Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
The control surfaces look rather neutral to my untrained eye.
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They are.
He is gliding downwards straight into the wind and level.
But that strong crosswind happens to be at a ~60deg angle to the runway!
The intersection point is very tricky.
-Too slow and the plane stalls in the air short of the runway and then goes kerplunk into the ground like a pancake.
-Too fast and the plane may travel upwind past the runway center-line, which would require more major corrections at low speed and altitude.
Also very dangerous.
At the last second before touchdown (actually after touchdown in this video), the pilot flicks the rudder right to straighten it out.
I think some aircraft have rotating wheels just for this purpose.