14.31 I need help landing the 747 in a crosswind!

From FlightSim

Hi. I fly the FS 747s all the time. I am a real 2500 commercially rated pilot too...and can help you. Since real life is basically the same as FS98, I will tell you the methods are the same for the most part.

1) crabbing is fine until around 200 - 300 feet... then if it's a really strong xwind... you may sideslip.. .wing down into the wind ..opposite rudder to keep nose on centerline. This is uncomfortable in a big rig...if you have to bank more than a couple of degrees, you will scrape a pod on the ground. So in this case landing should not be done!

2) Upon rollout and flare... keep in the slip if it's a small one. Otherwise, straigten out the nose, level the wings just before arrival..but try to keep the wing down into the wind all the time slightly.

3) on touchdown, get the nose to the ground immediately to steer.

4) slam the contols (aileron) rapidly full into the wind. The big bird will pivot towards the wind...opposite rudder again!!

5) be sure to pop the spoilers quickly, get max reverse on and braking. If you don't she will run towards the sides of the runway if the winds are strong. You must get all lift off the wings quickly.

This is just as tricky in real life... if your good with the web, you can find websites that show crosswind landings in Hong Kong where the 747s land in a 40 degree angle to the runway... smoke is coming from tires etc..as the plane is really slammed in hard and crooked.

In real life... the 747 normally does not do crosswind landings if the component is more than 27kts on the side. They will find another runway or different airport if no other options are present.

Peter D. James