"Mike Tullett" wrote in message
...
My son has just shown me this site. It has many small videos of aircraft.
Here are a couple showing landings is strong cross winds - scary stuff!!

http://www.flightlevel350.com/picwin...cat=19&pic=116

http://www.flightlevel350.com/picwin...cat=19&pic=152

I can reassure you all that I NEVER did landings as bad as either of those
two.

And to clear up a misunderstanding.
The rudder is not used for taxiing - but see below.
(except perhaps in some very old aircraft - modern ones have hydraulic nose
wheel steering)

The main purpose of the rudder is to balance the aircraft, in particular
when the thrust is asymmetric, eg following an engine failure.

In cross wind landing, it is routine in many aircraft (including those I
used to fly) to bank the aircraft into wind. However, banking an aircraft
makes it turn. You don't want to turn while landing, so cross controls are
used to counteract the turn that would be caused by banking, ie opposite
(top) rudder is used. So: wind from the right, right wing down, left rudder
applied. In gusty conditions, frequent small changes of rudder amount are
often required BUT CAUTION NOT TO OVERDO IT - that broke and Airbus in the
air a year or two ago.

After touching down on (eg) the right hand set of wheels, you lower the
other side to the ground meanwhile keeping it straight with the rudder.
Indeed, in any landing, cross wind or not, the aircraft is initially kept
straight by rudder but control transferred to nosewheel steering at an
appropriate speed, eg 70 - 80 knots. In some aircraft, the control locks,
including rudder, are then engaged so the rudder might not be able to be
moved at all at taxiing speeds - not that you would want to anyway.

Cross wind landings do require co-ordination and a degree of skill.
Perhaps, most important of all is to know your own and the aircraft's
limitations. I suspect that in both those clips, the pilot was distinctly
unwise. It is hard to know the precise weather and wind conditions, but I
would suspect that the wind was very close to (or even above) the aircraft's
crosswind limits. I even wonder if the Airbus Captain kept his job and
certainly I would have expected the 747 pilot to undergo refresher training.
But to be fair, I do not know the full story. For all I know, that Airbus
might have been doing pilot training without passengers.

Jack (retired airline captain)