techniques for learning when you are very very close to the ground but not yet touching that I teach but don't have a video on.
@1:44 an exciting landing.... LOL. Love the video and free lesson
😊
Wonderful! Excellent! Subscribed!
Great instruction! The only thing I would add is that once you start to achieve your final "distance off the runway", you need to transition your eyes further down the runway or most likely you will bounce it in.. : )
I agree. Actually I feel there are many more things that could be added but I have learned not to overload my students.... thanks for the comment.
Only issue for me is selecting full flaps. I would use approach flaps appropriate for runway length and approach. Love the concept of flying the plane to touchdown.
I use full flaps because that configuration ensures lowest landing speed, maximum aerodynamic braking, minimum roll-out distance, a consistent landing attitude, and it simplifies landings.
Agreed. My chief pilot at the flight school where I worked in the late 1970s outside of Chicago was an ex WWII P-51 pilot. He insisted all landings by primary students be made with full flaps for the same reason. He also wanted us to teach the students to have the plane in a full stall slightly above the runway so as to "drop in" the final 6 inches or so rather than make a greaser. He wanted the plane fully stalled when it hit the ground. I know there will be many who might argue with this but it does make some sense.
Unknown landings that announce themsekves with tire chirp instead of a thump are much more impressive to the passengers.
My first Comm checkride the examiner told me something Ive never forgotten...
"You can do all the snappy manuvers... now you must learn to fly like you have 40 people in the back."
The rationale is that although your home airport may have a mile and a half long runway(like mine), you will often be arriving at strange little airports with short runways, so you should be good at always landing in as little distance as possible without putting unnecessary wear and tear on the aircraft
I agree with him. In heavier airplane is it not always smart to full stall them on. But I strongly believe that any pilot should master full stall landings first.
I was taught this technique very early in my flight training a long time ago. As I got more experience, I modified it to crab into the wind on final, then as I started the flare I would cross control to lower the upwind wing and point the nose down the runway just before touchdown. I much prefer that, although it does require somewhat more skill.
That's what I do too. But, as you said, it requires more skill.
Happy new year!
I just have only five hours of flying so far I really enjoy it,I was practicing this technique yesterday at about 2,000 feet after watching this video I feel much more confident learning it technique,thanks for the video
By now I am sure you have your license. I hope I helped.
Isn't this the same as a side slip?
In all slips, the airplane moves slightly sideways *through the air*. To me, calling it a side slip or a forward slip just muddies the water.
Is it correct to say that with any significant cross control you will be losing height quicker than expected so should aim for further up the runway?
If your rate of descent increases and your airspeed doesn't, you'll be landing even closer. So I put my aimpoint closer rather than further.
Roll into wind enough to offset the crosswind then apply top rudder to maintain centreline. The plane will then present more drag to the airflow as you are now in a forward slip. Apply more throttle to maintain airspeed / glideslope or nose down elevator to increase rate of descent. I find this technique so much more sensible than the crab approach, in anything more than the most gentle crosswind.
I would rather lower the nose to keep the airspeed up.
Can you sir make a video on how to trim an aircraft ?
Karim Hasnawi I have. I need to post it.
IMO of 50 yrs...
EXCELLENT.
The biggest problem Ive seen is that there arent very many good pilots/good instructors.
We should teach control PRESSURES not movement.
Teaching a neophyte to land with flaps (especially with 30-40* on Cessnas) is poor technique. Airspeed changes too rapidly and stalls too abruptly.
Nothing is more negative to a new student than a thump landing.
Teach them to touch down smoothly rather than a thump and they will be more confident and learn more quickly.
Ever wonder how WWII Cub pilots soloed in 5-6 hrs??
Keep up the good explanations.
I advocate using whatever it takes to put the airplane in the desired attitude. I only think about moving the controls in terms of direction, not distance and I use more pressure if i'm not in the right attitude yet and less pressure if I over shoot.
awesome video :)
So you side-slip into the center line?
Almost. You stay on the centerline and aligned with it by side-slipping. Properly executed, you never leave the centerline.
Great video. Thank you.
When I was learning to fly I nearly crumpled up a 172 by not having been trained to land as described. I stopped flying for a while but when I started back I learned this method. As far as I am concerned this is the ONLY way to get back on the ground safely every time.
I also nearly crumpled a 172. That's why I got serious about analyzing crosswind landings.
Thanks professor, your videos are inspirational. Joe.
Piece of cake! Yea, after practice and more practice!
I agree
Nice video thank you for shearing
- Sharing
My pleasure
Great 👍 video new subscriber
thank u very much
Thank you, from Kevin in hot'n steamy North Central Thailand.
Sure'
Used to practice crossed controls with a crosswind at altitude, coupla hundred feet or so, track a runway, road, power line etc. Not only keep the aircraft inline but also maintain a constant altitude.
I agree. That's in a different lesson. Maybe I should post it.
@@DouglasDanielMOT Excellent instruction, concise, clear and to the point without any fluffing.
The main reason I do not like crab approaches is that at the final moment when you kick the plane to line up with the runway you suddenly loose your cross wind air speed component resulting with sudden reduction in lift and invariably either over correct descent with elevator / throttle and balloon or come thumping to the ground.
Great stuff.
thank you
This is great!
Great video, easy to understand
Thanks, I appreciate the positive feedback.
Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!
You're welcome!
I am not much of a pilot, but the very first time I flew out of a commercial airport on the first lesson (actually it was supposed to be just a pleasure flight, but get us hooked in first time right!) I was handed the controls just after the pilot started the aircraft. I said to him that he has got to be kidding me, he said after hearing what I said in the room before flying he thought I could do it. No pressure right! Anyway, he went over the brakes and controls quickly and said I had to touch the left brake on the run out. He talked to control tower and then told me what to do, anyway, half way through he asked me to throw the aircraft about the sky as much as i wanted to. He told me the stall speed in the classroom before we left and he asked me only once "What speed will you stall at?" I replied it is just a little below the what we are doing while turning, but I am keeping an eye on it. Well first time out I thought it was just move it around the sky a bit, then he said, "No, throw it around the sky but for god sake don't loop the loop or you will rip the wings off". So I did more and more until I got my confidence up, maybe a bit to much, but I loved it. Only mistake I made was when we took off I didn't climb quick enough, but I kept an eye on air speed and scanned the instruments all the time as well as looking around for other aircraft, I saw him watching everything I was doing and smiling every time I scanned the instruments and looked around. Then we went to land and he said we had been out twice as long as was allowed for the flight that was paid for. When we got clearance to land he kept looking over his shoulder saying "I know the controller very well and he is counting on me getting out of the way of the Speedbird (British Airways Airliner) landing behind us, don't make me look stupid me by making the Speedbird go round. "Trust me, I won't" and speed up, he told me the speed to land and then he still took the time to tell me this information that is in this video and what he said was "Go as close to the ground as you dare, if it touches lift it off gently and keep it just off the ground, until it either drops in a stall or lands by itself." I did exactly what he said and had a perfect touchdown. He then said looking over his shoulder, not much time so back right away to the club, he (Speedbird) is almost on top of us, about one and a half miles. It is supposed to be three miles so please do not make a fool of me." I didn't and got off the runway very quickly but safely remembering about the slope going to the club. He said I was the best he ever had as a first timer and he was sorry he was not going to be there "Was I sure I had never flown before?" I replied I had never even been up in an aircraft before." He said "Wow, I didn't realise you had never been off the ground before, I would have loved to stay and get you your licence, but I am starting a job flying as co-pilot next week and then in a few months I am to get a job as captain if I pass their in-house training," "What aircraft are you going to fly" i asked? "747 he said, but I have done lots of hours on the simulator, it is this airline that has offered me the job. Cost a lot of money and I have to be co-pilot for a while but it is worth it.
My second flight elsewhere didn't go so smoothly, the pilot was always taking control and didn't allow me such freedom and it was another aircraft type and it was not trimmed very well, but just as I was about to touch down a gust of wind caught the aircraft and turned it sideways, he took control and landed it on a grass strip. It was a lot rougher than I expected, but it was a big runway I last landed at. The second pilot never mentioned landing techniques which I was surprised at. I thought unusual that he said he was going straight to 747s but he said he had put in so many hours and had indeed flown a few as co-pilot to get hours in and he was not paid as he was flying as back up in the spare seat. But he was allowed to fly to get his hours up
I wish he was still there training as he was so calm and never touched the controls, except to start and to make the fuel rich before I did some throwing around as he called it. Great instructor, wish there were more like him.
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