Crosswind Landing:

This is the difficult part, but we will help you to perform that. This takes a lot of practice. :)
First of all, you must create a crosswind. Go into weather settings, and turn up the wind velocity.

Step 1:
When you have made your descent from 35,000ft to 10,000 Ft, Landing lights and strobe lights are on, continue to descent to 4000 Ft and maintain below 240Knots.

Step 2: 
At 4000 Ft, Flaps 1... Turn towards runway, at a speed of 200 knots. Maintain 3000 feet until runway is in sight. 
Slow down to 160 knots once you are about 7 nm away from airport. 5nm away from airport, gear down. You should follow the ILS (the circle) and make it align with the runway. Use the small circle in the centre, which estimates your path, and make it align with teh runway.

Step 3: 
At 50 feet, use the rudder against the wind, pull the nose up, reduce speed. On touchdown, hold the rudder, then slowly release it and align yourself with the runway centreline.

Step 4:
Apply reverse thrust, push slowly nose down, spoilers should be armed and flaps Full. When you reach 60 Knots, brakes On and Lose speed from 60 to 20 knots!

Step 5:

Go taxiing at 20 Knots and park plane at gate! 


This is how to make a crosswind landing!
^_^

12 comments:

  1. "That round thing on the ILS" is actually not on the ILS, but it is called the Flight Path Vector, it is used to show actual aircraft heading and pitch and is a part of the HUD not the ILS. It looks like a little wobbly circle with two horizontal lines below and to the sides of it. It can usually be found near the center of the screen, but it does move around.

    Also, I wouldn't use the rudder for this sort of thing. It's easier to try changing the autopilot's heading slightly into the wind by a few degrees and letting the FPV be your guide. You could even do that manually, the rudder is more of a last resort kind of tool, only used in drastic moves. But it does play a pivotal role in turning in flight, because it keeps the plane's altitude at a constant by holding the nose down. But it shouldn't be used for pivoting.

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    Replies
    1. Good information there, very knowledgeable.
      However, rudders are indeed used in real life to compensate for crosswinds.

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  2. For planning your descent, there are two simple equations that you can use to get you almost all the way there and work every time if you do the calculations right. You can usually use the cruising period to do them and it is really helpful to have a pencil and paper, and maybe a calculator if necessary.

    1. Rate of descent or VS: Take your GS, the speed that you are going while you are cruising, and multiply it by five. If you cruise at 360 kts, your VS should be 1,800 fpm and if you cruise at 150 kts, your VS should be at 750 fpm.
    (If you're flying an airliner, your VS should be lowered to 1,000 fpm once you are below 5,000 feet and then adjusted accordingly until it's around 600-700 for the glide slope on final approach.)

    2. Distance of descent start. It's important to figure out how far away from the airport you have to be when you begin your descent, that way you don't over shoot the airport and have to go around. To calculate the distance needed is easy, you just take your cruise altitude, divide it by 1,000 and multiply by 3. If you cruise at 30,000 feet, then 30,000/1,000= 30, and 30x3=90, you begin your descent when you are 90 miles from the airport. 20,000 is 60 miles, 15,000 is 45, and 10,000 is 30. (The part that you might need a calculator for is looking at your flight plan counting the miles and figuring out where that point is, so you can begin your descent at the right place. That part also takes the longest time to calculate so make sure you have enough time to do it. It would also be smart to write down so you won't forget it.)

    A perfect approach is difficult to achieve but this will certainly help you out.

    Also in a descent and approach, these are the specific Airline based guidelines followed by professional pilots around the world:
    10,000 ft: landing lights, strobe lights, and nav lights on. Flaps retracted. Airspeed between 200 and 250 kts.
    8,000 ft: Flaps between 1 and 5 degrees.
    5,000 ft: Flaps between 10 and 20 degrees. Airspeed between 190 and 225 kts. 1,000 fpm VS.
    2,500 ft: Flaps between 20 and 26 degrees. Airspeed between 185 and 195 kts.
    When you are five miles out, gear should be down, flaps should be fully extended, and spoilers should be armed.
    On the glide slope: (if you have the visual boxes for help on final approach, that is where the glide slope starts.) Depending on your weight and weather conditions, you should be going between 145 and 165 kts. Trim should be as required. The autopilot should be disengaged except for heading, unless you have crosswind, then the whole thing should be off. Autopilot should have these settings but should not be armed; SPD 200, HDG (between 0 and 359), ALT 6,000, VS 2500. If all goes well you wont need any of those settings. The thrust levers should be manually holding you at your approach speed, but when the call out computer announces that you are at 20 feet, you should bring them back to idle (0%) and flare. Wait until the nose gear is on the ground before adjusting to the center line, and applying reverse thrust. At 60 kts, reduce thrust to 50% and wait for the auto shutoff. DO NOT USE BRAKES, those are for parking only.

    Taxiing: Use the rudders to turn, never use engine power to taxi unless you are heading against wind and the plane will not budge or is having trouble turning. Remember, 25 knots to drive, 10 knots to turn.

    WARNING: Autopilot should never be used to slow the plane down by more than 10 kts. Bring the thrust levers down to 20% to 25% with the auto-throttle off and put spoilers in flight mode if you have to. Then rearm the auto-throttle when you are at your speed. Make only small adjustments and make sure the spoilers are closed when the auto-throttle is in use.

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  3. Why when I apply left rudder the rudder swings me to another direction after releasing.

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    Replies
    1. Dont use that much, and hold it in the air. Touchdown, release rudder gently.

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    2. And just to ask you something. In real life normally pilot will bank their aileron left and right during landing right ? Is this to counteract wind drift?

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    3. Just checking if you confused aileron: Aileron is normal yoke action, not the rudder.
      And they not only use the yoke to counteract wind, but also to line up with the runway.

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    4. Michael Chen , I want to know when my aircraft is cruising , why does the nose of the aircraft pitch down slightly ? Am I flying too fast . I am flying a a380 at 528 knots but airbus are designed to go this fast?

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    5. Yes, you are too fast. In real life, they travel 528 knots in GROUND speed. Which means its about 280 knots in air speed at 35,000 feet.
      You can either slow down, or extend spoilers to flight mode, or just ignore it.

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    6. How do you calculate the ground vs air speed? I thought they were one in the same

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  4. Air speed puts into factor wind, drag etc
    Ground speed does not put it into factor.
    So generally, ground speed is higher than air speed.

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