Originally Posted by nglitz

I flew B-52Gs and a few D models for most of the seventies. Griffiss AFB in upstate NY, Guam for some jungle visits and dropped into a few other stateside bases.

Originally Posted by nglitz

Just stumbled on to this thread as I usually don't frequent the open discussions. I flew B-52Gs and a few D models for most of the seventies. Griffiss AFB in upstate NY, Guam for some jungle visits and dropped into a few other stateside bases. We did indeed (and still do) have crosswind landing gear. Unlike most airplanes with heavily loaded main gear & lightly loaded nose or tail wheels, the four main gear (two tires each) on a buf are all fairly equally loaded. All four castor pretty freely and will take up the crab in a landing. We also have little training wheels out near the tip to keep from dragging the tip tanks so the "wing low" method is out. There's a big knob in the center console right behind the autopilot controls that can preposition the gear to a crab. It can be done on the ground to plan on a takeoff crab or in the air to prepare for a landing crab. Great fun to swivel it back & forth while taxiing at a strange base & see the people staring at a sideways airplane. IIRC 30 degrees of crab was about the limit. I was lucky enough to never need that much.

Originally Posted by dmorrison

Norm great to here form a real Bongo-52 pilot. What was the maximum demonstrated crosswind. With 30 degrees of crag that should be a lot. I guess Boeing really liked the gear setup they also used it on the B47.

Dave

Originally Posted by BamaMB

Your correct about the airplane nose being 22 degrees off the centerline of the runway in the example you gave. The trick is to get the nose back inline with the runway prior to touchdown by using a combination of the rudder and ailerons on the wings.

Originally Posted by BamaMB

The trick is to get the nose back inline with the runway prior to touchdown by using a combination of the rudder and ailerons on the wings.

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

If the gear on the B-52 can be swiveled to 22 degrees, can you simply land the airplane in a 22 degree crab? The wheels are pointed directly down the runway and the airplane is pointed directly into the relative wind. :confused:

Originally Posted by tangofox007

The airplane touches down in a crab, equal to the wind correction angle. However, the term "relative wind" does not really apply here. (If the airplane were heading directly into the relative wind, there would be no drift.) In order to have a relative wind, the runway would have to be moving. Which is exactly the case with an aircraft carrier. Because the landing deck is offset 10 degrees from the centerline of the ship, the ships heading and speed are adjusted so that the relative wind (resulting from the natural wind and the ship's movement) is ten degrees off the port bow at 25 knots. That way landing aircraft have no crosswind component.

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Got it, thanks. ;)

Additionally got me to thinking about this aircraft carrier scenario:

There is a possibility of a small crosswind component if the natural wind is dead calm. The ship can't compensate for the ten degree offset of the runway. The crosswind component would be about 4 knots, correct? :confused:

Originally Posted by dmorrison

Norm great to here form a real Bongo-52 pilot. What was the maximum demonstrated crosswind. With 30 degrees of crag that should be a lot. I guess Boeing really liked the gear setup they also used it on the B47.

Dave

Originally Posted by TwitchKitty

Are carrier landings still strictly a hands-on procedure or can they land a plane on a carrier using computers only?

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