Those of you familiar with southern Manitoba know that there always seems to be a stiff breeze blowing. Flying straight into the wind, or with the wind at your back, doesn’t pose too many difficulties for flight, other than slowing you down (headwind) or speeding you up (tailwind). Winds at any other angle can make directional control difficult, especially on take-off and landing, two situations where good directional control at slow speeds is particularly important.
The wind today was steady from the west at 12 knots, gusting to 25 knots. The wind direction wasn’t too far off the active runway (310 degrees), so the crosswind component was within limits. We made the decision to go ahead and practice crosswind landings. Note: every aircraft has a maximum demonstrated crosswind limit and the operating manual includes a chart to help determine if a landing should even be attempted under certain conditions.
It was definitely challenging, but everything went well enough. I was the only aircraft in the circuit, which made it much easier to concentrate. The trick is to line up with the runway using a side-slip. In this case, the wind was on the plane’s left side, so I had to lower the left wing into the wind while at the same time applying opposite rudder to prevent the resulting turn. The aircraft touches down on the left main wheel first, then the right main wheel and then the main gear. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to go. I managed a few smooth landings, but also a few hard ones. No damage, no casualties, no problem.
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