Crosswind University

Thirty of the simulators have been sold worldwide. Many were to universities, but only one to a dedicated crosswind school: Crosswind Concepts at Centennial Airport in southern Denver. It has not only helped advanced pilots, but also has saved the careers of student pilots who were close to giving up on their dream of flying.

For $225 you’ll get an hour of ground school and an hour in the Xwind simulator taught by Taylor Albrecht, the school’s manager, and his instructors. Once training is complete, students may rent the simulator at $50 an hour plus instructor’s fees to stay sharp. The company, located in an office building at the airport, also offers training in using an iPad with aviation apps in an aircraft, and a three-hour stick-and-rudder ground school that goes beyond crosswind techniques. Crosswind Concepts was recently chosen as a training provider for the Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

I got an introduction to the Xwind during a visit to Crosswind Concepts early in 2016.

As it turned out, my decision not to joke about the perfect job I expected to do, and to remain quiet about my airline transport pilot certificate, proved wise. During the first landing, I decided the tough part was over and relaxed pressure on the ailerons when I should have been increasing it. The simulator responded by heading me toward the runway’s edge on the rollout after landing, as seen on three screens on the wall in front of the $30,000 Xwind. The entire unit moves several feet right and left, and when I got out I was sweating. I later confessed that during one night practice landing, a gust had knocked me 10 feet off the centerline when I was only 20 to 30 feet high, but I saved it in time to land. Albrecht explained that I should have gone around. “Always be ready to go around,” he said.

Wind tips. Crab or slip? Pilots often debate whether to use a sideslip during the entire approach in a crosswind or to crab the airplane into the wind, then align the fuselage with the runway centerline seconds before touchdown (known as “crab and kick”). The ground school portion includes a suggestion that pilots end that debate: Albrecht wants you in a slip at least a quarter-mile before reaching the runway, and possibly a half-mile. That method is best for student pilots, as well as pilots who have impressive ratings but simply don’t fly enough. The sudden change in the visual perspective—and intentionally destabilizing the approach by switching from a wings-level crab, pointed into the wind, to a cross-controlled sideslip—is for experienced pilots who fly every day, Albrecht said.

There’s another debate out there about the use of flaps in high winds and gusts. Some say you should land with full flaps, and others suggest partial flaps. Since Albrecht is always anticipating a go-around, he uses the same maximum flap setting as is allowed for takeoff. That way, his work for the go-around is partially done.

During the ground school portion, Albrecht cleared up another misconception I have carried for decades. When on the ground, pilots should place the flight controls in the correct position to counter any tendency the wind might have to steer them off course or, worse, flip them over. The rule I learned incorrectly suggested diving away from a wind coming from behind, and climbing into it when the wind is from the front. That happens to be the rule for tailwheel aircraft, he said. With tricycle-gear aircraft, the rule is to “turn” into the wind, not climb, and to dive away from it. “Even if the wind is five knots, do it for habit. Be like Nike and just do it,” Albrecht said.

Two tips given during the ground school are worth the price for the whole course. The most important tip is to “point your nose with your toes,” he said. That is especially true when keeping the airplane aligned with the centerline during the approach. Second, the amount of bank controls whether your aircraft is right or left of that line.

A third tip is to “fly the airplane, don’t land,” meaning don’t think you must land just because the tower gave you permission. The phrase also refers to the need to keep the flight controls in the proper position even when taxiing. Yes, you landed successfully—now you have to turn 90 degrees to the wind to enter the taxiway. Think about that next time you’re ready to challenge the elements.

The Xwind simulator has an impressive number of “saves” operating successfully in the flying community. One Crosswind Concepts pilot was about to wash out of a training course because of crosswind landings. Now he is a flight instructor.

Albrecht said a student from Cheyenne, Wyoming, who was “going to quit” instead took training and demonstrated successful landings in 15-knot crosswinds. During that flight the winds switched, so he demonstrated proper crosswind technique from both ends of the runway.

Rusty pilots are another success story. Pilots who have been out of flying for 15 or 20 years have taken the training. “You can say you need more rudder, and they may not believe you. In the simulator they can see it themselves,” Whitsitt said.

He recalled when he was a chief instructor (Whitsitt now flies charter flights in Cessna Citations and Beechcraft King Airs), he noted the instructors working for him had different opinions on the best way to control crosswinds. The simulator helps to resolve the debate.

A multiengine student revealed an unexpected benefit of flying the Xwind. He discovered it later helped him with engine-out training, because it made him more effective with his feet.

Crosswind calculation. You may have noticed a crosswind component chart in your aircraft manual. Follow the lines and you’ll learn how much crosswind a runway has, no matter the wind direction. The only problem is that it is impossible to use when distracted by controlling the airplane. Albrecht has a rule of thumb to calculate in your head the actual amount of crosswind affecting your aircraft.

“There are several techniques that you can use, but I have fun with this one,” Albrecht said. “I have a phrase, and that phrase is ‘30 degrees is half.’ It’s easy to say. It’s fun to say. What does that mean? If the wind is 30 degrees off the runway the crosswind component is exactly half of the wind reported.

“Going out of that, I want you to think [at] 60 degrees, all of the wind is [crosswind component]. So if it’s 60 degrees from the runway, every last bit of that wind is crosswind component. So that is the basis, the foundation.

What if it’s 30 knots, gusting to 40? Ignore the 30 and use the gusts to calculate crosswind component, Albrecht said. “That’s for us, to make it easy. Mathematically at 60 degrees it’s a 90-percent crosswind component. Close enough for me!

“What if it’s 50? Then I engage what I call the rule of sixths. That rule is, for every 10 degrees that the wind is off the runway [heading], one-sixth of it is crosswind component,” Albrecht said. Under that rule, the crosswind component of a 10-degree crosswind is only a sixth of the total wind speed. Mentally we can come up with a guess. At 20 degrees, the crosswind is a third (two-sixths). At 50 degrees, the crosswind component is five-sixths of the wind speed.

Once you get used to crosswinds, remember your future passengers may not be at that happy place with you. They don’t have the same level of comfort, and it is up to you to conduct a short briefing. Albrecht suggests letting them know the landing will look a little funny—but it is the safest way to do it.

Purpose-built simulator

Xwind has one job

Redbird’s Xwind isn’t like a traditional simulator. It has no flight instruments. It is assumed you will maintain the correct airspeed. A handle at the top on the right is grasped to simulate keeping one hand on the throttle (there’s also no throttle). There’s one button that is very different than anything found in a traditional simulator: a giant red Off button for the student who loses control or just feels sick. A red brake light illuminates each time the student inadvertently or intentionally touches the brakes. Xwind has just one job, and that is to put you through turbulence and crosswinds—really-bad-day winds—again and again. —AKM