Plane and Pilot

APRIL 1, 2025

I lined up on Runway 27. The longest runway at Palm Beach County Park Airport (KLNA) is 3,500 feet, plus fields and open spaces would be ahead of me. Feet on rudder pedals. At 500 feet down the runway, the little airplane leaped into the air despite my plan to build more speed before taking off. First flight!

Runway

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. Proper use of the throttle , maintaining alignment with the runway, and achieving the correct airspeed are essential steps.

Weather

Inflight Pilot Training

MARCH 13, 2025

Example of a Proper Radio Call: Minneapolis Ground, Cessna 172, N12345 at Inflight Aviation, ready to taxi to Runway 12 for departure. Struggling with Crosswind Landings The Mistake: Many student pilots struggle with crosswind landings due to incorrect rudder use or improper control inputs.

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Kentland has a 4,000-foot runway, east/west, with a crosswind straight out of the north. Nobody answered on unicom, and the facilities were at the west end of the airport, so I decided on left traffic for Runway 27. After I turned off the runway, I saw the traffic… a crop duster. What the…?

Weather

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

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 26, 2025

Gillespie traffic, Jabiru 570BL departing Runway 14, Gillespie,” I announced on frequency. After ensuring short final was clear, I lined up on centerline, added right aileron to counteract the always present crosswind, and advanced the throttle. It is nice to know that such a light airplane could handle this demand with relative ease.

Aileron

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. In addition to learning about the aircraft itself, you will also review airport procedures, runway markings, and basic safety guidelines.

Aileron

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 25, 2025

Landing the 727 at Meigs Field would be a challenge, as the runway there was just 3,900-feet (1,200 m), but the airline had a capable crew to take N7017U on its final flight, with Captain B.C. After a low pass for the public and the press that had gathered to watch, Captain Thomas made the approach on runway 36 north.

Cockpit

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

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. Proper pitch, power management, and alignment with the runway are emphasized. Crosswind Takeoff and Landing: Handling wind coming from the side is a skill every pilot must master.

Pilot

Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 5, 2025

Learning how to land a Piper Seminole means becoming comfortable with these avionics, which help guide the aircraft through the landing procedure, ensuring optimal approach speeds and alignment with the runway. Once the flaps are set and landing gear is confirmed, begin your final descent to the runway.

Descent

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Rudder The rudder is the panel on the vertical part of the aircrafts tail. Whenever aircraft encounter crosswinds, the most noticeable impact is felt in yaw. Thats because the tail has a large vertical surface that catches a lot of crosswind. This is where the rudder comes in. It provides yaw control.

Torque

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

In the traffic pattern, youll need to ensure that you maintain a course in relation to the runway. In the traffic pattern, this is the runway. Use coordinated aileron and rudder pressures to swiftly, but not excessively, angle into this turn. Upwind to Crosswind Leg For this leg transition, gently roll into a slight bank.

Crosswind

AV Web

JULY 1, 2025

Those are the ignition lane switches and wing spar pin warning light If that isn’t incentive to take training seriously, look to the NTSB reports where you’ll find lots of runway prangs in the hands of hamfisted pilots. Poke around the typical LSA maintenance hangar and you’ll see broken pieces. The RV-12 is no different.

Gross Weight

AV Web

JANUARY 22, 2025

The airplane came to rest about 1600 feet from the Runway 31 threshold and about 250 feet right of the extended centerline. Backing up in the pattern, the crosswind, downwind and base legs (excluding the turns) saw less than one percent of the stalls. We cant emphasize enough the need for rudder coordination.

Final Approach

Flying Magazine

JULY 17, 2025

Sharp stick-and-rudder work in crosswinds is a must. One place it’s not at home is taking off from short runways. Around the runway, the PA-46 can sting the pilot who doesn’t bring their A game. The long wings produce another undesirable trait: The roll rate at slow speeds is somewhat ponderous compared to other singles.

Knot

Aerotime

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an urgent safety recommendation to Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following an incident at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in February 2024, when the rudder pedals jammed on a United Airlines 737 MAX 8.

Rudder

Air Facts

JULY 15, 2024

I did a checkride in 30 knot winds in the flatlands of Kansas, almost straight down the runway. I’ve landed in strong winds enough times that 30 knots can seem routine, as long as it’s reasonably aligned with the runway. Until I was porpoising down the runway like a first-time student. The lower I got, the worse it became.

Crosswind

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

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. Don walked me through engine start and within minutes of bringing the fuel-injected 180 horsepower Lycoming to life, we were taxiing from the 700 Ramp to the departure end of runway 25. He was right. Chop and drop!"

Rudder

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

We started up the engine, got the weather, asked the tower for our instrument flight plan, and began to taxi from the T-hangars on the east side of the field down the familiar route of “Hotel, Echo” to runway 18 right for a departure to the north with a turn to the east. Destin Tower told me to expect a right base for a landing on Runway 12.

Aileron

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

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

If utilizing Runway 17 with left traffic, the crosswind turn will be heading 080, downwind 350, base 260, etc. Don’t accept the excuses of “I can’t fly if I can’t see the runway,” or “I can’t feel the airplane.” Then the CFI should increase the winds so they are 10 knots (or more) above the demonstrated crosswind component.

Crosswind

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

At that point, you’re simply looking down the runway, and then it lifts off. You just make one great big U-turn, that way you can kind of watch the runway the whole time. 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.”

Crosswind

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. The little plane leapt into the air almost immediately as the wind seemingly swirled from every direction along the 5,000-foot runway. The remainder of our flight would follow U.S.

Runway

Flight Training Central

JANUARY 27, 2025

From misjudging the flare to battling crosswinds, these mistakes can challenge pilots of all experience levels. 1) High Roundout Sometimes when the airplane appears to temporarily stop moving downward, the roundout has been made too rapidly and the airplane is flying level, too high above the runway.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 23, 2025

Once we were ready, we started up, and the instructor radioed the tower before taxiing to the runway. Taxiing procedures: Moving the aircraft to the runway involves steering with your feet using the rudder pedals. Ground operations Before takeoff, youll learn how to operate the aircraft on the ground.

Rudder

Photographic Logbook

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Over the last three years, The Bear has expressed great interest in visiting Alton Bay, the only FAA-authorized ice runway in the continental United States. A very brief 2022 season for the ice runway eliminated opportunities to return that year. I pointed to the ice runway as we cleared terrain hiding it. There it is!"

Runway

Air

MAY 21, 2025

Drawbacks: For takeoff, a tailwind significantly increases the required runway length and results in a shallower climb angle. Crosswind: The Sideways Challenge A crosswind blows across your intended flight path , being most critical during the takeoff and landing phases. Crosswind component (V) , obtained with the sine function.

Crosswind

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?

Crosswind

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

You can only begin improving the touchdown if you’ve mastered positioning your aircraft above the runway threshold correctly. For example, if you fly a high-wing aircraft such as a Cessna 172, you can use the point where the runway cuts the wing strut as a reference. See if the runway appears to move relative to the windshield.

Descent

Air Facts

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

NTSB ERA22LA169 describes a funny engine noise that prompted an earlier than planned turn to crosswind for an anticipated return to the airport. The instructor was able to complete the turn, but the airplane overshot the runway. From my point of view it was evident that we did not have enough room to safely land on Runway 17.

Gross Weight

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 16, 2024

But landing it safely on the runway is a skill. If there is a crosswind at the airport, you should mention this in your brief. Discuss your nominated crosswind technique. Explain what aircraft input you will require to land the aircraft in the crosswind. For example, the crosswind is from left to right.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

The 172 has a steerable nosewheel, much heavier than the rudders on my RV-9A with a castering nosewheel. There was a nice crosswind, and I demonstrated landing on a concrete expansion joint, offset from the runway centerline. Then off to the other runway for a full stop.

Pitot Tube

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 13, 2024

A bounced landing is a condition where the aircraft lands on the runway, but instead of rolling on the surface after touchdown, it rebounds/bounces off the ground. This can happen for several reasons: Landing Too Fast At high speeds, your aircraft may be unable to slow down enough before touching down on the runway.

Descent

Pilot Institute

MAY 4, 2024

Not only must you fly unnervingly slow, but you also have to pick a spot on the runway and hit it. It’s a runway that is too short for a normal takeoff or landing but still usable with certain precautions. This allows them to safely operate into and out of these tight runways. You’re not alone.

Weight-Shift-Control

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

While instructors idly watch, airplanes go off the runway, landings become too harsh, structure gets overstressed, and tolerances are exceeded. No flying in winds exceeding 10 knots, no chance of obscuring precipitation, no use of runways shorter than 5,000 feet, no risk of encountering darkness or lowering ceilings.

Wind Shear