by N111YX » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:34 pm
Mike, the winds were the biggest hurdle on the trip. Every day it was 15-20 gusts to 25 or 30 knots. Luckily, the airport designers out there did their homework and the winds were pretty close to an available runway. The taildragger Waiex gets iffy with a crosswind component of more than eight knots in my opinion. The problem is at lower than flying speed (rollout) where the rudder dies. The best thing to do is a 90% full stall landing (three point) or if you really have a strong crosswind 100% full stall to kill all available speed in the air and get the tailwheel available for steering. Note that a 100% full stall touchdown will have the tailwheel contact first so it's not ideal every time as you might apply undue stress on the tailwheel assembly.
With a Jabiru, seek out a crosswind from the right if you can for takeoffs so the the left turning tendencies are balanced by the crosswind.... ;)
Kip
2010 Waiex 0082 (first flight May 2010)
Jabiru 3300 #1637 and #3035
Dynon D-180
Becker radios
Garmin GDL 82 ADS-B
1175 hours
48 states visited
Based near Atlanta
Also flying a...
2000 Kolb Firestar II, Rotax 503, 575 hours