Originally Posted by
AZFlyer
Great video. It amazes me just how much strength the landing gear has to have to be able to prop up a 600k lb plane during a smooth landing, let alone putting it down in a gusty x-wind.
Pretty good flying all in all, though it looked like the Ruskie's were satisfied with just putting it in between the runway edges!
It is neat isn't it? But all the credit doesn't go to the gear. The wings are loaded at touchdown, so they share a large portion of that weight. Unloading the wings at or near touchdown can be disastrous (FedEx - Narita), because if you ever have the urge to nose sharply over to cancel a float, or after a bounce, that video of that accident should give you great pause. Because at that moment, you're a test pilot. But yes, to stay on topic that was a great perspective of crosswind landings.