Crosswinds

I own and fly a Tiger Moth -(Brittish WW2 Trainer) and land in crosswinds up to about 20kts. I find that a well timed kick of the rudder pedal just before the moment of touch down brings the aircraft straight and level, making for a smoother landing and putting less stress on the undercarriage / airframe. Why do these pilots not employ the same tactic ? I understand that a 400 seat airliner is markedly different than a 1930s biplane but am surprised that no attempt is made to reduce the considerable stress on the undercarriage.

There is another clip on here of a 747 doing exactly this last minute rudder kick (and making a superb job of it I might add) - so why just bash the plane into the ground in this way ?

Typical crosswind considerations are always a must but in large jets...the variation can be as little as 2.5' of bank angle or you scrape an engine(cowling)...so the canted gear as you will notice on the 777 landing from right of screen to center is angled it also assists in taxiing into tight spots! In the smaller jets I have flown....Lears and Falcons you can use higher bank angles so you don't have to kick out as much on landing.

EITHER WAY THE GUYS LANDING THESE BIRDS ARE SOME HELLACIOUS AVIATIORS>>>>>50KTS IS NO WALK IN THE PARK!

Answer to the Fonz's first question and possibly other peoples speculation!

The 777 and 747 have dynamic undercarriage, which in laymans terms, and in your tiger moth incidence, is a computer connection between a yaw indicator and the directional controll of the main undercarriage... yes... you read correctly... the undercarriage steers and the main oleos angle towards the direction of the approaching tarmac.

Amazing isn't it... Doesn't make these pilots any less heroes for pulling it off... but the technology sure does help.

The Airbus A380 is recently tested for crosswind landing at Keflavik. You can check the videos at Youtube. The A380 does decrab before touchdown, as Airbus' landing gears are not designed to withstand the side impact forces like you see in this video. That's a main design difference compared to the Boeing philosophy. Considering however that the landing gear is typically about 4 % of the total aircraft weight, it's not a bad idea to save weight on that one.
By the way, a nice example of a totally different solution is the B-52. It's too sluggish to decrab, and the wings are too long and too low to try a sideslip approach with a constant roll angle. Therefore the flight crew can turn the main landing gear in such a way that when landing crabbed, the wheels are still aligned with the runway.

Jets are different from high-performance winged aircraft in the crosswind situation. You gotta have POWER. Once landed in an MD-80 in a severe crosswind at DFW. We were bleeding power all over the place, but then rear engine jets often land with a lot of power anyway. The old B727 was notorious for that.

Here's one that is almost better (worse). Once landed in Glasgow, Scotland in a QUARTERWIND! That time was a B737. Coming into Glasgow I thought we were taking the unusual approach. On final the engines were way up and we were having some yaw problems. I figured a crosswind, so after we touched down I looked for the windsock. The doggone thing was coming from about 135 degrees off our nose. I made a comment to the cockpit crew on my way off the plane and they just looked blank faced. The winds had to be swirling and I think they were just as ramped up as we were in the cabin.

Jack

but yea I sure know one thing .. whether tests or actual passenger flights these guys have some fricking talent... Awesome vid mooncat!!!!

Those are some seriously-skilled pilots! I wonder how many times I've landed at something other than straight-on to the runway?

Plane Drifting!

what you people are seeing is a very tricky situation, i was once in the same position for 37 minutes at 15000 feet in egypt, although the crosswinds was not above 40kts it was very potent

ahhhh

FANTASTIC airmanship.

i flly a c152,and have landed in a 10k x/wind.
the limit is 12k.
i DONT,and never will come close to this level of SKILL.SHOWN BY THESE PILOTS.

The jets shown here appear to be Boeing factory products.

In the commercial world, as you might expect, each model airframe is engineered to tolerate crosswind landings and associated landing gear sideloads to a predetermined limit. During the certification process the FAA demands actual landings to the design limits. These then become the published limits we (the pilots) live with.

If you flew the B-727, you recall that the maximum, certificated sidewind component was 29 knots. The airframe was designed for a higher amount but during the scheduled FAA certification test period, the maximum component available was 29 knots...less than the design load. The FAA certification limit was established at that maximum value which is why is seems strange.

Crosswind landings (in aircraft without engineered crosswind landing gear) are performed in any of three generally accepted manners. Level winged approach with (optimally) a kick-out immediately before touchdown. Wing-down approach which lets the upwind main touch first. Not popular since it is easy to scrape the nacelles of the upwind engine on some aircraft such as the B-737. The third method was to use whatever parts of the two pleased your style. Most pilots chose something using the crab method with a little wing-down as the primary style with a kick-out. If you are late on the kick-out, the aircraft will lurch to the runway heading with the passengers bobbling around a little. No big deal. On larger aircraft this is less noticeable.

More information is available but is not necessary for this discussion. Light planes, tricycle gear, conventional gear, military aircraft, vintage/generation of a/c model, etc. ...not to mention runway environment and climatological impact. Details resulting in TMI.

check out airliner.net, photo number 0004088. author gave a detailed description about the testing (supposedly conducted in 1998 for 777-300).

The world is the proving ground of jetliners.... distance is no problem ...... they test cold freezing in Finland, high and hot in Bolivia, Dry, Monsoon, you name it...... I suspect that praire could wery well be somewhere in Argentina or in Mongolia ..or in Mexico's Tehuantepec " La Ventosa " were Trucks flip.

Please Does anyone know where Boeing conducts its crosswind landing tests ?
and even furthermore what about Airbus....... Imagine getting an A380 doing the same...WOW.

Does anyone know the title music of this movie? Please let me know thanks

I had this emailed to me several months ago by a pilot friend back east. The video was posted on youtube. He included the following commentary from a Boeing test engineer who was on the flights. The second of the four landings is from a prior Boeing test of the 747. No details on that one. Here's the commentary from the on-board enginneer....

Cool to watch. It was a bit more freightening on board, particularly
the last one in the video. The tests were a part of the 777
certification program. I flew in the back as a test engineer on those
flights. We did 10 landings that day, it was gusting over 50 knts on
the crosswind, if I remember the conditions correctly. On the third
one in the video, John Cashman, the 777 Chief Test Pilot blew the
approach (IFR approach per the certification requirements.) He was
too high and had to side slip--the use of spoilers or other drag
devices would have invalidated the test. While the landing looks
horrendous, the 777 gear can swivel slightly. The design was not for
cross winds, but to allow a tighter turn on the ramp. Such gear was
first used in commercial aviation on the 747-100. It wasn't intended
as a landing aid, but pilots have used it ever since.

Exactly what thefonz says, its simple that way, I know 3 pilots, that fly them, well, smaller ones, but still quite big, and with the crosswinds, that worked, simple!

The planes were not landed manually. It was auto-land during test flights in extreme crosswinds

The aircrafts you see are Boeing test vehicles (note the Boeing markings and stripes -- no passengers, just the flight crew, test engineers and a bunch a computers). They go through various flight senarios determining the flight envelope of each aircraft, including landing in crosswinds (as the name implies, the wind blowing across the line of the runway, vs. wind shear which blows from top down). The tests are conducted at Edwards AFB which has a very convenient 15,000 ft runway, longest in the world (don't even mention Area 51). Just imagine, coming in and having to look over your shoulder to see the runway. Mike, former Boeing employee.

your name says it alllllllll
probably never heard of the word
crabbing prevents crashing dummie

When landing a plane in crosswind conditions, the pilot puts the nose into the wind as much as possible, full right airlon to keep the wing down and full left rudder to straighten the nose, or vice versa, obviously depending on which way the wind is from. This action is known as crabing .Keep in mind that in most crosswind situations you come in with no power. Lots of fun!

This is acctual footage from Boing testing the new 777 jet airliner.

I have read several comments about similar clips on metacafe and I can now honestly say I am truely an expert. yup these are definatly cross winds and not sheer winds. the pilots did the right thing by bringing these planes down in such conditions. Honestly though, it must be quite the sensation for the pilots to come in like this. looks like it could be fun for an experience pilot under semi-controlled test situations

this is probably the testing of the Boeing 777 for its type rating...it must under go several tests and crosswind landing is one of them...very normal stuff for test pilots, not so normal for the commercial ac pilot, still they are trained for these situations, normally on a flight simulator ...which is very close to real life....
What I would like to see is a wind shear situation ...its the most dangerous flight condition while landing, its a killer!!!

very good top gun pilots.....

Very good

This was the demonstration flights done so that pilots could learn how do land in "extreme" situations. Nothing fake, just very skilled pilots here

Probably Oklahoma City, somewere in the Great Plains

All i can say is they have balls the size of the Sydney Harbour Bridge bringing something that big in all crossed up like that on purpose!!

Anyone know by anychance where they were doing that...I see that the Aircraft are in Boeing Test Liveries...

There is a famous footage of a Korean Air 747 doing a dramatic crab landing at Hong Kong's Kai Tak. It is on flight level 350.com

Those pilots have to be commened for amazing skill

Main gear is not turning. The are fixed, but these x-wind landings would never take place in commercial situation as the landings in the video are testflights performed by Boeing. You can also see this on the probe trailing behind the rudder.

this is not just something testpilots can do.
A pilot with a CPL, ATP needs to know how to do perform a "crab" as it calls.

The song being played is called Return To Innocense by Inigma.

That is some serious flying. To get planes that big sideways like that is truely tremendous. Both the manufacturer and the pilots deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. This technology WILL save lives. Song is Enigma by the way. Cool song.

Does the main landing gear turn in flight when the plane is turned due to the crosswind? Looked that way on the last one. Never knew they did that. Kewl stuff.

That S**t is crazy i cant imagine being a pilot but it would be cool tho.

I have landed a small plane like that before, and it scared the crap outta me! I can't imagine doing that in a 777.

i think i'll quit my private pilot lessons now

son of a b......

thats pretty tite... that song is in that movie Man of the House

those aee all shots from the boeing aircraft company. actually the wind is there but the pilots are making the planes do that in a test flight. to act like a crosswind. but yes those pilots know thier stuff.

It's important to note that these were all cross wind landing tests carried out by Boeing. They are designed to test landing gear and flight capabilities. These were not commercial flights.

esses sao os caras! pilotos pra caralho!ptz!

These are the REAL pilots who deserve every credit for their incredible skills...
Btw, whats the background song called? It sounds nice.

Fly hell, I'll drive. Geezzzzz

take the train, great shots

but just in flight simulator jajajaja and is true is a test flight

for well trained pilots.

Everyone is an expert on this site. Just enjoy the videos, we don't particularly care to hear your nonsensical rambling about what planes you "fly" what training you supposably have or whatever else you all claim to to/be. The planes are landing in crosswinds and whether they are being landed manually or not makes no difference because either way it is very impressive.

I need to F**k a pilot today.. Although he would need to be able to land in crosswinds. Or is it windshear? Oh, who cares as long as he can land his plane on my landing strip. :)