Crosswind Landings
CROSSWIND LANDINGS Imagine one runway with strong wind blowing straight across. Standard landing patterns in this wind will involve either a direct headwind or a direct tailwind on base leg. Choose a headwind on base if you have the option. Descending straight into the wind, you may lose a great deal of altitude before reaching a normal turn-to-final point. Plan for this by turning base – not final – early or high. On late final, as wind strength becomes less near the ground, a crosswind’s influence should actually decrease – assuming you’ve made it that far.
When flying a base leg with a strong headwind, many pilots instinctively start the final turn early and extend that turn throughout most of the approach. This delays lining up and getting their windward wing down, where it belongs for the actual landing. Instead, delay that last turn, make it sharp, and then have more time on final to line up.Do start the final turn early if you must fly the base leg with a direct tailwind, to ensure that you don’t overshoot. Here too, starting the turn steeper than necessary is OK, because it’s always easier to shallow a bank than to steepen it late in the turn.On final approach in a crosswind, should you employ a slip or a crab? Each method has advantages and disadvantages to consider before deciding which to use in any particular situation.A slip may be easier for most inexperienced pilots to handle, as it keeps the fuselage better aligned with the centerline of approach. (Whether using a sideslip for directional control or a forward slip for glide path control, always hold the windward wing low. If you slide off center in that direction, it’s easy to correct by leveling the wings and drifting back downwind to the proper alignment.) The disadvantage of slipping at very low altitude is that a late recovery could bring the low wing tip dangerously close to obstacles near the threshold, runway lights, or even the ground.Crabbing requires a subtle feel for the air and the ship. Its advantage: the wings remain horizontal, greatly reducing the chance of a ground loop. The problem: the fuselage is traveling sideways on approach, and so must be redirected with rudder in the moment before touchdown to avoid side-loading the wheel and airframe.A compromise, using lesser degrees of both methods will minimize the disadvantages of each. With increasing experience, you should find it easier to rely on feel, executing each landing individually, one moment at a time. When you reach this point, crosswind landings are not troublesome, they’re fun!If you’re slightly off-line from the runway on final approach – with or without a crosswind – the simplest solution is best: bank briefly in the direction you need to go. (This is an uncoordinated maneuver, and therefore inefficient, but you’re trying to get down, so efficiency no longer matters.)