Fear of Crosswind landings

[falconvalley]

I'm gonna go conservative here and say don't solo that crosswind unless your very comfortable with it. Didn't your instructor put limitations on you soloing? Man, I wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near a crosswind like that by myself before I checkrideded.

Hope everything went well.

 

[casey]

I'm gonna go conservative here and say don't solo that crosswind unless your very comfortable with it. Didn't your instructor put limitations on you soloing? Man, I wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near a crosswind like that by myself before I checkrideded.

I agree about not going unless you are comfortable with the conditions, and that applies to any situation when flying.

The second part I dont get, but dont get me wrong, i hear it a lot. Are you any better at xwind takeoff/landings after the PPL checkride than before it? I dont think so, and I'd much rather teach a student to deal with huge xwinds to the point that I'd be ok signing him off to solo in those conditions, than to send a student to a checkride with an 8kt limit.

 

[USMC-SSGT]

get tailwheel endorsed, that will solve most wind problems. I didnt really get good at landing in general until i got signed off in a tailwheel. You do not have a choice but to keep it straight and on the centerline and if your feet are not actively alive on the pedals then the plane will show you who is boss.

 

[Airdale]

lol. I can't wait to see what DDog has to say about this.

Well for me, I didn't feel comfortable with crosswinds until around 200hrs. I could do them sure, and everytime I would get better and better. But up until that point I would be a little weary of crosswinds. Now the wind doesn't bother me, but I remember it took awhile for me to get comfortable with them. Maybe thats what I should have said instead.

 

[deserteaglle]

Well for me, I didn't feel comfortable with crosswinds until around 200hrs. I could do them sure, and everytime I would get better and better. But up until that point I would be a little weary of crosswinds. Now the wind doesn't bother me, but I remember it took awhile for me to get comfortable with them. Maybe thats what I should have said instead.

Yeah I know what ya meant, it's just that DDog and I have joked about this subject and both come from places where xwind technique is a necessity before you can solo at all. I think my first solo was in a 11kt xwind...not anything too rough, but no lamb either.

And on my first solo xcountry with 30 hrs, I had a REALLY hairy xwind at SNK. But by then I'd been in the pattern enough to know the plane well enough inthose conditions, carry more speed, less flaps, and be thankful for the long rwy.

 

[Dugie8]

I still hate crosswinds, I mean seriously can't the wind see which way I want to land and adjust itself, COME ON!

Get out there and do them, with a CFI if you are really uncomfortable, and recognize your limits and those of the airplane.

 

[BrettInLJ]

What is the best remedy? Do more and more of them?

The best remedy is to come to Skymates!

Seriously though, I don't think I was that good at them until I came to the DFW area. I now actually kind of enjoy the challenge of a 90 degree crosswind. It is natural when you are learning to find them very challenging. The trick is to just do what needs to be done with rudder for alignment and aileron for drift correction. You may find that you will be "dancing" on the rudder pedals to do what it takes to keep that alignment. The aileron correction for drift will be less dramatic, and you will want to keep it in more rather than constantly adjust it like the rudder (with many exceptions).

You will get the feel for it after time, just try to fly the plane and not overthink the inputs.