Taming Crosswinds in a Taildragger, a Few simple Tricks...

Crosswinds can be a handful in airplane, but in a Tauildragger they can really propose a challenge. Here's a few simple tricks/techniques to help keep you straight down the runway during a crosswind Landing.

[@clipwingcub]

Great tutorial! You are really brave to share your knowledge with the rest of us. Many times I feel there is a master in every tailwheel pilot, and he only knows how to do it right! Thanks.

[@Bananasssssssss]

I appreciate that!

[@AnthonyMartinez]

When I got my tailwheel endorsement my instructor had me practice staying on just the upwind main way down the runway on both takeoff and landing rolls in stiff crosswinds. Really helped illustrate the importance and benefits of keeping a proper crosswind correction. I had a habit of letting go of the correction towards the end of the landing roll out at low speeds before exiting on to the taxiway. She fixed that by sharply asking me if I thought we were parked at the hangar yet a few times. Got it: fly it till we’re parked.

[@Bananasssssssss]

I forgot to mention that but that's a GREAT GREAT training exercise

[@AnthonyMartinez]

@@Bananasssssssss it really was excellent training. I still practice it any time I'm in a tailwheel plane.

[@oldglory1944]

Ailerons rule because they are largest control & horizontal to the relative wind. Close to, or on the runway, simply, maintain ailerons PROPORTIONALLY OPPOSITE the applied rudder. Adverse YAW will supplement the stalling wee rudder. Tail winds to all. 60 yr CFI

[@kam1583]

I was learning in a champ, and nearly tore the gear off of a 172 in a brisk cross wind trying to crab it down to the runway at night at Lancaster, Pa a loong time ago. Great video, thanks!

[@jodywallace3375]

magic magic magic!...very beautiful videos sir. Bravo

[@michaelbohlander8392]

Same technique applies in most airplanes. Really important discussion well done.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thanks!

[@andrewlongman8288]

Thanks Joe just needed to reaffirm these techniques. Only just received my TW end. G’day from Sydney

[@Coops777]

Thanks Joe. Another video masterpiece. This is such an important topic, especially students who have recently gone solo, mastering into-the-wind landings in the taildragger (cub in our case) but yet to fully develop the slipping skills required for crosswind landings. There is a video on YT of a student flying a Legend Cub who attempts a go around from a half ground loop (due to a strong crosswind) and pretty much cart wheels the aircraft. I believe they were ok after. So important as we may not always have a choice of runways at the end of a journey.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Yeah that video was an eye opener when I first started flying the Cub.

[@mattgeerts1466]

Youre doing Chief videos!? Im so excited! 1948 Aeronca Chief C-GQGT C85 stroker 100hp, no electrics.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Niceee!! Yeah we bought a ‘39 Chief! with the up exhaust A-65 no electric 👍🏻👍🏻

[@MSchwartzNWV]

I really appreciate the camera angle inside the cub and seeing what you're doing with the stick and rudder pedals. Thank-you for sharing a fine video and your expertise.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@elmoreglidingclub3030]

Maybe your most helpful video. Definitely top five. Thanks. I experienced something new when I went out playing in the wind a couple of days ago. It was gusty and shifting, SE to SW, 3 to 7 kts. Landing on 18, I experienced slight sinking and ballooning when rounding out. I noticed that the wind was in a shift and pretty much out of the S. I attributed it to the sudden gustiness reducing or adding lift.

[@Bananasssssssss]

The Gusty Variable wind is the worst because so unpredictable, can humble you quickly!, lol . (And thanks! Glad you found it helpful)

[@timadolphson6971]

Excellent breakdown sir thank you for taking your time and sharing your knowledge with us

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thank you!

[@Gibber66]

Great clip Joe! Very nice step by step “mechanical” explanation. Obviously, winds don’t stay constant, so inputs need to adjust/compensate for the changes. I also liked your recommendation to increase confidence/competence level by starting small and incrementally challenging/developing our skills👊🏻

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thank you!

[@thurstonsteen3665]

probably best x-wind demo vid, keep those videos coming joe

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thank you!, appreciate that

[@kasm10]

Joe, I just learned so much from you. tysm for putting this together

[@Bananasssssssss]

That’s awesome! Glad I could help!

[@pudenzdo]

Amazing pictures, really good video and perfect explanation, greetings from germany 😊

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thank you!

[@talldrumgirl]

Great vids! It is a shame it has gotten so hard to find primary instruction opportunities in these seriously satisfying aircraft, I know many pilots who avoid tw because Insurance companies discourage it. IFR training and flight is seriously demanding but ultimately doesn't deliver on the beauty of flight that one gets from say watching a flock of 500 migratory birds swirl in harmony 300 feet below. Thanks ever so much for the pedagogy vids. The shots of xwind control use are worth frequent review. Regards and keep it up. Love the J3.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thanks! and agree with everything you said

[@dandare-h5q]

flying like you wear it, you are really doing a nice job of flying the cub, cant wait to see the chief,

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thanks! going to take me quite a bit of time to fly the Chief as comfortably, lol

[@birds_eye_view]

Good advices. And nice camera angles. As you told, landing in a crosswind and having too much aileron, happened to me too. About 15kt cross, gusting 18. After one failed attempt already, where the wind simply blew us off the centerline even before touching the ground, this time touched down nicely on the upwind wheel, but put in too much aileron, so tilted her even further to the wind. Unfortunately my kinda scared reaction was to throw the stick all the way to the other side. 😮👀 Can tell you, that is NOT a good idea. Of course the wind got us instantly and I panicked back with the aileron just in time and some serious tilting left right of my J3. Just a heartbeat away from another go-around. But she settled and I could find my way back to the centerline and some deep breaths. 🫣

[@Iflyagrasshopper]

I did something similar… got lazy on the ailerons and the wind picked up my wing and I ended up running off the runway into a pile of dirt… 😂

[@birds_eye_view]

@@Iflyagrasshopper ouch 🤕

[@Bananasssssssss]

Meh, we’ve all been there! Lol. Live to fly another day 😂

[@VictoryAviation]

When I was building all my commercial hours, I would purposely pick the crosswind runway as long as it didn’t interfere with other pilots. No reason to pick the easy runway as long as it wasn’t dangerous.

[@Bananasssssssss]

I like to do that too, lol. Keeps ya sharp

[@martind181968]

Great stuff !!! In crosswind landings it made it much easier for me to get the planes nose aligned a little further out on final rather than trying to swing nose around with a bit of rudder input as you shallow out decent for the flare or wheel landing. I believe everyone has their own way that works best, and you hit on all those most critical elements, especially for a taildragger. In fairly windy/gusty days you really literally are still flying the cub even in a taxi, ( again the J-3 was a great teacher, as are you ! ) Hey with flying the heavies do you have to really think about the difference in crosswind handling ? I have friends that flew airliners and was amazed at finding out how they are to land in a crab. Oh my gosh, what a nice C-170, another of my favorite planes ( never flew this but wish I had one !!! ).

[@Bananasssssssss]

Yeah another point I forgot to mention is I usually make longer finals so I can get a better sense of where the wind is coming from. On the A320's with the smaller IAH Engines we can do the crab method and a little bit of the wing low but with the NEO's its better to crab and time it perfectly to kick rudder to align nose with runway just as you touch down but the Engine Nacelles are really close to the ground so you have to really watch fro that. On Takeoff we don't put any aileron correction in because it would also deploy the flight spoilers so we just manage it as best we can with rudder. On the longer 321s with a strong crosswind sometimes you're almost full rudder to counteract the weathervaning

[@hillcrestannie]

Thanks. I have a C170 and I’m limited to flying time because my x-wind skills are sketchy. Great video

[@Bananasssssssss]

170 looks a lot tricker than the Cub to land in a crosswind, lol

[@hotrodray6802]

😳😳😳😳

[@hotrodray6802]

​@@Bananasssssssss 🤔🤔🤔😲😲😲

[@aviatortrucker6285]

The lowing method works very well in a high wing aircraft. Tail draggers specifically because they are so light and their CG location causes them to weathervane more positively into the wind. You cannot do this in a lowing heavy aircraft such as a 737 because you would smash the outboard engine on the runway. These type aircraft have to be crabbed till the last minute, and then the rudder has to be kicked in into straighten it out. The trick thing is to know how much rudder authority is available and will keep the airplane going straight.

[@Bananasssssssss]

I use the wing low method on the Airbus, just can’t get crazy because Nacelle doesn’t have much clearance

[@noneofyourbusiness5074]

Beautiful, I know all the theory but it's really hard to put it into practice, I never did a Nice crosswind landing, all of them were bad ones!

[@Bananasssssssss]

Yeah it's one of those things where you just have to keep doing them over and over and over and there is no way to get to the good ones until after you've had your fair share of horrendous ones, lol (ask me how I know, haha)

[@lostgriz]

Great Video!

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thank you!

[@overthehorizonadventurerid108]

Thanks mucho! Great vid.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Thanks!

[@robertrussell743]

I grew up in a Piper Cub J5. It brings back such great memories watching your videos. Question: I don't understand how you get the video view from the rear of the aircraft? I don't see any extension device from the tail.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Its a 360° camera that automatically edits out the Pole that is attached to Tailwheel spring moint

[@michaelsamson3276]

When taxiing really light planes like a Champ or Cub etc, in a stiff wind, you need to hold the controls such that in a quartering tailwind, it will not lift the wing or tail. You would not have the elevator or aileron full up if the wind could get under them. You want those control surfaces down to prevent the wind from getting under them and causing you to wreck at slow speed!

[@christianmalizia7429]

Do you typically do just wheel landings in a crosswind? Does that make it easy to weathervane compared to a three point?

[@Bananasssssssss]

When its a really steady REALLY strong crosswind I like to three point

[@ColderHeavens]

Great video, thanks! What are your thoughts on sideslip all the way down from final vs crab until threshold and then side slip? I was taught to sideslip from final in my PPL training but have since flown with TW CFIs who prefer the crab method. I know it is an age old debate, but I'd still like to read your thoughts.

[@Bananasssssssss]

I feel like it requires too much work and is more unnatural for me. Crabbing just seems easier and also gives me a better “feeling” of what the wind is really doing (if that hopefully makes sense)

[@ColderHeavens]

​@@Bananasssssssss Interesting- it makes sense but I personally think I can feel more of what the wind is doing in a sideslip. Then, when I'm across the threshold all I need to do is hold the correction that I already have in and start to bleed off airspeed and flare. I've noticed a a pattern in the CFIs that I know who like to crab vs sideslip- the CFIs who prefer to crab are all type rated in larger jets. Maybe all the time spent crabbing in a professional setting in a jet caries over to feeling the wind while crabbing in a small aircraft?

[@Bananasssssssss]

@@ColderHeavens I guess just personal preference. Ive always done it this way, doesn’t make it wrong or right just kinda what I’ve always done . Im going to try the other way though, may as well

[@Iflyagrasshopper]

@@ColderHeavensI’m in your camp … I like to get it going straight and then get it down… I’m not comfortable getting into the side slip just before touching down.

[@ValiantKnight7983]

how would you do this in a mid or low wing? eventually i want to get an extra, but the wing's low enough that you have to worry about wing strikes a lot more.

[@Bananasssssssss]

Same concept just have to be more aware. A low wing plane like a Cherokee wouldn’t need to bank that excessively with a typical crosswind.

[@JW-gb6hq]

Ha. I got here first. Good vid👍🏻

[@Bananasssssssss]

hahah

[@hotrodray6802]

Proper technique is the same in tri gear and tail draggers. Problem is that modern instructors are incompetent and unable to teach proper flying. CP 55 yrs.

[@tztz1949]

Always add full downwind rudder on takeoff in crosswind.

[@Bananasssssssss]

you Mean Aileron?

[@tztz1949]

No . Full downwind rudder petal and appropriate ailerons into wind. Gives one a jump on both yaw and crosswind tail push. Great content by the way.

[@Bananasssssssss]

@@tztz1949 thank you!