What would happen this a/c in a crosswind?

There’s more wingtip clearance on that Tupolev that might appear from that photo. Whilst crab and kick is preferred by many with underslung engines, wing down doesn’t have to be an issue even in a 737NG:

Andy

In the UK the preference for most airlines is to use the crab method. At JMC we briefly tried using the wing down technique on the 757 as there was enough clearance. The reason it was changed back to the crab method was because that when you hold the wing down you end up in a forward slip balanced with a bit of opposite rudder. Not only can this be uncomfortable for passengers but more importantly in stronger crosswinds the held in roll input could mean roll spoilers are deployed. This asymetric drag really isn’t a good idea in the flare.

Excellent photo. It looks as though they flared too early and certainly not a good idea in an aircraft with underslung turbofan engines. The preferrred landing for the 737NG is the crab technique as described by wysiwyg above.

Similar problems with 4 wing mounted engine aircraft. A340 has a tolerance of 7 degrees wing down before we start getting edgy about a pod scrape.

There are 2 techniques for coping with a crosswind. Firstly a wing down technique as demonstrated by the Ryanair photo. By keeping a wing down you slip into the wind at the same rate it drifts you off your desired track keeping the fuselage pointing straight down the runway. The upwind undercarriage touches down first before you lower the other on. Problem as you know is wing/engine clearance. If this is an issue then you can use the crab technique. Here you keep the wings level but head the aircraft into wind but keep the resultant track down the runway. Just before touchdown you apply downwind side rudder to align the wheels with the runway. On the 340 when you apply the rudder during the flare (known as kicking off drift) there is also a big rolling action in the direction the rudder is applied so you end up having to apply opposite sidestick as well.

What baffles me is that why they would make it so low to the ground that it could be a lot easier for it to scrape the runway :confused:

Hi Dan,

The answer is so very simple:

IT WOULD CRASH!

The wing would impact with the concrete and probably be very badly damaged, with a bit of luck the fuselage shouldn’t be affected and the pax evacuated safely. If you look at a Cessna Citaion a similar gear config on that.