To Wheel Land it or NOT to Wheel Land it...

[210TC]

I also go to the lee side and turn into the wind at touch down. A few times I have landed somewhat cross ways if the runway is wide enough and safe.
I use 15 degee's of flaps, I do not know the speed, I use my feel for the rate of decent. If I am ALONE and the wind is comming from the left I land almost flat full stall, tail first and I keep it there. If from the right I hold the r-wing down and touch right wheel and hopefully tail wheel at the same time, full stall. This is the landing that gives me sweaty hands since the right side is lighter and stalls last (lite wing).
I have never flowin a Maule with flap settings other than 15 and 40.
When I am commetted, I pull the power off and zero the flaps quickly.
I cannot consider a go around at this point because the turbo will not spool up.
I agree that runways line up with the wind, but i seem to find a situation very close to this many times a year and who is going to ground loop with the wind on the nose.

[Jet-A]

I love wind.
It's the one thing that separates us all as pilots. The men from the boys. The "Taildraggers" from the "Nosedraggers"...(I could go on and on)...
Here is where our abilities as a pilot can make or break our airplane. Literally. And this is also where taildraggers get a bad reputation and higher insurance costs. So I (and my wallet) take special note as to how good I am as a pilot and how I take care of my baby.

In the previous example by 210TC (90 deg. x-wind 18G25), I would like to offer for your consideration a bit more detail in the question:
Airport: Franklin Field (F72) http://www.airnav.com/airport/F72
Wind: 270@18G25 (estimated by windsock)
Runway: Left traffic Rwy 18 with 3 other airplanes in the pattern.
This airport has 2 runways and it is uncontrolled... Great for training, especially X-wind. I take student pilots to this airport for all kinds of stuff, but the best part is that we can always find an x-wind.

...AND - It's only 60' wide, which doesn't leave much room for cuttin' across or makin' mistakes.

NOW what would you do??

[maules.com]

That's easy, let the other 3 land first and learn the field from watching their successes or difficulties.

[210TC]

If you have got 60 ft or 20 ft you either go some place else (as Jeremy said) or land, I would land unless the plane cannot hold the path.
I did some adding and this is why I have had many cross wind landing's lately. In the last three years I have flowin to 4 countries (includes the US) and landed in 21 states. Ya, Im retired, Maybe not if the gas doesn,t go down. I still have South America to discover and then on to Africa.

[210TC]

Jeremy,
Tell us how an m5 v m7 with a 4 banger v 6 cyl differ in cross wind conditions

[RobBurson]

David, don’t tell anyone how nice it is here. We are trying to keep it a secret. I would be in BIG! trouble in a 90 degree Xwind 18G25. I would have to find another place to land. So how much xwind can a M7 hold before you run out of rudder? I’ve only been in 10-12. Cheers…Rob

[montana maule]

The only time I've lost control of an airplane and run off the runway it was a situation much like you proposed. I arrived at an airport and found 6 Cherokees from the local flightschool using the paved runway that was 90 degrees to the 20 kt wind. So I blindly got in line and played follow the leader in my 1946 Skyranger. In doing so I passed up the option of using a short grass runway in line with the wind because I didn't want to hold up the flow of traffic.

Since that time, in high wind conditions, I have been known to land on taxi ways, ramps, and the grass infields even at towered airports. If you land straight into a 30 kt wind its almost physically impossible to ground loop and you will have a very short landing roll. If you plan things out correctly you can then taxi straight ahead to a safe tie down.

[maules.com]

4 or 6 cylinder does'nt make a difference but the windage of the cowling might have a slight effect, and the momentum of the heavier engine if it began to swing left or right would have an effect.
The M5 wing being shorter and having a droop tip has the advantage. It can be banked steeper and the droop will protect the wing and aileron if you need to get it very low. The side wind does not have as much area to lift if it gets underneath. It is easier to keep one wheel up on the oleo gear because the arm is shorter, but once all wheels are down, it is harder for the wind to tip over a 'C' widegear again because of the arm.

[210TC]

I wish more would contribute to this. This is why our insurance is so high, ground loops.
Some feel 10 knots of wind other than down the middle of the runway is a problem. Maybe you fly in an area that has calm winds and you do not fly if the wind is up. Yet, your stories are important to all of us, we learn from each other no matter what level of cross wind landing experience one has.
The last author (montana maule) stated he would land in the grass if need be even if a tower exsist. This is an excellent story. It tells us when you are at the controls and things don't add up YOU AS THE PILOT ARE IN CONTROL, not the guy in the tower. Don't get me wrong, follow the rules ,BUT if need be take control and do what you have to do to save you and your aircraft.
I have refused order's twice in my life and it most likely saved my life. (not saying montana maule did not obtain approval for his landing)
In my opinion, (not humble) what divides the men from the boy's is wisdom, Nothing else!

[210TC]

Jeremy, you need to address Rob's question about M7 rudder's.
I have run out of rudder on my m5 requiring banking and the use of brakes while on the ground. Warning, don't ever lift the tail in heavy cross wind take off's until your are very close to take off speed.

[Hottshot]

David-


I am pretty sure the Rudder on an M5 is not as deep as the M7 rudder by an inch or two,

[Lowflybye]

In my opinion, (not humble) what divides the men from the boy's is wisdom, Nothing else!

Ahh grasshopper...wisdom comes from experience and a wise man learns from his experience, but an even wiser man learns from others experience.

The day we quit learning to fly is the day that we decide it is OK to crash.

I can remember when I was younger watching a tailwheel pilot take-off in a crosswind that most training wheel pilots would have opted to stay on the ground. The difference was that he took off using the crossing taxi-way and into the wind instead of using the runway. Most thought he has crazy at first, but those who have flown tailwheels knew exactly why he did it.

I will usually 2 point my crosswind landings with the windward main and the tailwheel on the ground. If the wind is gusty I use as little flap as possible and keep the speed higher, but if the wind is steady I will use a notch or 2. If I use flaps, I dump them to 0 on touchdown to kill as much lift as possible. My crosswind speed limitation depends on the runway surface and width. I will land on grass or dirt with a higher crosswind component than I will on a paved surface since there is more room for error. At our home field we have a paved and grass strip that cross at almost 45 degrees...On a day where both runways have a crosswind, I will opt for the grass even if the paved has a lesser crosswind component ...depending on the crosswind of course.

I will also land with a higher crosswind if the strip is wide...in this case I disregard the centerline and make a landing from the leeward side to the windward side at as close to 45 degrees (with referece to centerline) as possible. This takes out a good bit of the crosswind component while still leaving me a fairly long runway surface to use.

[Jet-A]

I have to tell you all here that most of the tailwheel pilots I have flown with are always eager to hear more information or a different way to land the airplane; they are usually ready and willing to learn. There are a select few who unwittingly have chosen the "It's OK to crash" mentality.

The taildragger is the Great Equalizer, The Humiliator, The Humbilizer, whatever. Gotta tell ya' that there's absolutely nothing funnier than to take a cocky, swagerin' nosedragger pilot out for his first flight in a taildragger for the tailwheel sign-off. I gave him all of the ground instruction, let him borrow my "Compleat Taildragger" book, etc., but he had the attitude that he could still do it in an hour or less... It was like he walked into the middle of a professional baseball game and pointing at the back fence in left field for a homer without ever having any batting practice.

After the first flight, I asked him where he thought it all went wrong. He said, "When I started up the airplane..." It took about 12 hours flying time for him to get the endorsement (barely). A good learning experience for him.

I know, because I was humbled a few years prior to that day...

[Rolf]

18 gusting to 25!!! and a hard surface runway!!!
Holey moley, how did I get myself into that mess?
Think outside the box and land on the grass at an angle that gives you the most room and misses most of the runway lights when you cross the hard surface.
When in doubt, I try to do what it takes to prevent me from having an expensive lawn ornament and artificial boundaries are not necessarily taken into consideration.
Rolf

[maules.com]

There is no 'number' for crosswind capability of each airplane. Many same models are rigged differently but the capability is usually in the practice and experience of the pilot not the plane.
The M5 rudder is a shorter chord than the later models which have longer wings, so the longer chord rudder balances with the later wings. The early M6 which followed the M5 had a longer wing with droop tip but the short chord rudder, and this rudder was enlarged later to match the wing.
The quality in the Maule that makes it so stable in a cross controlled condition and so reluctant to enter a spin situation, is most probably because the rudder is a safe size. This does not seem to take away from it's crosswind capability as is proven with the same wing/rudder combination on the Tri-gear models.