Cross wind landing
- Enthusiast
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- Joined: 17 Sep 2005, 18:26
I was talking to one of our pilots on a similar day and he said that they land crabbed into the wind all the way through the touchdown and roll out. A normal (not so badass) plane dips the upwind wing and counters with the rudder to keep the plane on the centerline, landing on one wheel but straight down the runway. The pilot said the Viper cant do this because it loses too much lift with its small wings and they run the risk of hitting the missile on stations 1 or 9. So they just land crabbed and stay that way throughout the roll out and "wobble" down the runway until the nose wheel comes down.
- Active Member
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- Joined: 09 Apr 2005, 04:08
Our -1 for the block 10 and 15 MLU states that the maximum cross wind for landing is 25 knots on a dry runway. It feels weird to land in a crab the first time but you get used to it. Once you touch down you maintain the centerline with the rudder. With 25 knots of cross wind the flightpath marker is outside the hud field of view and we therefore use the drift cut out switch.
Greetings to you all at the NSA and everybody else who is reading this on ECHELON.
Salute!
Unless lots has changed, Viper best landed in a crab versus wing-low. Mainly due to the aileron-rudder interconnect.
So two short war stories:
1) Landed at Nellis one day with max crosswind per the flight manual, and I think the tower dudes were fudging a bit to get us down.
Flight path marker was off to one side with the big "x" thru it.
Landed in crab and rolled out just fine
2) When they put the "big tail" on our Bk 10's, we IP's went up in family models to get a feel for the new tail.
So the other IP and I decided to try a "wing-low" slip to landing. I mean, what the hell!
Trust me, not smart, or recommended.
Mains touch and aileron-rudder-interconnect cuts out and WHAHOOOO!
We kept the thing from skidding off the runway or rolling, then regained control.
that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
out,
Unless lots has changed, Viper best landed in a crab versus wing-low. Mainly due to the aileron-rudder interconnect.
So two short war stories:
1) Landed at Nellis one day with max crosswind per the flight manual, and I think the tower dudes were fudging a bit to get us down.
Flight path marker was off to one side with the big "x" thru it.
Landed in crab and rolled out just fine
2) When they put the "big tail" on our Bk 10's, we IP's went up in family models to get a feel for the new tail.
So the other IP and I decided to try a "wing-low" slip to landing. I mean, what the hell!
Trust me, not smart, or recommended.
Mains touch and aileron-rudder-interconnect cuts out and WHAHOOOO!
We kept the thing from skidding off the runway or rolling, then regained control.
that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
out,
Gums
Viper pilot '79
"God in your guts, good men at your back, wings that stay on - and Tally Ho!"
Viper pilot '79
"God in your guts, good men at your back, wings that stay on - and Tally Ho!"
- Forum Veteran
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- Joined: 11 Jul 2007, 17:13
Gums
Do you think the B or D model is harder to land in those condition?
The unit I came from lost two D's both were attributed to pilot error but a contributing factor on one was the flight characteristics (C vs. D), were not taken into account by the pilot.
Unfortunately he never made it out to talk about it later.
Do you think the B or D model is harder to land in those condition?
The unit I came from lost two D's both were attributed to pilot error but a contributing factor on one was the flight characteristics (C vs. D), were not taken into account by the pilot.
Unfortunately he never made it out to talk about it later.
- Forum Veteran
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- Joined: 01 Jul 2007, 18:22
Crab to the flare and if desired you can kick the rudder to straighten the nose out. Its not required but it saves some wear on the tires and makes for a much smoother landing. I've landed both the T-38 and the Viper in 30 knots of crosswind (tower was calling 24 knots each time) before and they take it fine. Its a bit disconcerting though when the runway is over the canopy rail on the approach.
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Depends on how bad we damage the tires.
- Forum Veteran
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- Joined: 01 Jul 2007, 18:22
Crabbing is the opposite of sideslip. Crabbing is when you take your feet off the rudders and let the plane weathervane into the wind. There are some valid uses for sideslip in the Viper but landing isn't one of them. The "flare kick" as I call it seems to me to be the best technique. I hate bouncing down the runway.
- Senior member
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- Joined: 05 Jun 2007, 20:32
Snake or Gums--have either of you ever flown a taildragger? Or more specifically, landed one? You land one of those puppies in a crab and next thing you know you're going down the runway backwards. The best thing I ever did to improve my landings was to learn to fly a taildragger.
There ain't nothin' like a good ole one-wheel-at-a-time wheel landing (mains first, tail in the air) in a nice crosswind to get your directional juices flowing! Of course if you did that in a Viper, you'd probably get a P or R light, screw up your CSFDR recording, and all kinds of various and sundry malfunctions. That's in addition to the ARI disconnect y'all mentioned.
There ain't nothin' like a good ole one-wheel-at-a-time wheel landing (mains first, tail in the air) in a nice crosswind to get your directional juices flowing! Of course if you did that in a Viper, you'd probably get a P or R light, screw up your CSFDR recording, and all kinds of various and sundry malfunctions. That's in addition to the ARI disconnect y'all mentioned.
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