Severe Cross-Wind

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

Over the past few days I've been doing a series of experiments involving various types of aircraft and severe cross winds. The airfield I chose was Wick on the East coast of Scotland. It's main runway is roughly N-S so this would be ideal for what I had in mind, also as it was in an exposed location there would be less chance of hitting anything major! For the purpose of the xperiments I turned off the crash detection as It have been constantly resetting itself!......probably!

I set the weather as follows, wind coming in from 020 deg at 70kts gusting to 80kts ! Turbulence was set as moderate and precipitation as high. Cloudbase was 2,500 ft and visibility was 5 miles. So this is what happened...

First up was the PBY5A Catalina

This old warhorse proved to be very susceptible to gusting and I could only keep her on the runway by fully opening the throttles just to stay in one place! emergency boost and a slight pull on the elevator sent her soaring up like a startled snipe ! She turned violently into the wind upon leaving the ground however once airborne she could be controlled easily enough but once on the approach the fun began, although the AS was showing around 130kts the GS was virtually 0! eventually I made the runway and landed almost vertically with no runout. as soon as I throttled back the wind blew her backwards! I could only keep her on the ground my using maximum elevator deflection and taxying was impossible as the wind soon got under the wing and sent her airborne again...albeit backwards! eventually the only way I could make her stay put was to retract the undercarriage and land verticaly on the grass!

Check out the groundspeed on approach

Next off was the HS748

this time she stayed on the runway but agin only a short roll was needed, she again weathercocked and banked sharply , needing a goot boot of aileron to level out. Once airborne she was easy to control, Approach was agin slow and a very low groundspeed was noted, touchdown speed was virtually 0 kts and once on the ground taxying was hazardous. the wind tried to flick her over and eventually I parked her on the grass where she'd got blown to.

3rd aircraft was the VC-10, This big jet has plenty of power and a fantastic high lift wing. She was stable on the runway for take off, giving her full power and a fistfull of elevator made for a fairly short take off run and once airborne a lot of aileron to correct the swing into the wind. once airborne she was again easy to control. Approach was made at around 150kts and touchdown was hazardous, needing lots of aileron and a lot of rudder in the final moments. Runnout was short but again taxying was hazardous but acheivable and I was able to park the aircraft correctly.

Next up was the BAC 1-11, again a fairly powerful aircraft which after a short take off roll and steep climb proved easy to fly in the conditions, again a lot of aileron needed to correct the roll. Landing was very similar to the VC-10.

Then it was the turn of the Hawker Hunter F6. She was stable on the runway , but take off was spectacular, Massive roll to the left and swing to the right meant that lots of aileron and rudder were needed to correct the deviation, the power of the aircraft kept her moving as without it she'd have turned over. approach was made into wind with full flaps and touchdown was vitually 0kts but an ASI of around 150. no rollout so no side loading of the undercarriage as such. Taxying was straightforward.

My next choice was the Cessna 150, this proved near impossible to control, she was blown straight off the runway on lining up and only full power enabled me to make any headway. I managed to get a circuit but on approach the groundspeed dropped away rapidly until it was a mere 2 kts! I touched down verticly and shut down the engine. Only by keeping the elevator fully deflected withthe brakes on would she stay still. As soon as they were released she was blown up into the air and out to sea!

My next choice was the HS146 the high lift devices and stol qualities really came into their own in these conditions, Plenty of power, and easily controlled roll on take off made her easy to fly out. approach was made into wind and she was crabbed onto the runway, However once on the ground taxying proved hazardous as the big fin and high tail caught the wind all to easlily and getting to the parking ramp was difficult.

The last conventional aircraft was the Boeing 747-400, On the cround the wind didnt ruffle her, Take of was short and steep and again she needed a fair bit of aileron to level out. Landing was easy and she remained under complete control right to the ground, again theogh she was crabbed in and straightened at the last minute.

Finally my favourite helcopter, the Westland Lynx. I was wondering how this would go. Seeing how the others had fired with the weather cocking I lifted off from the grass very gingerly and at onl a couple of feet she swung violently head on into the wind, ...and that was it. no other problems, plenty of power and she lifted away as normal. Into the wind the GS was very low, around 60kts but once she turned away from it she was doing well over 200! Landing was a piece of cake, just turned her nose into the wind and she landed as gently as a feather.

These experiments were interesting as it gave me a good insight as to what could and could not be achieved. Once I'd worked out how each aircraft would perform I turned the crash detection back on again and am pleased to say that apart from the Cessna and the Catalina, both of which were blown backwards I had no other problems. The only downside is that FS doesn't realisticly replicate the effects of wind deflection behind buildings and other land features which can cause some real interesting problems. I hope you like what i've done and would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Interesting experiment there Alan - nice shots too!

[mutley 4,498]

Have you been on the baked beans again Alan?!

Interesting post, thanks..

[brett 2,316]

Lots of fun isn't it. I have played with this before too and got a real kick out of getting the ground speed to zero. (shameless plug)A friend of mine made a mission for FSX that includes a crosswind landing at Unalakleet, Alaska in a Bellanca Scout that was fun to fly if anyone is interested just plink the mission link. Requires download of the Scout and the airport scenery.

Thanks for the looksee Alan.