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Old 12-28-2012 | 07:37 AM
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Top_Gunn
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From: Granger, IN
Default RE: Tips to make you a Better Pilot:

ORIGINAL: sensei

All I can really say is that if I am landing in a cross wind, I will carry rudder into the wind and use cross control ailerons impute leveling the wings until just before touchdown, then I neutral the controls and settle in. I really never try to over analyze stuff, I just kinda feel what the airplane is doing. But that just me...

Bob
Interesting, because this is the exact opposite of one way of landing in a crosswind. The easiest way to deal with a crosswind is just to crab into the wind enough to keep the plane flying straight down the runway (but with the nose pointed somewhat toward the wind direction, because you're crabbing). When you do this with a full-scale plane you'd use rudder (yawing away from the wind direction) to straighten the plane just before touchdown. You can use the rudder this way with a model, too, but it's really not necessary except maybe with a very large model and a strong crosswind. The harder way to deal with a crosswind is to slip: use the ailerons to hold the upwind wing down a little and use opposite rudder (i.e. away from the wind direction) to keep the plane flying straight. This is sometimes called a "Chinese pass," though it probably shouldn't be.

Interestingly, with both these techniques the rudder is turned in a direction that would make the plane yaw away from the wind if there were no other inputs. I know of no full-scale landing technique that calls for using rudder to yaw toward the wind.

I have no desire to change the way you fly. But people looking for tips shouldn't be given bad advice.