The crosswind technique pictured above is actually pretty good. We can’t know the wind’s velocity, but the pilot has a healthy bit of left aileron cranked in with what appears to be enough right rudder to keep things rolling straight at touchdown. And that’s what we should be trying to achieve. My problem had been not using all the control authority I had. I had established a bank into the wind, and aligned the flightpath with the rudder. But I was still all over the place, unstabilized. Curing this turned out to be as simple as sitting up straight, ensuring my legs could leverage full rudder travel, and then using it to manage the healthy aileron input I needed. Voilà!
If you’re having trouble with crosswinds, you may not be using enough of your airplane’s control authority.
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
