How to do a CROSSWIND LANDING in a Boeing 737NG

Summary

In this Mentour video podcast, the focus is on crosswind landings, a challenging aspect of piloting. The script explains the difference between an aircraft's heading and its actual track due to wind, using the analogy of navigating a boat against a current. It delves into the complexities of landing with crosswinds, discussing three techniques: de-crab during flare, crab maintained during landing, and the side slip maneuver. The video aims to clarify why crosswind landings are problematic, especially for inexperienced pilots, and the importance of practice and restrictions on crosswind limits for safety.

Takeaways

• 😀 Crosswind landings can be challenging for pilots due to the difference between an aircraft's heading and its actual track, influenced by wind.
• 🚤 The concept of crosswind landing is similar to navigating a boat against a current to reach a specific point.
• ✈️ Aircraft adjust their heading into the wind to maintain the correct track during flight, especially important during takeoff and landing.
• 📉 During flight, wind can affect ground speed, causing an aircraft to move faster or slower depending on the direction of the wind.
• 🛬 Crosswind landings require precise maneuvers to align the aircraft with the runway while compensating for the wind's effect.
• 🦀 There are three techniques for crosswind landings: de-crab during flare, crab maintained during landing, and side slip maneuver.
• 🚫 Large commercial aircraft avoid the side slip maneuver due to its complexity and the risk of damage from gusty conditions.
• 🔄 The de-crab technique involves aligning the aircraft with the runway during the final phase of landing to counteract the crab angle caused by the wind.
• 🛫 Pilots must manage multiple controls simultaneously during crosswind landings, including rudder, ailerons, and flare to maintain stability.
• 🚁 Inexperienced pilots may struggle with coordinating these controls, leading to potential issues such as hard landings or loss of directional control.
• 🚫航空公司对初级飞行员在强侧风条件下的着陆有限制，以确保安全并避免过度的侧风影响。
• 📚 The script suggests that practice and experience are crucial for mastering crosswind landings, with restrictions in place for less experienced pilots.

Q & A

What is the difference between an aircraft's heading and its track?

The heading is the direction where the aircraft's nose is pointing, while the track is the actual path the aircraft is following through the air, which is affected by the wind.

Why is understanding the wind's effect on an aircraft important for pilots?

Understanding the wind's effect is crucial because it influences the aircraft's track and can significantly impact takeoff and landing procedures, especially in crosswind conditions.

How does a pilot use the concept of a boat crossing a river with current to explain crosswind landings?

The pilot uses the analogy to illustrate how an aircraft must angle into the wind to counteract its effect, similar to how a boat angles into a river current to reach a specific point on the opposite bank.

What is the primary impact of wind on an aircraft during flight at altitude?

At altitude, the primary impact of wind is on the aircraft's ground speed, causing it to be faster with a tailwind and slower with a headwind.

Why do crosswinds become a problem during takeoff and landing?

During takeoff and landing, the aircraft must maneuver in relation to a fixed point on the earth, and crosswinds can make it challenging to maintain the correct approach path and alignment with the runway.

What is an ILS, and how does it relate to crosswind landings?

An ILS, or Instrument Landing System, provides a specific track, the localizer, and a glide slope for aircraft to follow during landing. Pilots must adjust for crosswinds to stay on this path for a safe approach.

What are the three techniques mentioned for landing an aircraft in crosswind conditions?

The three techniques are de-crab during flare, crab maintained during landing, and the side slip maneuver.

Why is the side slip maneuver not commonly used in large commercial aircraft?

The side slip maneuver is not used in large commercial aircraft because it is difficult to maintain the track line, especially in gusty conditions, and there is a risk of damaging the wingtip or engine nacelle.

What is the de-crab technique, and when is it used during landing?

The de-crab technique involves aligning the aircraft with the runway during the final phase of landing, typically around 20 feet above the ground, by using rudder to counteract the crab angle caused by crosswinds.

Why is it recommended to be slightly on the upwind side of the runway centerline during a crosswind landing?

Being slightly on the upwind side helps ensure that as the aircraft de-crabs, the wind's push will help it touch down closer to the centerline, avoiding landing too far downwind.

What are some challenges inexperienced pilots may face when performing crosswind landings?

Inexperienced pilots may struggle with coordinating multiple control inputs simultaneously, such as de-crabbing, applying aileron, and flaring, which can lead to a rough landing or loss of directional control.

How do airlines typically restrict crosswind landings for first officers with low flight hours?

Airlines may impose restrictions such as limiting the maximum crosswind component to 15 knots or 2/3 of the limiting value for first officers with less than 500 hours of flight experience.

How does the condition of the runway affect an aircraft's crosswind landing capability?

On slippery runways due to ice, slush, or standing water, the aircraft's crosswind landing capability decreases because there is less friction for the tires to maintain directional control after landing.

Outlines

00:00

🛫 Understanding Crosswind Landings

This paragraph introduces the topic of crosswind landings, explaining why they can be challenging for pilots. It discusses the difference between an aircraft's heading and its track, using the analogy of a boat crossing a river with a strong current to illustrate the concept. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of wind in determining an aircraft's actual path and how pilots must adjust for crosswinds during takeoff and landing, particularly when using an Instrument Landing System (ILS). It also introduces three techniques for crosswind landings: de-crab during flare, crab maintained during landing, and the side slip maneuver, with a focus on the first two methods commonly used in commercial aviation.

05:04

🚀 Mastering Crosswind Landing Techniques

This paragraph delves deeper into the practical aspects of crosswind landings, focusing on the crab angle technique and the de-crab during flare method. It explains how pilots align the aircraft with the runway during the final stages of landing by using rudder and aileron inputs to counteract the roll moment caused by the crab angle. The paragraph highlights the challenges faced by inexperienced pilots, who may struggle to coordinate multiple control inputs simultaneously. It also discusses the risks associated with landing on slippery runways and the potential for directional control issues post-landing. The speaker mentions company restrictions for first officers with less than 500 hours of experience, limiting their crosswind landing capabilities to ensure safety.

10:07

📚 Conclusion and Community Engagement

The final paragraph wraps up the discussion on crosswind landings and invites viewers to engage with the Mentour community. It encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel and download the Mentour aviation app for a more interactive experience, mentioning a recent visit by Captain Joe who answered questions within the app. The speaker expresses hope that the technical content was informative and well-received, and reminds viewers to take care of themselves, signaling the end of the video podcast.

Keywords

💡Crosswind Landings

Crosswind landings refer to the technique used by pilots to land an aircraft when wind blows across the runway rather than along its length. This can create challenges as the aircraft needs to be maneuvered to counteract the wind to ensure a safe touchdown. In the video, the presenter discusses how crosswind landings pose problems for pilots and the techniques used to manage them.

💡Heading

Heading is the direction in which the nose of the aircraft is pointed, usually expressed in degrees relative to true or magnetic north. It differs from the aircraft's track, which is the actual path over the ground. The video explains that understanding this difference is crucial when dealing with crosswinds.

💡Track

Track is the actual path an aircraft follows over the ground, which can be influenced by wind. The video illustrates how a pilot must consider the track to reach the desired destination, especially in the presence of crosswinds.

💡Crab Angle

Crab angle is the angle between the aircraft's heading and its track, used to counteract wind drift. During crosswind landings, pilots use the crab technique to align the aircraft with the runway by maintaining a crab angle until just before touchdown. The video details different landing techniques involving crab angles.

💡De-crab

De-crabbing is the technique of aligning the aircraft's nose with the runway just before touchdown by using the rudder to eliminate the crab angle. This is necessary to ensure a smooth landing. The video explains this maneuver as a critical part of crosswind landing procedures.

💡Side Slip

Side slip is a maneuver where the aircraft is banked into the wind while using opposite rudder to align the nose with the runway. This technique helps maintain the correct track in crosswinds but is not commonly used in large commercial aircraft due to the risk of ground contact with the wing or engine. The video discusses why this method is less favored in larger aircraft.

💡Localizer

A localizer is part of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) that provides horizontal guidance to pilots, ensuring the aircraft stays on the correct path towards the runway. The video describes how pilots follow the localizer during crosswind approaches to maintain the desired track.

💡Glide Slope

The glide slope is a component of the ILS that provides vertical guidance, helping pilots descend at the correct angle to the runway. The video mentions the glide slope in the context of ensuring a proper descent during crosswind landings.

💡Rudder

The rudder is a control surface on the aircraft's tail that controls yaw, allowing the pilot to align the aircraft's nose with the runway during de-crabbing. The video highlights the use of the rudder in crosswind landings to achieve proper alignment before touchdown.

💡Aileron

Ailerons are control surfaces on the wings that control roll, helping the aircraft maintain level flight. In crosswind landings, pilots use ailerons to counteract the roll moment caused by the wind during the de-crabbing maneuver. The video explains how ailerons are used alongside the rudder for a smooth landing.

💡Ground Speed

Ground speed is the actual speed of the aircraft relative to the ground, affected by wind conditions. The video explains that crosswinds impact ground speed, with tailwinds increasing it and headwinds decreasing it, affecting flight duration and landing approach.

Highlights

Introduction to the topic of crosswind landings and its challenges for pilots.

Explanation of the difference between an aircraft's heading and its actual track due to wind.

Analogy of a boat in a river current to understand aircraft's relation to wind during flight.

Clarification on how wind affects an aircraft's ground speed and maneuvering during takeoff and landing.

Description of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and its role in landing procedures.

Technique of 'de-crab during flare' used in crosswind landings explained.

Alternative landing technique 'crab maintained during landing' for slippery runway conditions.

Introduction of the 'side slip maneuver' for crosswind landings in small aircraft.

Risks associated with the side slip maneuver in large commercial aircraft.

Detailed process of performing a crosswind landing with crab angle and de-crab technique.

Importance of aligning the aircraft with the runway during the final stages of landing.

The concept of being slightly upwind of the runway centerline to counteract wind push during landing.

Challenges faced by inexperienced pilots during crosswind landings.

The necessity of practicing crosswind landings to build the required skill set.

Restrictions on crosswind landings for first officers based on their flight hours.

Impact of runway conditions on crosswind landing capabilities and safety.

Encouragement for viewers to subscribe and engage with the Mentour aviation app community.

Closing remarks and sign-off, highlighting the value of technical videos and future content.

Transcripts

Hi everybody very welcome to Mentour and yet another video podcast, as always

hope you're doing absolutely fantastic out there. Today on the podcast guys

We're going to be talking about crosswind landings, right? Are they a problem for pilots?

How does it work and what kind of techniques to be used, so stay tuned you want to love this!

Right guys in order to start talking about why crosswinds actually pulls a problem for pilots

You have to understand how an aircraft flies in relation to the surrounding air and the wind around it. Okay um

There is a difference between where the aircraft is pointing

which is heading and where the aircraft is actually going which is its track. Okay? And

That has to do with the wind

Now in order to understand this you need to picture picture a boat, right?

Say that you want to... You're on a

Boat and you want to cross a river and the river has some quite strong current in it

And you want to reach to a specific point on the other side of the river

Now if you would sit in the boat

and you would just head to watch that point the current is going to push the boat so that you end up at

A point that is much more down river down what you were intending, okay? That makes sense doesn't it?

So in order for you to actually arrive to the point you want to arrive

You need to put the boat at an angle and then

Drive the boat at that angle towards the stream that way you will achieve the point that you're aiming for

Now an aircraft works exactly the same, but instead of a strong current we have

moderate or strong winds

So when an aircraft is flying down route? Let's say that we're up at our altitude might be 38,000 feet or something, up there

There's very very strong winds, okay? so this means that the aircraft is almost never pointing towards the point it wants to achieve

It's pointing towards the wind and the aircraft is then following a track

Which is the... that is the line that the aircraft is actually flying

So the difference is heading is where nose is pointing and the track is where the aircraft is actually going, okay, so

Handling wise for us when we're flying at an altitude

there's no difference, right, the only the only real effect that the wind has is that it will give us either a higher or a

slower

Ground speed so if we have a tailwind we will go quicker to where we're going and if we have head wind will go slower

That makes sense doesn't it?

Now the only time that this actually becomes a problem is during takeoff and landing, okay?

Because then we... the aircraft has to fly and maneuver in relation to a fixed point on the earth

And obviously the point on the earth is standing still but the wind over that point is moving, so

We are typically flying in... on

instrument landing system, an ILS, okay

And that is one given track that you have to follow the localizer down towards runway and a glide slope

That shows you how you are going to have to descend in order to arrive at your touchdown point in the correct

in the correct way

So how do we do that then? Well think about the boat again, okay?

Essentially that is what an aircraft does, we come in on the localizer

And we will be pointing the nose towards the wind in order to achieve the localizer

So we're just following that down, so you have a runway sitting like this

And then you have the aircraft pointing in towards the wind if the wind is coming from this direction

It's pointing to watch that and it's following the correct track down

Okay now

Here is where the fun begins okay. There are three different ways that you can land an aircraft in crosswind

You can land it either with a de-crab during flare

Which is what we normally do and I'll explain how we do that in a second you can do it with a crab

Maintained during landing. It's a landing with the crab

This is something that we do when the... when the runway for example is slippery

Or wet or it is very wet, you know if it's just a little bit moist or damp. It's fine

we do the de-crab, and

The third way is the side slip maneuver

Okay

the side slip maneuver essentially

You do in order to be able to point the nose down the runway the whole time during the approach

Okay, so you might start with a crab and then somewhere at about a thousand feet

Or so you put a rudder into the wind

Sorry in towards the runway in order to align the nose with the runway

And then since you're doing that in order to keep the track going because obviously if you just point your nose towards the runway

And you have a strong crosswind the aircraft is going to move away

so in order to do... to keep the track you then have to put aileron in and

Bank the aircraft so you're sitting now pointing down the runway with a bank angle flying down the localizer that is called a side slip

Okay

And the side slip maneuver is something that we do not use on large commercial

Aircraft and reason is that it's fairly hard especially in gusty conditions

to maintain the track line and since you're now flying with one wing low if you get

Gusts during the landing part, during the flare

the aircraft might actually hit either the wingtip or the engine nacelle

And this is something that we obviously want to avoid so the sideslip maneuver is something that you might be doing in a small aircraft

Especially in a Cessna that has the wings above you, but in large commercial aircraft we just do not do it, okay?

So that brings us to how we actually do in landing then

so

Imagine the aircraft coming in towards the runway with the crab angle that we were discussing before the crab angle is basically the difference between

Your track-line that you're following and the heading that aircraft is keeping so you're coming in with a crab like this

Okay, you're following the glide slope down the localizer and then during the actual flare at around 20 feet or so

then

the pilot flying

Will push

rudder in, to align the aircraft with the runway, okay, so it's

Initially it's pointing the other way and now as you're landing you want to align yourself to avoid

A big movement like this during landing, so you put some rudder in

That aligns the aircraft

But obviously now you have to... since the... since you're moving the aircraft like this the down

Sorry the upwind wing is going to move faster than the downwind one that will create a bit of a roll moment

So you have to put a little bit of aileron in towards the... the wind as well

so now the last 20 feet or so you will have a little bit of cross controls in order to keep the wings level and

Then you obviously

Touch down exactly on the touchdown point and on the centerline now if you're coming in

with really strong crosswinds

It's a good idea to be slightly on the upwind side of

the runway centerline

Because as you're de-crabbing now those last 20 feet the wind will start pushing the aircraft and will start pushing it

Towards the downwind side so it's a good idea

To be slightly on the upwind side of the centerline so as you do this de-crab maneuver you touch down exactly

Where you're supposed to, okay? So that's the... that's the theory behind it. Now the reason that this is a problem for people especially

People who has low experience is that it is a lot of movement that has to be done

At the same time you have to both de-crab, put the aileron in and flare at the same time, okay? This becomes

This is something

This is a skill that you build up by being exposed to it in the beginning what typically happens

Especially to cadets is that they forget one of the things so they might be really really

Concentrated of putting the rudder in in order to align themselves with the centerline

But then they forget to flare because they concentrate too much on that or the other thing is that they don't put any... any

Rudder in at all and then you land like we were saying before with a crab angle which is fine

If the runway is slippery because if the runways slippery that is actually a good thing because you might

Need that slight crab angle in order to maintain directional control as you are landing and the fact that it's slippery

Doesn't give you that kind of jolt that you get otherwise, but if you do this on on a dry runway

Then what happens is basically what you saw if you saw that nearly viral video of the Airbus 380

That landed in strong crosswinds just a few weeks ago and got a lot of this ass movement going

What essentially happened there was that they decrab a little bit too little

so they landed with a crab angle and of course the aircraft then continued in the direction that the wheels were keeping the

Pilots had to put a lot of rudder in to get back onto the centerline they put a little bit too much rudder in which

Meant that it went on the other side and then they had to put

Opposite rudder in and you get this kind of ass movement going, right... this can happen and especially during line training and during training

It's fairly

It's fairly

Common to see this happening, and this is why we practice it

And it's also why we tend to have restrictions on how much crosswind a an

inexperienced first officer can have

So in my company what we've said is that up to 500 hours the first officers cannot land with more crosswind than 15 knots

or

2/3 of the limiting value if that's

lower than that and

It can be lower because if you are landing on a runway that is very slippery then

Since we have... since we get quite a lot of our directional control while we're on the ground by the friction of the tires, okay

if that friction

Disappears if it's slippery then we might not have enough

Control, directional control, after we've landed to maintain the centerline and the wind might start pushing us off the runway

And this is why you will see that as the the braking action starts decreasing if it's flooded runway

Or if it's ice or slush or standing water on the runway

Well, then the crosswind capability disappears, right? It goes down very very low to almost nil when it's really slippery

Guys I hope that

Explanation makes sense. I hope you like these slightly more technical videos

I will do more these handling videos coming down make sure you subscribe to the channel and make sure that you get the Mentour aviation

App all right we have a great community going inside of the app now just a few days ago

Captain Joe was visiting the app and in the chat answering questions

And I'm trying to get more interesting people coming in and answering questions for you, so get the app. It's completely free and

Wherever you are in the world make sure you take care of yourself, and I'll see you next time

Goodbye