Drifting across the runway due to a cross wind
In the last newsletter we discussed how to set up for and make cross wind landings. We learned that a cross wind can sometimes be quite variable as we make our approach to landing.
DRIFT - The angle between the heading of an aircraft and its Track, or flight path, over the ground as affected by winds.
DRY WEIGHT - The weight of an engine exclusive of any fuel, oil, and coolant.
Drift. The movement of an aeroplane in a horizontal plane through the influence of a cross-wind. Drift makes necessary the deflection of the longitudinal axis of the aeroplane away from the line of track to be followed.
Drift.
Slow, monotonic change in measured data
DSO.
Data source object ...
DA (drift angle) - The horizontal angle between the longitudinal axis of an aircraft and its path relative to the ground.
dead reckoning - See deductive reckoning ...
Drift is the other issue to consider. A 100 KTS aeroplane suffers 3 deg maximum drift for every 5 KTS of crosswind. So a 10 KTS crosswind will give 6 deg maximum drift and 20 KTS will give 12 deg.
WIND DRIFT INDICATOR (WDI). A wind drift indicator is used to determine the proper release point for jumpers on light aircraft operations.
Wind drift: On the base leg, you should make it a habit to check your wind drift. Normally you are being blown away from the airport, meaning that after you turn onto final you will have a headwind.
Such a drift indicator is, of course, useful only when the ground is visible.
Balloons drift with the wind, though normally the pilot can control the altitude either by heating the air or by releasing ballast, giving some directional control (since the wind direction changes with altitude).
DA - Drift angle.
DADC - Digital air-data computer.
dB - Decibel.
DG - Directional gyro.
DGPS - Differential global positioning system.
If the helicopter starts to drift, the pilot should make corrections with the cyclic just as in normal flight. Drastic sideways drift that cannot be corrected with cyclic may require that the pedals be used to align the landing gear with the drift.
When the ship rose into the air it immediately began to drift before the breeze, but directly the power was transmitted to ...
The trio set out from the island of Spitzbergen on July 11, 1897; they soon drifted into the fog and vanished. In 1930, a Norwegian expedition discovered their frozen bodies, Andree's journal, and even some photographic plates.
During hovering flight, the single rotor helicopter has a tendency to drift laterally to the right due to the lateral thrust being supplied by the tail rotor.
In western Ohio (and proceeding by dead reckoning to Portland Municipal, Portland, Indiana), what do you see but that crazy thing drifting along the shoreline of Grand Lake.
Even if the pilot rotates the plane at the correct moment, the plane will still begin to drift with the wind as soon the crab angle is reduced, so the landing gear will have to absorb some side load on touchdown.
The system employs radar signals to detect and measure ground speed and drift angle, using the aircraft compass system as its directional reference.
Also on parallel runways the downwind wake can drift to your runway due to a crosswind. Crossing runways have the same problem.
Another point at the fuselage nose is the anchorage of the wind drag bracing, or the drift wires as they are called. Two of these are found on each side of some types of airplanes, one leading to the lower wing, the other to the upper wing.
On the other hand if you observe a hovering helicopter head-on you will often note that the rotor is slightly tilted. All this is a manifestation of the drift phenomenon.
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User Contributed Notes ...
It is much more reliable in turns and rough air than a magnetic compass. However, it may slowly drift off the right heading (or "precess") over time, so it must be set to the magnetic compass every 15 minutes.
DG: Directional Gyro; a gyroscopic compass that's better than the 'real' magnetic one for several reasons I'm not going to get into here. Unfortunately, it tends to drift with time, so it must be regularly be reset to match the magnetic one.
CHAFF- Thin, narrow metallic reflectors of various lengths and frequency responses, used to reflect radar energy. These reflectors when dropped from aircraft and allowed to drift downward result in large targets on the radar display.
Position Update: To cause navigation sensors, devices, or algorithms to reset position to value known to be more accurate due to inaccuracies and drift in the devices and algorithms.
The art of flying without moving, also known as a 'hanger'. The aircraft is pointing straight upward, hanging solely on the thrust from the propeller. The model may be drifting horizontally with the wind but should not climb or dive.
Betsch describes hiring veteran metal monkey Dennis Franklin, a mainstay at Sebring's Lockwood Aviation and a wizard working with lightweight aluminum structures. Indeed, he ran his own thriving company, Maxair, and made Drifter ultralights for years.
If possible, boundaries or brackets on each side of the course should be elected such as, highways river, railroads, and mountains. A pilot can keep from drifting too far off course by referring to and not selecting the selected brackets.
CAVOK - pronounced CAV okay (ceiling and visibility OK), visibility at least ten kilometres, with no cloud below 5,000 feet, with no Cbs, precipitation, thunderstorms, shallow fog or low drifting snow.
 See also: Flight, Direct, Pilot, Aircraft, Speed
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