Originally Posted by
snipeone
Years ago when I was riding jumpseat on an F-28 into Charlotte, I witnessed something I just couldn't believe. It was the FO's leg and it was obvious he was fairly new. There was a steady crosswind out of the west and he crabbed all the way down. As we got a little closer, I could see the captain positioning his feet on the rudder pedals. We hit in a full crab, bouncing from left to right gear and pulled off on the high speed. You could tell the FO was a little embarrassed and the captain said, "I guess you don't use your rudder much in that F-16." And I guess he didn't. I learned to fly in a tail dragger, so what appears to be the lack of basics kinda makes me wonder.
I second that. Learning to fly tailwheel, really lets you know what the rudder is for. It almost seems to me that a lot of pilots are afraid to use too much of it in a really strong crosswind, but I find that at least in the ERJ, it works very well when kicking out the crab and going wing down to land in a strong cross-wind. A lot of pilots don't like to plant the gear when necessary. A smooth landing in such situations, is not the safe landing.