Mustang crosswind take off

[HotTom]

Found this in You Tube, says pretty much the same as the P-51D manual although gives more emphasis to ailerons:

 

 

I do wish we had wind socks on the air fields.

 

You'll notice in the film the FAA recommends diverting to another field if the cross wind speed is 20 percent of stall speed, which is around 90-95 mph for the P-51D) with wheels down. That means the "storm" takeoff and landings at 9 m/s (or about 18 mph) is right on the edge. When you can handle those, pin on your wings! I still have trouble with the storm setting, especially landing. :cry:

Edited March 31, 2014 by HotTom

[ttaylor0024]

The P-51 is already a pretty difficult aircraft to master in terms of takeoff and landing, especially in this sim where you can't feel the actual controls, wind, etc. A crosswind of 10m/s is about 19kts, which is a lot for an aircraft of this size. To put that into perspective, most airliners don't land when crosswinds are 30kts or greater, whether that be a limitation of the aircraft, or a safety implementation of the airline. Airliners are also in the tricycle gear configuration which handles crosswinds MUCH better.

 

Anyway, in the P-51 (or any tailwheel for that matter), we are looking for maximum control-ability at all times. In our P-51 this means keeping the tailwheel on the ground for the longest amount of time while locked. To do this, we will keep our elevator aft, simple as that.

 

On our takeoff roll, what I notice a lot on videos from sims is the lack of crosswind corrections. In a crosswind, we are looking to use our ailerons into the wind. This will keep the wind from gusting and rolling our aircraft on the ground, as well as keep us from drifting off the side of the runway as our speed increases. You will always start with full deflection, then slowly release the aileron until you get off the ground and set your crab angle.

 

Things to keep in mind when taking off is the fact that the crosswind from the left wants to force our aircraft to weather-vane, or turn you into the wind. This is why if you unlock your wheel, or even pick up your tail off the ground, you will turn left. As you try to correct, you end up over-correcting and go off the right side of the runway.

 

 

Steps for a successful takeoff:

1. Aft elevator, Left aileron into the wind

2. Don't rush it; gently add power

3. Maintain centerline, holding aft elevator and slowly releasing aileron till you're about half-deflection

4. As the aircraft wants to lift off, pick up the downwind wheel (right in this case) first. You will be in a slight bank, however you won't be drifting at all.

 

 

Here's a video of me doing it. Notice the control locations on the bottom left. Like I said, it's very hard to master controls of a sim, and my performance isn't perfect (overbanking slightly after liftoff), however it is successful.