Crosswind Landings, Bounces, and Go-Arounds

Touchdown must occur with the airplane's longitudinal axis parallel to the direction the airplane is moving along the runway (AFH ch 14).

Failure to do this imposes side loads on the landing gear, leading to directional instability — never allow the airplane to touch down while in a crab or while drifting (AFH ch 14). Tailwheel airplanes are less forgiving of crosswind landing errors than nose-wheel models.

By far the best approach to crosswind management is a side-slip or wing-low touchdown (AFH ch 14).

Landing in that attitude, only one main wheel makes initial contact — either in concert with the tailwheel in a three-point landing, or by itself in a wheel landing.

Many tailwheel pilots prefer completing a wheel landing in a crosswind, for two reasons (AFH ch 14): the initial touchdown speed is higher, which makes the flight controls more effective; and in some airplanes, rudder effectiveness can be reduced by the blocking effect of the fuselage and flaps with the tail low and on the ground.

Both are arguments about control authority at the moment you need it most.

Directional control: maintained using rudder and tailwheel steering.

Upwind wing: kept from rising using aileron (AFH ch 14).

Special attention is warranted here — the after-landing roll is called out specifically, because this is where the airplane is slowest and least controllable while the wind is unchanged.

Two things move against you at once (AFH ch 14): the airplane is slowing, so there's less airflow around the ailerons and they become less effective; and the relative wind becomes more of a crosswind, exerting a greater lifting force on the upwind wing.

Consequently, as the airplane comes to a stop, the aileron control should be held fully toward the wind (AFH ch 14).

This tendency is more prevalent in the tailwheel type because the surface area behind the main gear is greater than in nose-wheel airplanes (AFH ch 14).

Any airplane characteristically has greater profile or side area behind the main landing gear than forward of it. With the main wheels acting as a pivot point and that greater surface area exposed to the crosswind behind the pivot, the airplane tends to weathervane into the wind.

Be familiar with the crosswind component of each airplane you fly, and avoid operations in wind conditions that exceed the capability of the airplane, as well as your own limitations (AFH ch 14).

Two separate limits, and the AFH names both. The airplane's number comes from the POH; yours comes from honest self-assessment.

When the airplane contacts the ground with a sharp impact from an improper attitude or an excessive rate of sink, it rebounds into the air because the wing's AOA was abruptly increased, producing a sudden addition of lift — not because the tires spring back like a rubber ball (AFH ch 9).

The abrupt AOA change is the result of inertia instantly forcing the tail downward when the main wheels contact sharply. Severity depends on the airspeed at contact and how much the AOA or pitch attitude increased (AFH ch 9).

The mains touch a little early with the tail still in the air. With the CG aft of the main wheels the tail drops, AOA increases, and the airplane may become airborne again (AFH ch 14).

Fix: easily managed by re-flaring and again trying to hold the airplane off until reaching the three-point attitude.

Limit: a large skip or bounce may result in being high above the runway with insufficient energy — in those circumstances, execute a go-around (AFH ch 14).

Your options: initiate a go-around, or convert to a three-point landing if conditions permit (AFH ch 14).

Don't push forward to force contact — that risks a pilot-induced oscillation (AFH ch 14).

1. Power
2. Attitude
3. Configuration (AFH ch 9)

The go-around is a normal maneuver, used when approach and landing parameters deviate from expectations or when it's hazardous to continue (AFH ch 9).

No — and the AFH names this belief as a hazard. The assumption that an aborted landing is invariably the consequence of a poor approach due to insufficient experience or skill is a fallacy. Any approach or landing may result in a go-around (AFH ch 9).

Reasons to discontinue include:

• ATC requirements
• Unexpected hazards on the runway
• Overtaking another airplane
• Wind shear
• Wake turbulence
• Mechanical failure
• An unstable approach

(AFH ch 9)

The maneuver is not inherently dangerous in itself — it becomes dangerous only when delayed unduly or executed improperly. The most critical go-around is one started when very close to the ground (AFH ch 9).

Delay normally stems from two sources (AFH ch 9): landing expectancy or set — the anticipatory belief that conditions aren't as threatening as they are and that the approach is sure to end in a safe landing; and pride — the mistaken belief that going around is an admission of failure.

Because the forces diverge. As the airplane slows, your control authority decreases — less airflow over the ailerons and rudder — while at the same time the relative wind becomes more of a crosswind and exerts a greater lifting force on the upwind wing (AFH ch 14).

Meanwhile the airplane is still "flying" in the three-point attitude after touchdown, requiring careful attention to heading, roll, and pitch for an extended period (AFH ch 14). Falling authority against rising disturbance, over an extended period, in an airplane that's directionally unstable by design. That's the risk window.

That difference creates a moment about the pivot point of the wheels, and the airplane tends to swerve. Loss of directional control may lead to an aggravated, uncontrolled, tight turn on the ground: a ground loop (AFH ch 14).

The combination of inertia acting on the CG and ground friction of the main wheels may cause the airplane to tip enough for the outside wingtip to contact the ground, and may even impose a sideward force that could collapse one landing gear leg (AFH ch 14).

Prevention, per the AFH, is simple to state: land straight and avoid turns at higher than normal running speed.

1. Counter the swerve with firm rudder input.
2. In stronger swerves, differential braking is essential — tailwheel steering alone proves inadequate.
3. As corrections begin to become apparent, remove the rudder and braking inputs promptly — otherwise you start yet another departure in the opposite direction (AFH ch 14).

Underneath it all, remember the governing maxim: tailwheel airplanes are not damaged from the use of too much rudder, but rather from rudder inputs held for too long (AFH ch 14).

Because a bounce occurs when the airplane makes contact with the ground before the proper touchdown attitude is attained — so it is almost invariably accompanied by the application of excessive back-elevator pressure (AFH ch 9).

This is usually the result of the pilot realizing too late that the airplane is not in the proper attitude and attempting to establish it just as the second touchdown occurs (AFH ch 9). The input is correct; the timing makes it harmful.

Two reasons converge.

Regulatory: go-around procedures are one of the three training areas 61.31(i)(1) requires for the endorsement — alongside normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings, and wheel landings. It isn't optional coverage.

Practical: the AFH's stated exits from a large three-point skip and from a bounced wheel landing are both the go-around (AFH ch 14). In a tailwheel airplane, the go-around isn't a rarely-used maneuver — it's the standing answer to the two most common ways a landing goes wrong.