What do y'all think of this crosswind?

[Jeanie]

I've heard of cows eating fabric off a plane.... Duct tape is your friend

 

[txflyer]

I've heard of cows eating fabric off a plane.... Duct tape is your friend

What will donkeys or jackasses do? I've got three that just showed up that I had to trap in my strip pasture on our place down here. I have not landed there since I trapped them.

I'm worried they'll do something stupid.

 

[Jeanie]

I'd bet youd be right. I wouldn't trust them either. Have you checked with the ranches nearby if they've lost some.. Or maybe the sheriff knows where they might be from.

Did you used to fly here in alpine? I knew a guy whose family was from Hereford.

 

[BillTIZ]

Supposed to go up this afternoon for a checkout in the Archer, with winds 14g22, 80 degrees off the runway. Now, that's above my personal limitations, but I really need to get some more experience with crosswinds. Is this something most instructors would/should fly in? Keep in mind the Archer has a 17kt demonstrated xwind capability.

There are not many chances to get great xwind practice with an instructor on board. If he's up to it, go.

Unless you are expecting some turbulence with that wind which would make the pattern totally uncomfortable.

Demonstrated xwind is not a limit. It's the worse the test pilot experienced.

 

[txflyer]

I'd bet youd be right. I wouldn't trust them either. Have you checked with the ranches nearby if they've lost some.. Or maybe the sheriff knows where they might be from.

Did you used to fly here in alpine? I knew a guy whose family was from Hereford.

No, never flown through Alpine yet, but I hear it's pretty country. We haven't lived in Hereford for over thirty years, so everyone we know is about gone or forgotten, but we still have a place up there.

Back to X-winds, I wheelie land my 180 with no flaps when the component is max'd out. Bet I'll get a lot of flap about that. The trippy part is when the tail starts to lose lift and wants to come down.

I call it 'The Twilight Zone'

 

[MikeELP]

...I once had a night landing that ASOS reported 20G29 on short final and I hit a HUGE shear ... immediate go-around, and then heard "Updated weather, winds now 38G45" ... I landed Las Cruces and waited it out.

Weenie!!

Seriously, Dan...I think we need to get that AWOS fixed so it'll say "Updated advisory...winds now 180 at 38 gust 45 h0ly $h!t, you're screwed!!!"

Mike

 

[zaitcev]

The trippy part is when the tail starts to lose lift and wants to come down.

Please, don't leave us hanging -- what do you do then? Add power (for rudder authority) and apply brakes simultaneously?

 

[Bill Watson]

If you run out of rudder then fly along the rwy till it straightens out when the gust lulls then land. If it doesn't straighten out go around!

I've run out of rudder on short final in my Maule more than once but found that wind gradient can be your friend as you go into the flare. I learned not to give up until in the flare. Gusts work that way too.

That would be too much for me in a tailwheel. I'm much more squeamish about wind in my decathlon.

Jeanie, your Decathlon is one of the most capable wind airplanes ever constructed...if the crosswind is so strong you can't land on the centerline, heck, a good pilot can probably land in the width of any 150ft wide runway. Only problem is, one can land it in wind that it can't be taxied. Most of the aerobatic airplanes have such authoritative flight controls. If the wind is blowing dogs off chains, I'll take a Citabria/Decathlon over any Cessna/Piper. Practice, practice...you'll see.

I've never flown a Citabria/Decathalon but I'm thinking the same thing. In the Maule, they recommend zero or reflex flaps in strong xwinds. What they don't say in the manual but what experience Maule folks know, you land it 3 point no matter what the wind. With zero flaps, it's still flying in the 3 point stance. I'm thinking there's some optimal techniques in the C/D planes.

For Taxi, if you can't do a 90deg downwind turn, the 270 can work.

You just have to keep the steers away from the plane. They'll lick the **** out of it all over. I don't know why they do that...

I don't either but know it's not the fabric. They lick composite sailplanes the same way. I just worry about the inadvertant head raise under the T-tail.

 

[BillTIZ]

wow i dont go out when its like 11-15 u guys talking big numbers. Im sure once i practice more cross wind i will like it and want to do it more. But no time and not much experience. But I though its a big no no no if its passed the planes demonstrated cross wind .

Depending on where you are, if you're not flying in a 15-20knt wind, you'll never fly.

It's hard to go cross country, as in "across the country" without dealing with a good crosswind.

 

[txflyer]

Please, don't leave us hanging -- what do you do then? Add power (for rudder authority) and apply brakes simultaneously?

I like to keep enough power in to keep the tail washed with air. Maybe only 15 on the MP. But I'll have the throttle all over the place if it's bad, so you just keep your hand on the up and down knob and be ready to go around.

In a bad X-wind I fly the 180 down hot, hold centerline on short final with the ailerons and rudder, 0 flaps and do a wheelie on one main if I have to,, not a three point more-at-stall-speed type landing, is another way to put it. It's in the POH. No flaps on a 180 is recommended for x-winds. It does not specify wheelie or three pointer, but my technique is, it's a wheelie.

I'm a drop wing / hold centerline guy. Not a crab and kick **** kicker nose dragger .. :

 

[Bill Watson]

I'm a drop wing / hold centerline guy. Not a crab and kick **** kicker nose dragger .. :

Amen!

 

[danhagan]

wow i dont go out when its like 11-15 u guys talking big numbers. Im sure once i practice more cross wind i will like it and want to do it more. But no time and not much experience. But I though its a big no no no if its passed the planes demonstrated cross wind .

Those BIG numbers come with BIG bumps in the mountain areas. Those landings are FUN from 75 to 200 hours. Just crossed 500 hours and now say,"What fun is that?!" or BTDT.

Weenie!!

Seriously, Dan...I think we need to get that AWOS fixed so it'll say "Updated advisory...winds now 180 at 38 gust 45 h0ly $h!t, you're screwed!!!" Mike

Ha! That'd be hilarious ... or "winds now 180 @ 38G45 ... there are TWO fields with multiple runways in the region, best start heading that way pardner"

 

[LDJones]

About the time I thought I was a crosswind guru in a trike I bought a Stinson taildragger and found out I wasn't as good as I thought.

Today I was instructing in the Jabiru in a 90 deg xwind at 14G21 and found out at the upper end of the gusts you had pretty well exhausted all her control authority. It was sporty to say the least.

 

[kenjr]

...we have intersecting runways at the class D i trained on. My CFI would request the off-runway when the pattern was empty and I did a few at the absolute max of the plane...like rudder all the way to the floor kind of stuff. It's insane...and hard.

I live in central Texas and this spring was as windy as I could ever remember it...or maybe it was just because I was flying and I paid more attention to it...either way, I got a lot of X-practice and am happy for it. I avoid windy days when at all possible now - even with my license...but if I go too long, I'll grab my CFI (my school is about 50 steps from my hangar) and go wrestle it down with him.