FSX Tutorial: Crosswind Landings

In this video, we'll look at what a Crosswind is, and learn two techniques that pilots use to land in crosswind conditions.
Next Video: • FSX Tutorial: Aircraft...
Previous Video: • FSX Tutorial: Jet Airc...
Copyright © 2015 - Doofer911 - All Rights Reserved.
DISCLAIMER: While this video is intended for educational purposes, I must stress that I am not a professional pilot or instructor and I am not certified in any way with regards to aviation or education. Every subject I talk about is based on my personal study and understanding. Therefore the information I give may be incorrect or inaccurate and should NOT be used as a reference for real world flying.

[@muhsinsazali7845]

fantastic

[@Kenny-vb4qr]

Thank you so much you have taught me alot.

[@imblack011]

The video rlly helped me out. Time to practice!

[@JoakimFlood92]

Thank you for the videos. I'm an air traffic controller working at Inverness Airport and it's good to see how things are done from the other side of the perspective!

[@Doofer911]

Oh wow that's amazing! I actually visited the Inverness ATC Tower years ago as part of a work experience week. That was before the radar functionality was installed. Was amazing, we had a Tornado jet fly through that day as well!

[@JoakimFlood92]

Good to hear! Now when we have a radar we tend to work a lot more military traffic but these days it's more Typhoons rather than Tornados. Even though I very much prefer radar over procedural it's good to work at a unit where you can get experience in all different ATC ratings (tower/radar/procedural since radar is not open 24/7).

[@jeannetennis2441]

Joakim Flood

[@LostInSpace175]

awesome video man!

[@Doofer911]

Clayton Licciardello Cheers :)

[@philipwicks22]

Excellent, thank you.

[@paulmather7586]

ok thank you..excellent helpful videos btw

[@sezginkupeli1815]

Don't forget ailerons into the wind after touch down! And I noticed something special about the time ;)

[@sezginkupeli1815]

Nice landings!

[@capitalrecorrente3975]

Very good and detailed

[@Doofer911]

Thanks for watching, glad you liked it :)

[@dailyadrenaline5530]

thank you

[@eetuhanski7594]

youre awesome

[@jaumesol3480]

Actually crabbing is tipically used in jet airliners whereas slipping tends to be applied for smaller GA aircraft.

[@NoFaithNoPain]

When side slipping - remember, you get more drag and lose altitude quicker. you can compensate with adding a bit more power. In a string sideslip the feeling and sounds are quite distinctive and at first feel a bit "wrong". This does not come across in a simulator.

[@MackenzieClarke23]

NoFaithNoPain no that's wrong, what you described is a foward slip which is used to loose altitude quickly without gaining alot of speed. it's done by flying uncoordinated (sideways) this causes alot of drag and increases the rate of decent. However in a side slip you are flying coordinated so you don't get a huge rate of decent.

[@NoFaithNoPain]

Mackenzie Clarke According to Wikipedia you are quite correct. But I have never heard of anyone bothering to differentiate the two because they are almost identical. Really the only difference is that sideslipping tends to be more about coping with crosswinds. Forward slipping is exactly the same manoeuvre but you use it to stay on the centre line. I would doubt if you sat in an aircraft that was slipping you could say which slip it was in.

[@MackenzieClarke23]

NoFaithNoPain I know the difference between a side slip and foward slip because I use them both all the time.

[@NoFaithNoPain]

Mackenzie Clarke ah.. much more important on gliding. but enlighten me..how can you tell when the plane is doing exactly the same thing in the air ? when I slip for height...I merely put ailerons into wind and rudder opposite..if I want to stay on centre line to land I do exactly the same thing..I accept you are correct.. I am merely hoping to improve as a pilot.

[@MackenzieClarke23]

NoFaithNoPain the only difference is that in one your flying coordinated and the other your not. you don't have to put your wing into the wind for a foward slip to loose altitude. but it actually feels alot different in a side slip compared to a foward slip. it gets pretty loud when your flying sideways in a glider.

[@oldglory1944]

Ailerons have 3 chores; 1) make the bank to TURN the plane (99% of our flying) 2) approaching the runway: makes the BANK that stops xwind drift. 3) ON the runway: provides the ADVERSE YAW that aids rudder in directional control to brake speed.

[@krawdoesminecraft]

Your Tutorials Are Brilliant Mate Helped Alot

[@Doofer911]

Kieran White Thanks very much, glad they are helping :)

[@krawdoesminecraft]

Also Is That A Scottish Accient I Hear haha im socttish

[@Doofer911]

Kieran White Certainly is! Born and raised in the Highlands, where abouts you from mate?

[@krawdoesminecraft]

Glasgow Mate Nothing Special xD

[@krawdoesminecraft]

So Are You A Pilot Irl

[@SpotterSky]

Hi Doofer It is good with some basic education and cool tricks. Nice video and thanks :)

[@altomar718]

Another great video with lots of useful information, but perhaps consider using a 'from the rear of the aircraft' video capture to show the crab angle ... keep up the good work

[@Doofer911]

Yeah looking back I should have used multiple camera angles. All I can say was that this was still quite early in the channel's history so I hadn't quite had the creative experience that I do now.

[@wishyouweretimmy]

On the ground, make sure your ailerons are up in the wing :)

[@Doofer911]

Timmy Soars Good shout, completely forgot about keeping the ailerons turned after landing! I'll add a note into the video explaining that!

[@bonchie1]

Yeah, in real life you'll get a nice surprise if you dump your crosswind controls the moment you touch down :)

[@Mishn0]

Or you can be flying a B-52 and crab all the way to the ground by twisting the landing gear to line up with the runway!

[@ericalbright703]

In real life you'll need to keep the full left yoke in as the wind can lift up on the wing and flip you. That is at least while the wind is coming from the front. Then dive away from the wind, coming from the rear.

[@jibeneyto91]

Tip: Don't use full flaps in a strong crosswind. It's better to use a low flap setting, in fact, you can also land flapless no problem.

[@Doofer911]

Yeah I know, please understand that this video is aimed at beginners and is intended to show the basic principles of landing with a crosswind. Considering flap usage is more of a tricky subject which is outside of the scope for this video.

[@MalaysianAviator737-8]

jibeneyto so basically use flaps 10 in the 737?

[@feetgoaroundfullflapsC]

Low flap setting, like 40 degrees low??

[@jaumesol3480]

@@feetgoaroundfullflapsC The point is that the more flaps you have on final approach the higher the wind correction angle will be, so you might want not to use full flaps, but it also depends on some other factors.

[@feetgoaroundfullflapsC]

@@jaumesol3480 - I know, but that guy says to use low flaps.. Maybe he meant high flaps instead..

[@SD-UHD]

For the second step of your de-crab technique it might be better to let the left foot off the left rudder control rather than to add force to the right rudder control. You want to let the cross wind turn the nose into the direction of the runway rather than to risk overshooting with your right rudder control.

[@Doofer911]

+Game Account Ah good point, I can see how you can have more control of the Yaw using that technique.

[@SD-UHD]

+Doofer911 Great tutorial though, keep it up

[@paulmather7586]

thanks for your help once more..i just want to fly a jet lol.ill give it a try

[@dannycopeland285]

Since starting on fsx your videos have been a god said, my fsx bible. Keep it up. I would love to see some live streams of you say doing some bush flying navigating tricky terrain. What you think?

[@Doofer911]

Yeah it might be something I'll do in X Plane because the graphics are a bit sharper so I can use VFR navigation much more effectively.

[@MalaysianAviator737-8]

Should I use crabbing or slipping in the 737?

[@jamesstillgames]

MAS_ pilot crabbing. Best for 737 and aircraft like that

[@MalaysianAviator737-8]

Pittsburgh Plays i tried but then I always slide of the runway. When I use slipping I landed safely

[@jamesstillgames]

MAS_ pilot did you do crabbing and then turn straight on the last second? You shouldn’t slip off the runway...

[@MalaysianAviator737-8]

Pittsburgh Plays yes, i decrabbed at 50 or 20ft AGL and then my left her or my right gear slammed on the runway and I slide off. This is why I use slipping to align better

[@lpappas474]

If you don't want to upset your passengers use a crab to just above the run way and then bring the nose around.

[@mikeaubrey1905]

Most pilots use the crab technique. It keeps the aircraft in coordinated flight which is a big deal at low altitudes. In real life, most crosswinds are gusty and not steady so it gets pretty busy coming down final and touching down pointed straight down the runway. Practice, practice, practice!!

[@erdemozverenn]

Like drifting in the air

[@mrthomaslaux1]

Wouldnt no flaps help better so the wind doesnt hold you back as you come in? I would think

[@aviationnation7798]

Excellent video! I wish i could make videos like this. I need to become more comfortable speaking on youtube. I say um and so a lot.. lol all well

[@Doofer911]

+Private Plane Life To be honest, most of my videos are all planned out and I write a script so I can just narrate them. If you compare this video to one of my "Full Flight" ones for example you'll see that I'm constantly going "ummm" in those lol. It's just something that takes practise, the more you'll do it, the more confident you'll get and you'll improve. These series of videos took me about 15 months and I cringed when I went back to watch my first couple, I sound so quiet and insecure lol

[@serverlan763]

You looked low on profile the whole time on that first approach...

[@Doofer911]

That's funny, the PAPIs tell a different story...

[@feetgoaroundfullflapsC]

I call that what you call "The Side Slip" as The Crosswind Slip instead. To differentiate it from The Forward Slip. Some even call The Forward Slip as The Side Slip too. Better be clear on those 2 kinds of slips and not call any of them as just the ambivalent "The Side Slip".

[@lpappas474]

If you are to the right or left of the runway center line during a no wing condition you would use a side slip to bring you back to center line. Slips are named by the direction of movement to the runway and not to a crosswind. A slide slip can be used in a zero wind or cross wind condition.

[@snowgolem6099]

Idk how you do it. On approach, I am fine. when I go to flare, I give a little but of rudder, line up with the runway, ect. But then, as I am on the runway, I give some rudder to allign with the runway to stop, and my plane all of a sudden tilts on to its wing and flings off to the side of the runway. Please help me with this. Thanks!

[@Doofer911]

You have to turn the ailerons into the wind as well. Most likely a gust of wind caught the plane and started rolling it.

[@RCCrash]

That's one of that advantages of slipping all of the way in. Adding an attitude adjustment at the flair point increases pilot workload at a critical time.

[@Izmael1310]

Whenever I try to do crab technique with big airliner like 747 or 777 I finish not aligned with runway I always end on the side from which wind blows. In other words even the smallest offset (crab) to the left when wind is coming from the left ending me left of the runway too and it is weird. Any ideas?

[@dr._klaw3814]

I do the opposite the wind pushes me. I will approach the runway pretty slow though and touchdown near stall.... A wind coming from the Left will push me Right... So I started compensating and coming in more to the Left and I will land more center now. (usually)

[@Doofer911]

It might be that you're approaching too fast. Usually the wind should push you away from the runway.

[@Izmael1310]

Doofer911 Well for 777 it is arround 145-150 knots. It depends on the conditions.

[@Doofer911]

Hmm, that definitely sounds about right. Maybe Not sure what I could reccommend to combat that problem, do you tune in the ILS for approach? You could use the Localizer indicators in the cockpit and use those to confirm your alignment during the approach.

[@Izmael1310]

Doofer911 Yes trying to get close to the real flying as possible. So using ils, watching glideslope turning off autopilot on final. I think that wind is not that significant in FSX at it should be for large planes. Truth is that I hardly remember any real crosswind from 60-90° it is usually 30-45°. Maybe I could turn off real weather software and set some 15 knots direct crosswind and see what happens :)

[@paulmather7586]

hi can you help my radio stack is blanked out on boieng 737s how do i fix it plz

[@Doofer911]

You would need to contact the developer support team to fix any issues.

[@ethanhiggins4887]

Not bad but u were a little slow on approach and in any crosswind your gonna want less flaps especially in that large of one I would have only used 10 degrees of flaps and kept speed closer to 70 instead of dragging the approach which is why you had to flare so hard and lost a lot of altitude. Also I like to straighten up before the flare.

[@Doofer911]

Would you care to make a video demonstrating the correct procedure for a crosswind approach then? It's something we could all benefit from :)

[@MilkDoesMemes]

Doofer911 YEA ETHAN

[@ethanhiggins4887]

​@@MilkDoesMemes HAHAHAHA Noooooo you brought me back to when I was a student pilot and commented on FSX vids. :'( TBF at least I wasnt wrong

[@MilkDoesMemes]

Ethan Higgins Student pilot on a flight sim? Really? Well someone’s addicted

[@ethanhiggins4887]

@@MilkDoesMemes uh huh

[@MilkDoesMemes]

How do you get a crosswind in game??

[@jaumesol3480]

Go to Weather, Customize weather defined by user and then select whatever wind speed and direction you want to have.

[@MilkDoesMemes]

Thanks :)

[@bill8054]

hello doofer....nice video....how you can enable crosswinds in fsx?

[@Doofer911]

Just set the wind manually with "User Defined Weather"

[@bill8054]

Doofer911 thank you

[@beyond1234a]

nice...how u r controlling rudder...i mean device...

[@Doofer911]

I've got a joystick which twists from side to side. I've got a logitech 3d extreme joystick

[@beyond1234a]

thanks

[@mrthomaslaux1]

Can u do this with a float plane?

[@Doofer911]

With a float plane you can alter your landing direction to some extent to reduce the crosswind component. Although one of the bigger dangers with flying floatplanes is the water surface and how smooth or rough that is, rougher conditions being more dangerous.

[@dymas7498]

Need help, I don't know I am wrong or not but in the FSX (example crosswind from left like in this video). Why after the touchdown, the winds is like from the right direction? same during takeoff roll, but after takeoff wind direction goes correct. Any fix for this? In real life I know it's not like that. See on this video after landed the plane is like moving to left, but the wind is from the left. So the plane should be moving to the right if the control steering/rudder is on neutral position. Sorry for bad English. Just in FSX, not in real life

[@Doofer911]

Yeah what's happening is the wind is hitting the tail and pushing the tail to the right, which turns the nose of the plane to the left. It's like a wind vane, the wind pushes on the wide area of the tail and that turns the plane into the direction that the wind is coming from. Watch some real life crosswind landings again, you'll see that as the plane touches down, the wind will push the back of the plane across the runway.

[@dymas7498]

Doofer911 I'm real Cessna pilot by the way, but It never happen to me when I'm fly, everyday crosswinds. Plane should go to the right side of centerline.

[@Redbanano]

how did you get these winds?

[@Doofer911]

+Pyro B3ar When setting up the flight I chose User Defined Weather, that allows you to manually set the wind direction and speed. I simply set the wind to blow 90 degrees across the runway at about 15 knots or something, deliberately high to emphasize the crosswind to demonstrate it

[@Redbanano]

Doofer911 thx mate

[@Vortex_ICEcold]

3:26 ur not using the rudder to point left right?

[@MalaysianAviator737-8]

Of course not! Your aircraft might enter a flatspin

[@killerstrikz1]

@Doofer911 Is Slipping recommended for larger air crafts .... say an A350 ... doesn't it put a lot of stress on the rudder ? I am just curious ...

[@Doofer911]

When you slip you're trying to force the plane to fly in an un-natural way if that makes sense. I think it's less safe because one wing will end up having a higher stall speed which may lead to an unexpected Stall. Plus I believe it can be quite uncomfortable for passengers as they will feel like they're being pushed sideways during a slip. Large airlines often use both techniques though. They will crab for the majority of the approach and then very shortly before touchdown, they will transition into a slip so that the nose of the plane and more importantly, the wheels are lined up with the runway so the plane touches down normally and not sideways.

[@dr._klaw3814]

My uncle has been a pilot for about 35-40 years and he was just telling me how some modern aircraft have landing gears that can pivot sideways... So you would just crab in and land slightly angled and the landing gear will pivot. Preventing stress or wing strikes ect...

[@bonchie1]

No. In larger jets you carry the crab to landing, then you kick the nose over once the first main hits. You don't slip an airliner. In smaller planes, the gear isn't made to side load that heavily, so you carry a crab until final (or short final, it's up to the pilot) and then you use a slip to align and touch down straight. You keep your crosswind controls in until you've slowed down to the point where control authority is gone.

[@MackenzieClarke23]

Doofer911 no in a side slip you are flying coordinated, in a foward slip though you are flying uncoordinated or as you say it in an un-natural way.

[@estiejohnson536]

Are crosswinds supposed to happen?

[@Doofer911]

You can't control the wind and weather ;)

[@paulmather7586]

hi again doofer..do you have contact details for the developer of the game..i cant find it anywere...thanks

[@Doofer911]

I don't but the company that "owns" the game now is called Dovetail Games so they should be able to help if you visit their website.

[@joelinkletters6928]

fwiw that plane you're flying is rated at max 15kts crosswind

[@MackenzieClarke23]

Joe Linkletters doesn't mean you can't do it. :)

[@Haniel93]

15kts crosswind component. 20kts*sin(50°-10°)=12.9 kts crosswind component in the video. So it's near limits but within

[@kneecaps2000]

175 is max 25kts ...

[@txsraappraiser]

Full power after the flare keeps it from dropping

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

You should not make these videos mate. If your NOT a CFI. Illegal and dangerous.

[@Doofer911]

Could you explain why it's illegal please?

[@kwazidonsta3658]

Michael Harris How?