A technique question for the ages......

[pc12_driver]

Ok, all you jet jocks, help me out here. Crab & Kick or cross control on final/touchdown? Let 'er rip guys...................

 

[pilotyip]

depends upon the airplane.

Ok, all you jet jocks, help me out here. Crab & Kick or cross control on final/touchdown? Let 'er rip guys...................

Depends upon the airplane.

 

[ruhroa]

yup ....depends on the airplane and of course what feels more comfortable ............ some aircraft such as the cl604 you can't afford to let the wing drop. also because the cross section of the cockpit is wide you lose the sense of a slight dip left or right

 

[TurboHonda]

Crab and kick will work for anything you fly (high wing, low wing, swept wing, spoilers, jet, props). Cross control will work for some of the planes you fly.

The choice is yours. Practice the technique for all. Practice the technique for some.

 

[pilotyip]

Of course then there is the B-52, which I understand you do not use either technique. You crap the wheels and land in a crap, no wing down, no kick, just land looking out the side window. Any B-52 drivers care to confirm?

 

[LivestockTony]

I'm not a B-52 pilot, but I thought that monster had steerable mains which permitted that technique.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

Crab and kick will work for anything you fly (high wing, low wing, swept wing, spoilers, jet, props). Cross control will work for some of the planes you fly.

The choice is yours. Practice the technique for all. Practice the technique for some.

You obviously haven't flown the mighty Embraer Brasilia - EMB-120. Try the crab and kick technique with that plane in a strong cross wind and you'll end up so far centerline you'll think you're on a parallel runway, plus you'll severely side load the mains. There's only one way to land the Bro in a cross wind brother, upwind mains first, downwind mains second.

 

[Waldom]

In an airplane in which there is a choice, the majority of pilots I have flown with use a side-slip technique at touchdown during a cross-wind landing.

As Pilotyip mentioned, there are some airplanes that due to design allow little or no roll deflection from level in that situation. As an example, a "stretch" DC-8 with the CFM-56 engine conversion will drag an outboard nacelle with three degrees of roll in the touchdown attitude. The "crab and kick" method is used with that machine.

Obviously, both techniques work. If you plan to use the "crab and kick" method, I would suggest mentioning that in the before landing brief. It will save the other pilot a moment of suspense just before touchdown.

 

[Hawker800]

Wing down on the King Air 350 but I was tought crab and kick touchdown level on sweep wings.

 

[TurboHonda]

You obviously haven't flown the mighty Embraer Brasilia - EMB-120. Try the crab and kick technique with that plane in a strong cross wind and you'll end up so far centerline you'll think you're on a parallel runway, plus you'll severely side load the mains. There's only one way to land the Bro in a cross wind brother, upwind mains first, downwind mains second.

***************
OK. Let me explain the crab and kick. It is in effect the same as the cross control, only it is employed on very short final and the touchdown is completed before the plane has established a prolonged wing low attitude. It’s like any other landing, in that the plane is positioned over the centerline with the ailerons (or spoilers) and the wheels are lined up with the rudders. These control inputs are maintained and probably increased during rollout. The overall result is that the plane lands with no side load and has the proper control input for crosswind.

It is not an aggressive maneuver; although the short duration, as compared to a cross control on long final, requires some finesse and practice.

I’m sure that there are exceptions, like the B-52 and Ercoupe, but overall it’s simple aerodynamics.