Crosswinds On Rails

I enjoyed Jeb Burnside's article, Crosswinds On Rails, in the July issue and some further suggestions about crosswind landings, plus a correction:

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

When performing a slipping crosswind landing, crab the aircraft down to lower altitudes (100-30 feet AGL) before slowly putting the wing down and smoothly swinging the nose straight, rather than setting up the slip too early.
Avoid swinging the nose quickly to align with the runway, as this can induce a rudder-roll, causing the upwind wing to rise due to reduced aileron effectiveness at the high angles of attack typically experienced in the flare.
To maintain crisper aileron control through the landing, add 10 knots to your landing speed. The maneuver to align the aircraft with the runway should be smooth but uncoordinated (a slip), not coordinated.

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I enjoyed Jeb Burnside’s article, “Crosswinds On Rails,” in the July issue and some further suggestions about crosswind landings, plus a correction:

If you use the slipping technique landing upwind wheel first, I suggest that you don’t set up too early with your slip on final. The winds even at 200 feet agl usually are much stronger than at the surface, so you may have lots of cross-control input and the added power all that drag requires. Just crab it down to 100 feet or even 30 feet, then slowly put the wing down while swinging the nose straight. This works well whether I’m flying an MD-88 or my J-3.