Practising Crosswind & other windy challenges

Over the past month many airports have  experienced strong/variable winds. Sydney (YSSY) has been no different & so I loaded Aerowinx situation
04 Approach 006 - Real-world weather - Sydney to attempt what i have heard on the scanning radio .

At the start of the approach the wind was 177/17 remembering the maximum crosswind tolerance on heavy jets is averaged out to 25 knots.

As soon as the approach started the wind backed around to 276/13 which is OK while using some crabbing technique to maintain clarity & focus while monitoring the PFD (Primary Flight Display) to maintain localiser capture & not allow the airframe to drop below the glide slope; that is both bars don`t move & maintain their crossed appearance all the way down to landing the aircraft on the runway.

Then the wind changed again to 332/15 before going "back' through the previous readouts again.

So what did I do:

1. I maintained the localiser triangle  making sure it stayed exactly in the middle, something passed on to me many years ago by an instructor now working for an airline.

2. Don`t go chasing your speed as with the variable winds the ASI (Airspeed indicator) will go up & down vigorously.

3.Ensure the approach is stable at 1,000 feet & ensure you hit you`re target speed of 154 knots at that height.

4. Fly the airframe down to the runway, in the screen shot I put the aircraft into autopilot mode to enable to display the image, with the wind at 330/10

5. With a length of 2530 x 45 meters on Runway 25 ensure that the Auto brakes work, the reverse thrust come into play asap,  check that you don`t have to apply a small amount of  foot braking to slow the aircraft down.

Sometimes it pays to set up Aerowinx to your 'local airport" get a better understanding of what you have heard about through your computer or other radio frequency scanning equipment. 

On 30 January 1974 a Pan Am Boeing 707-321B crashed shart of the runway in Pago Pago,Samoa due to ""The flight crew's late recognition, and failure to correct in a timely manner, an excessive descent rate which developed as a result of the aircraft's penetration through destabilizing wind changes", the report can be located on the Aviation Safety network.

May all of your approaches be successful ones. From a now quiet Sydney,

Neil