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FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL 155 to solo. The advisability of this depends on the circumstances and the individual. All students should be required to perfect their technique in cross wind landings during the intermediate and accuracy phase, and it will be absolutely necessary that this be done prior to their being given advanced forced landings. There are three usual methods of accomplishing a cross wind landing, of which the first described here is favored by most pilots. In approaching the landing area, the windward wing is lowered slightly and the airplane slipped into the wind just enough that the path over the ground is maintained in a straight line in the same direction that the airplane is headed. At the instant of contact, the ship is leveled up and then every effort is made to prevent a ground loop. It may even be necessary to land on one wheel by this method, if the wind is strong. This method is preferred with heavier airplanes whose responses are slow and whose reactions to sudden gusts are small. It has the added advantage of leaving the windward wing low at all times. This prevents a gust from upsetting the airplane close to the ground, which might result in the wheel or wing on the lee side touching the ground, either of which is likely to prove disastrous. The second method is to head into the wind slightly and, at the instant of landing, rudder into the drift so that the airplane will land headed in its actual direction of travel over the ground. This method is more applicable to the lighter aircraft whose responses to controls are quick, but even with these it requires quick and accurate action to get the airplane lined up exactly with its direction of travel over the ground at the instant of contact. Failure to accomplish this imposes the usual severe sideloads on the landing gear and imparts violent ground looping tendencies. The safety factor of the windward wing being low is absent and a gust at the critical moment can easily cause trouble. The third method is to use either of the approaches described above and, just prior to the instant of landing, make a shallow but perfect turn into the wind. This is really not a cross wind landing but a cross wind approach with a sudden switch into the wind at the last instant for the landing. This method also requires accurate timing and execution and is oftentimes impossible of execution, due to the limitations of the landing area. However, where it is possible, it places the probabilities of a ground loop at their minimum. There are many variations of all three methods and many pilots use a combination of all three, but these are the fundamental methods from which such variations are derived. The primary objectives are to get the airplane down without subjecting it to any side loads which result from landing while drifting, and to prevent ground looping after the landing. DOWN-WIND LANDINGS Down-wind landings are definitely emergency maneuvers and should never be made except for the demonstrations necessary to learn their technique, and in the case of an emergency in which there is no other choice. They are discussed only to call attention to the difference in technique and the precautions to be observed should an 150310°--39----11
