[Fly Mach .86]

Standard procedure is to crab into the wind, then just before touchdown, lower the wing (not too far) into the wind and straighten the nose (with rudder pedals) as much a possible to track straight down the runway. Then put the nose wheel on the ground as soon as possible to facilitate directional authority, get on the brakes and let the anti-skid do it's magic. When everyone started using the more powerful and fuel efficient high by-pass ration turbo fan engines the diameter of the engine nacelles became much larger which put the bottom of the nacelle closer to the ground limiting further how much you could lower the wing into the wind. I faced this problem many times in the DC-8 and the B-747. It always amazed me how much abuse the landing gear could take. It's very easy to second guess these situations. Was she light on fuel? Was the weather at the alternate just as bad? As a 35 year old captain, how much experience did she have? I enjoyed flying big jets but happy not to have to make those decisions any longer.