‘One of the most demanding maneuvres in aviation’ — How pilots manage crosswind landings

Nothing gives a pilot greater job satisfaction than a good crosswind landing. Dropping out the bottom of the cloud on a windy day and seeing the runway out of the side window really gets the heart rate going and the adrenaline pumping.That said, a good crosswind landing takes more than just judgment and luck. It takes extreme concentration, skill and teamwork to complete one of the most demanding maneuvers in aviation. This is your guide to how we deal with crosswinds.Why we land with a crosswindAircraft fly not because of the engines but because of lift generated by air flowing over the wings. They provide the forward thrust to get the air flowing over the wings in the first place. For a basic example, if we need air to be passing over the wing at 100 mph to fly, we need to be moving forward at 100 mph to generate that lift.However, if there is a 50 mph headwind, we already have 50 mph of the required 100 mph air over the wings needed to fly. As a result, we only need to be moving forwards at 50mph. Taken to an extreme, if the wind was 100 mph, we wouldn’t need to move forwards at all — we’d just be able to take off on the spot.Related: How pilots prepare to land during severe stormsConversely, if the 50 mph wind is coming from behind us, a tailwind, we start with minus 50 mph of air over the wings. As a result, we will need to travel forwards at 150 mph in order to achieve the required lift to get airborne. Not an ideal situation and exactly the reason why we prefer to take off and land into the wind.

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