dieselpunkisdad:nektannneightyfour:dieselpunkisdad:british-eevee:B-52 Stratofortress in flight I jus
dieselpunkisdad:nektannneightyfour:dieselpunkisdad:british-eevee:B-52 Stratofortress in flight I just recently learned that a B-52 can actually land sideways. Well, not entirely, but up to a 20 degrees angle. All it’s landing gears can be pivoted: The gears are locked to the ILS and keep tracking the runway even if the plane itself is at an angle to the runway. The reason is that during a crosswind approach the plane has to fly into the wind or is blown off the approach path. So if you are forced to land in a strong crosswind, you keep the nose pointing into the wind, crabbing along, then in the very last moment you apply hard rudder, align with the runway and roll out.This is a tricky maneuver at best. It’s not something you want to do regularly. Not on an 8 engine beast weighting 120 metric tons and loaded with nukes, flown by a crew who have been in the air for 16 hours straight. Also the wingspan is 58,4 meters and the wings are only about 1 meter above the ground at their lowest point. Your margin for error is not so much limited as rather non-existent. Long story short: the B-52 will simply pivot it’s landing gear so it can crabroll to a halt after touchdown. So, basically it’s drifting?Yes. The Fast and the Furious - nuclear drift. -- source link