Hey guys
I fly a Piper Archer that feels "lighter" than a lot of the archers on the field - 1533 basic empty weight. With regular full flap landings, once touched down, I have to push the nose down for 1-2 seconds and/or retract the flaps to get some traction and gain steering control, and to stop those "mini bounces".
Not landing slow enough. You shouldn't be "mini-bouncing" or pushing the nose down at landing. It doesn't matter if the airplane weighs ten pounds or 70,000 lbs. Your job is to alight with the surface when there is no lift left to go back up.
It gets trickier with nasty crosswind landings. The other day I had a crosswind down runway 32. Winds were 280 at 23 gusting 30. Landed with one notch of flaps, touched down very soft with the left wheel first. Once touched down, I had full left aileron deflection, but the plane was skidding in a "crabbed" position for a few seconds until I retracted the flaps and nosed down to get some traction. Even then, I felt some skidding going on, but it happened too quickly and I can't fully recall what else I did, including with the rudder.
If you've run completely out of aileron at touchdown and you couldn't get the nose aligned with the runway with rudder, you've started hitting the limits of the aircraft. But I suspect you still had rudder available and weren't being nearly aggressive enough with it.
If you're feeling out of control on a runway and sliding, you're pushing it for becoming the most common accident statistic: Loss of directional control during takeoff or landing.
Is this normal behavior? Or am I doing something wrong? I know for a fact that once I was touched down, I released pressure from the rudder just to see what the plane was doing and how to react. Do I need to apply opposite rudder once touched down? I feel like at that point, it will just take me off centerline, but then again, I could be wrong. It happens so quickly that I don't get a chance to test it out.
To line up with the runway in a heavy crosswind, you should have already had plenty of opposite rudder in long before touchdown. How long beforehand is a matter of technique when switching from a crab (which should have NO control inputs at all, you're just flying crabbed into the prevailing wind) to a slip that includes the upwind wing down and enough rudder to align the aircraft with the runway.
I've also experienced this in a Cessna under similar conditions.
All input is greatly appreciated
Thanks!
I think you need to grab a CFI and work on both airspeed control on final in reasonable winds and also pick a crosswind day or runway and work on crosswind technique.
Someone else mentioned the "don't land" drill. You go out with a CFI and instead of landing out of an approach to a runway in a stiff crosswind, you add power and fly the length of the runway at about three feet off the ground in the proper cross-controlled state to land out of. This would be an excellent time for you to "play" with the rudder if you are the sort who'd like to get a feel for "how much works" vs "how much doesn't work".
But let me share with you something an old CFI taught me when I wanted to play those "let me get a feel for it" games. He said, "It doesn't matter. Use whatever it takes and make the airplane stay exactly where you want it. Don't let it drift left or right and don't let the nose start moving left or right. Put whatever control input is necessary to stop it from moving RIGHT NOW and if you over did it, immediately reverse it, RIGHT NOW.
I suspect you're doing what I did a few hundred hours ago and sometimes fall back into the trap of. You're along for the ride when things go weird instead of MAKING the airplane go where you want it, because you allow the mental questions of "how much" get in the way of just DOING it.
And remember any time you change one you'll have to change the other. Add aileron you're also adding adverse yaw. Add rudder and you may affect your sideslip and descent rate because you just changed (slightly) the amount of drag.
ATTACK the crosswind. Be ridiculously focused on "if the airplane moves from centerline, put it back" get aggressive about it and stop over-thinking it. Stomp the pedal to the floor fast if that's what you need. Rack the aileron to the stop fast if that's what is needed.
And finally... if you can't hold it where you want it three feet in the air, you won't hold it on the runway. Go around. Go around. Go around. Don't ever accept sliding sideways on a runway.*
*Advanced technique, and the folks who've had to fly for a living in insane crosswinds will tell you, they've HAD to slide an airplane but it wasn't a "I don't know why this is happening" moment, it was a "I'm going to have to risk this" moment under complete control throughout.
Tailwheel and/or to a lesser degree, glider time will help with this if you have the opportunity.
Definitely go try the fly-down-the-runway drill with an instructor. Shoot for zero sideslip and zero yaw angle as the goal on a nice long runway with a stiff crosswind.
Once you have that, next step is simply pulling the power off and continue to track while pulling the nose UP. Power reduction will remove some left turning tendencies so you'll have to relax the right rudder or add a little left. Which will mess up the crab. Catch it EARLY because you know it will happen and it'll sit right down.
Also as you slow all of the flight controls will become less effective. You'll need more than you think.
Now hold centerline with whatever rudder is needed and get that aileron all the way to the stop. As you add it you feet will need to be involved again because you'll add adverse yaw.
This "game" doesn't stop because the wheels touched the ground. Doing it right is a workout. Work at it. Use every bit of control surface as control input that you need but don't let it get sideways.
That help? None of us is perfect at it. But don't accept the sliding. Make the airplane go where you want it.
