Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 12, 2025

He was proud of his little bird, with its unique split sliding canopy, no rudder pedals, and a delightful art deco instrument panel. The Ercoupe design featured an interconnect between the full-span ailerons, rudder, and steerable nosewheel. These included an F-1A model that featured conventional flight controls and rudder pedals.

Rudder 105

Rudder Tail Crosswind Airplanes 105

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Many sim pilots also purchase dedicated peripherals to control the rudder and engines. Some devices also offer a basic level of rudder and throttle control. The twist grip allows control of the aircraft’s rudder by rotating the joystick handle. A joystick is the most straightforward flight controller.

Rudder 96

Rudder Crosswind Pilot Air Traffic Control 96

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 26, 2025

After ensuring short final was clear, I lined up on centerline, added right aileron to counteract the always present crosswind, and advanced the throttle. As we rolled down the runway, I instinctively moved my feet to the top of the rudder pedals, however, I quickly remembered my brakes were a far cry away from my feet.

Aileron 97

Aileron Gross Weight Crosswind Knot 97

Northstar VFR

MARCH 30, 2025

On theupwind leg, expect slower groundspeed and shallow the bank angle when turning your crosswind. Use a crab angle again on the crosswind leg to track straight. Use rudder appropriately to prevent slipping or skidding through turns. Continue making corrections as needed to keep the pattern rectangular. Fly coordinated.

Groundspeed 52

Groundspeed AGL Crosswind Rudder 52

Air Facts

JULY 15, 2024

Several times I’ve landed smoothly in a strong crosswind, then had trouble keeping the airplane on the runway. I approach using the wing low method in a crosswind. In a left crosswind you need right rudder during your sideslip, then once on the ground you need left rudder to correct for the skipping and keep the aircraft centered.

Crosswind 98

Crosswind Knot Rudder Turbulence 98

Inflight Pilot Training

MARCH 13, 2025

Struggling with Crosswind Landings The Mistake: Many student pilots struggle with crosswind landings due to incorrect rudder use or improper control inputs. Forgetting to apply rudder and aileron corrections simultaneously. How to Avoid It: Practice crosswind landings regularly with your instructor in varying conditions.

Pilot 52

Pilot Crosswind Final Approach Cockpit 52

Ask Captain Lim

DECEMBER 11, 2024

An Airbus A350 in a strong crosswind with nose pointing away How do pilots handle their planes in strong crosswinds? Landing in strong crosswinds is among the most challenging tasks for pilots, requiring precise techniques to ensure the aircraft touches down safely. Some airlines impose a lower limitation.

Crosswind 52

Crosswind Pilot Final Approach Approach 52

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 25, 2025

Although I havent spent much time around GB1s (except for drooling over them while they are on display and flying at airshows) I am always taken aback by how much larger the airplane appears to be in personparticularly, the tall, sweeping rudder that curves down to a sharp point with just enough ground clearance.

Knot 111

Knot Airplanes Runway Rudder 111

Northstar VFR

JULY 21, 2024

More right rudder!!” The airplane rudder is one of the most misunderstood of the primary flight controls. Yet the rudder is one of the most important and one of the most under-utilized. The rudder’s most important function is controlling the yaw of the aircraft, which moves the nose of the plane left and right.

Rudder 52

Rudder Airplanes Pilot Stability 52

Plane and Pilot

APRIL 1, 2025

Feet on rudder pedals. I turned crosswind and attempted to shallow the climb. This time, I pulled out some power as I transitioned to the crosswind leg. Lantana Traffic, Pulsar Experimental Four-Five-Six-Lima-Tango taking off, two-seven, Lantana, will stay in the pattern. Throttle all the way in. My shirt was wet.

Runway 61

Runway Gross Weight Crosswind Airplanes 61

Photographic Logbook

MAY 19, 2025

Nevertheless, I was anxious about managing a 15 knot gusty crosswind for my first taildragger stick time in seven years. As with any taildragger, each rudder input required positive cancelation with opposite rudder to prevent the tail's momentum from yawing the airplane more than intended. He was right. Chop and drop!"

Rudder 83

Rudder Crosswind Airplanes Runway 83

Air Facts

APRIL 9, 2025

Its easy to imagine reading the NTSB report about an influencer on YouTube or Instagram who crashed while livestreaming on final approach (Can I land in a 40-knot crosswind? This is a great way to refresh your stick and rudder skills, practice old fashioned situational awareness, and (no less importantly) have fun.

Weather 98

Weather Airplanes Pilot Cockpit 98

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

Use coordinated aileron and rudder pressures to swiftly, but not excessively, angle into this turn. Base to Upwind Leg As your aircraft moves from the downwind leg onto the base leg, the tailwind transforms into a crosswind. Upwind to Crosswind Leg For this leg transition, gently roll into a slight bank.

Crosswind 52

Crosswind Airplanes Aileron Rudder 52

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

You have to use a lot of rudder—I mean you have to be rabid as far as using the rudder to control the airplane, and it wheel lands very nicely.” It’s the rudder that is doing everything. I can control it now with the Red Line Brakes, but this airplane is not built for crosswinds.

Airplanes 124

Airplanes Crosswind Tail Cockpit 124

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Like most homebuilts and many SLSAs, the RV-12 steers on the ground via differential braking, but the good-sized rudder does contribute if you have a bit of wind. The rudder hardly calls attention to itself outside of having plenty of authority. A nuance, perhaps. Right until liftoff, takeoffs are fairly uneventful.

Airplanes 98

Airplanes Knot Pitot Tube Gross Weight 98

Flying Magazine

JUNE 23, 2025

The AIM says that, when possible, the ditching heading should be parallel to the swell, which might mean a crosswind landing. A photograph of the airplane revealed that the bottom of the rudder was substantially damaged. During the landing, the PIC held back elevator pressure for as long as possible and the airplane landed upright.

Pilot 78

Pilot Airplanes Descent Aeronautical Information Manual 78

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

The only thing that caught my attention was a 90 degree crosswind coming from the east that was gusting to 11 or 12 knots. Turning base to final, I found the crosswind to be gusting as advertised. My left crosswind became left downwind very quickly. Why aren’t you strong on the rudder pedals to steer us on centerline?”

Aileron 98

Aileron Crosswind Knot Runway 98

Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 12, 2025

Primary Flight Controls The primary controls of a small plane are the yoke, rudder pedals, and throttle. Rudder pedals help manage yaw, which keeps the aircraft aligned during turns or crosswinds. The throttle controls engine power, determining your speed and altitude adjustments.

Weather 52

Weather Pilot Drag Rudder 52

Plane and Pilot

JULY 9, 2024

The unique H-tail reduces the left-turning tendencies during takeoff while also minimizing the weathervaning effect prevalent in crosswinds. While the original Ercoupes lacked a rudder and rudder pedals entirely, this example has had them installed as an aftermarket kit, making the airplane a bit more familiar for newcomers to fly.

Rudder 87

Rudder Airplanes Crosswind Tail 87

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 17, 2025

Another safety element was the interconnected ailerons and rudders. Crosswind landings are remarkably simple, and the inability to cross-control the airplane makes the airplane “spin-resistant” in official terminology, or essentially spin-proof in reality.

Primary Flight Display 40

Primary Flight Display Aileron Crosswind Airplanes 40

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

If utilizing Runway 17 with left traffic, the crosswind turn will be heading 080, downwind 350, base 260, etc. Scenario 4: Crosswinds If only flight instructors could control the weather, we’d have the learners practicing crosswind takeoffs and landings on a regular basis. You may even put the learner in and out of the clouds.

Crosswind 108

Crosswind Airplanes VOR Runway 108

Inflight Pilot Training

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Your instructor will introduce you to the basic components of the aircraft, including the fuselage, wings, ailerons, rudder, elevator, and landing gear. Youll also practice different types of landings, including touch-and-go landings, and begin adjusting for crosswinds and environmental factors that affect landing performance.

Aileron 52

Aileron Approach Visual Flight Rules Rudder 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Kentland has a 4,000-foot runway, east/west, with a crosswind straight out of the north. When you discover too late that the old rudder lock doesn’t fit the new rudder… The local hardware store had pool noodles, PVC tubing, and rope. The upper Midwest scenery can be spectacular. As I got on downwind, the ADS-B went totally nuts.

Weather 73

Weather Runway Knot Rudder 73

Plane and Pilot

MAY 3, 2025

You can see other Weick influences, such as the oil-damped tricycle landing gearall produced Cherokees are trikeswith a wide track to make crosswind landings more manageable. Depressions in the vertical stabilizer and rudder, as well as stabilator skins and ailerons, all help increase panel stiffness while allowing less under-skin structure.

Approach 67

Approach Airplanes Stability Weight-Shift-Control 67

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

Skills Developed: It enhances coordination and control precision, forcing students to make small, deliberate inputs on the yoke and rudder. Crosswind Takeoff and Landing: Handling wind coming from the side is a skill every pilot must master. Learning slow flight builds confidence and prepares you for stall recognition.

Pilot 52

Pilot Descent Approach Rudder 52

Thrust Flight

JULY 11, 2024

You’re greasing the landings, your flight instructor has finally stopped chirping on about your insufficient use of the rudder, and the crosswind is blissfully mellow. One day, you’re flying the pattern and feeling pretty good about things. Then, all of a sudden, your CFI says it’s time to taxi back to the ramp.

Crosswind 52

Crosswind Rudder Thrust 52

Flight Training Central

MARCH 4, 2024

As the airplane turns onto the following base leg, the tailwind will decrease and becomes a crosswind. The bank angle should be reduced gradually with coordinated aileron and rudder input. The turn from downwind leg to base leg will be more than 90 degrees to compensate for the increasing crosswind.

Groundspeed 52

Groundspeed Crosswind Aileron Rudder 52

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 25, 2025

The aircraft had to land into a 15-knot crosswind, and the plane landed at a speed of 115 mph, well below the standard landing speed of between 150-175 mph. (Historic Chicago) On September 28, 1992, the Boeing 727 took off from Chicagos OHare International Airport on the short flight to Meigs.

Cockpit 93

Cockpit Pilot Ceiling Rudder 93

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 23, 2025

Taxiing procedures: Moving the aircraft to the runway involves steering with your feet using the rudder pedals. Although I consider myself somewhat of a fearless adrenaline junkie, watching the wheel just outside my window touch down on the pavement while the other was still suspended as we leaned into a crosswind got my heart racing a bit.

Rudder 97

Rudder Descent Pilot Runway 97

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

I watched the stick flutter to and fro in sync with the rudder pedals as Wilkins fought to maintain the centerline, all the while pushing in the throttle. Once there, he put us in a slight right turn toward our first fuel stop 60 miles ahead, continuously fighting the stick as the gusting left crosswind did its best to push us off course.

Runway 98

Runway Crosswind Rudder Pilot 98

Air

MAY 21, 2025

Crosswind: The Sideways Challenge A crosswind blows across your intended flight path , being most critical during the takeoff and landing phases. Pilots must use specific techniques, applying rudder and aileron inputs, to maintain directional control and keep the aircraft aligned. And it’s unique in Europe!

Crosswind 52

Crosswind Wind Shear Groundspeed Flight Computer 52

AV Web

JULY 1, 2025

That means using the right amount of coordinated differential braking because there won’t be much rudder authority at slow speeds, though the big rudder on the RV-12 can work to your favor in the breeze. Even taxiing, turning and landing rollouts will be different because many light sport models have a castering nosewheel.

Gross Weight 52

Gross Weight Knot Airplanes Pilot 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 4, 2024

When I was working on my PPL, I learned crosswind landings proficiently, plenty good enough for the check ride, but we never had an ugly, gusty, strong crosswind landing day. I was telling him how I had just made a whole series of beautiful, one-wheel, crosswind landings. He looked puzzled. Why might that be? Hopefully not.

Crosswind 52

Crosswind Aileron Runway Gross Weight 52

Flight Training Central

JANUARY 27, 2025

From misjudging the flare to battling crosswinds, these mistakes can challenge pilots of all experience levels. Remember that torque will be created as power is applied; therefore, it will be necessary to use rudder pressure to keep the airplane straight as it settles onto the runway.

Airplanes 89

Airplanes Runway Accelerated Stall Lift 89

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

Flying the Base Leg All aircraft land into the wind, so the base leg usually involves some crosswind. The crosswind can push you out and mess up your glidepath if you’re not careful. It’s tempting to increase the bank angle and add some rudder to rotate the aircraft. Use the rudder pedals to maintain centerline.

Descent 52

Descent Weight-Shift-Control Crosswind Runway 52

Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 5, 2025

Proper coordination of throttle, trim, and rudder inputs are critical during this phase of flight. Failing to anticipate gusts or crosswinds can make your landing unstable. Managing the critical engine, which is the engine closest to the aircrafts wingtip, is key to reducing drag and maintaining control.

Descent 52

Descent Final Approach Approach Runway 52

Pilot Institute

MAY 9, 2024

We counteract adverse yaw by applying rudder in the direction of the turn. The amount of rudder required depends on roll rate and airspeed. Airspeed and attitude change constantly, and we must change rudder input along with them. We apply right rudder to counteract the left-turning tendencies.

Rudder 52

Rudder Lift Aileron Drag 52