Awesome landing at LHR

[WPOZZZ]

Wow!

[PorscheGAL]

Impressive landing skills. Is that the same plane that made the transatlantic flight in record time to attempt to beat the storm?

[WPOZZZ]

No. This one is an Etihad Airbus. The record setter was a BA 747.

[T77911S]

how does that not rip a tire off the rim???

[flatbutt]

Could one of you pilots describe what they are doing at the controls? The control surfaces look rather neutral to my untrained eye.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

The control surfaces look rather neutral to my untrained eye.

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.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by john70t

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, which would require more major corrections at low speed and altitude. 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.

Thanks, wow it doesn't take much rudder to do that.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Thanks, wow it doesn't take much rudder to do that.

I'm glad John mentioned the rudder. I was focused on the wheels and assumed they pulled the aircraft to straight.

I look again and see a bounce then turn from rudder.

I don't think I could do that.

[UconnTim97]

That's impressive!

[john70t]

(I'd defer to the experts but)
It looks like the approach is very high and slow.
Notice the massive drop with recovery...just above ground.

Using a little more speed he could have possibly used more of the runway and had a straighter landing.
(But hey nobody can be as perfect as me. Or as modest.)

A set of new tires makes that one a good landing.

[vmax]

Pilot's perspective

[vmax]

Amazing video.

[cgarr]

Id rip the gear off my plane doing that. Why don't they kick it straight just before touch down?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by john70t

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.

I am far from an expert, but the only airplane I know of that has rotating undercarriage for cross wind landings is the B-52. It was a top secret feature for many years.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a13586/b-52-stratofortress-landing-17630171/

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by cgarr

Id rip the gear off my plane doing that. Why don't they kick it straight just before touch down?

I think it was a mistake but what do I know.

It's clear the entire weight of the aircraft was not on the landing gear when it touched first time.

[Jeff Higgins]

Pretty impressive.

None of the aircraft I ever worked on had rotating mains to help with this. I bet their AOG team has some work to do on this one...

[rfuerst911sc]

Landings like that must put a lot of stress on the landing gear and the air frame . Glad they got it down safe but isn't the smart money to divert to another airport not suffering from hurricane winds ? Had they crashed ( glad they didn't ) the law suits would have poured out stating the pilots/company placed the passengers in an unsafe environment trying to make the landing . What is the protocol in these situations ? Is it ultimately up to the pilots ?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

The record setter was a BA 747.

Just the other day per YouTube. 825 mph. I am guessing that's ground speed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Z3kbBksVE

[john70t]

575mph actual cruise + 250mph jet stream/trade wind seems like it.

Or Boeing is using some impressive technology. :/

[schwarz633]

Apparently the owners didn't recognize the awesomeness:

https://onemileatatime.com/etihad-a380-crosswind-landing/