It is probably one of the more difficult tasks. On day I returned from work rather frustrated about my less than perfect attempts to bring our workhorse C206 to the dock. It was a moderate wind that blew away from the dock at around 90 degrees angle, which ruined my pride enough to confess to Bjørn and ask him for advice.

His advice was straight forward and quite simple. 

„Docking in a crosswind? Don‘t do it!“ As simple as that…

So the most elegant way according to Bjørn was to simply approach the dock head on, straight into the wind and attach it with the front line. And then turn it parallel by hand. Fair enough. In strong crosswind conditions blowing away from the dock, you will not see me again even trying to bring it in parallel. (we are always talking about single engine piston float planes, no multiengine, no reversible props, that can be a different story.)

But what about these light to moderate winds? I have watched Bjørn and myself do many successful dockings parallel to the dock even though the crosswind was quite noticeable. And I have witnessed myself and other colleagues getting it quite wrong in the same conditions in other places than our homebase. Sometimes a gust caught us shortly prior to reaching the dock, weathervaning the airplane towards it, causing the float to hit the corner of the dock in a rather uncontrolled manner which increased the rotation rate and the pilot’s workload, as well as the monkey factor considerably. In other times, the extra speed, useful for good directional control with the waterrudders, turned out to be too much to handle, causing „go arounds“, a lot of effort to wrestle the seaplane to a stop, or an even harder bounce off the dock’s tires. More embarrassment, more monkey factor. Well, we keep telling our customers proudly how much more elegant seaplanes are, compared to helicopters… So there must be a way to elegantly dock the seaplane in crosswinds.

Back to our homebase, where we rarely get it wrong and most of the time look like champs instead of helpless monkeys. What is the difference?

Remember when your instructor told you to approach the dock parallel? Well, in our place, there is a boat lying in the way so we have to approach the dock in a tight, continuous turn. And this is exactly the secret! 

The tight turn that is judged in a careful manner to touch the dock side like a tangent to the circle, gives the seaplane a very useful ingredient that replaces both, luck and speed, which would be the alternatives when docking in crosswind away from the dock. This ingredient is… INERTIA around the vertical axis! So even when you get slow and the waterrudders run out of authority, this inertia keeps working for you to turn the plane parallel to the dock while you are coasting in. 

Here is another trick that works, at least on the 206: Use rudder trim to support the turn while you gracefully leave the cockpit, collect your line (the one on the rear strut, of course!) and step onto the dock while the plane stops itself by rubbing slightly against the tires.

Please try it and when it works for you, forget all about the stupid technique of approaching a dock parallel.

Next time, we will talk about docking your precious seaplane when the wind blows from the other side at a 90 degree angle from the water towards the dock. I have found out a few things  that turn the control of the situation a bit more away from fate and more into your own hands. Hang in there! Christian 

Docking in a crosswind part 2

Once in a while, we will have to dock with the wind blowing considerably and about 90 degrees towards the dock. 

Although this situation is generally much less dangerous for your float, because the wind tends to turn you away from the dock, there is also much room for bending metal. If the dock is long, you have almost nothing to worry about. The worst thing that could happen is that the (tail/quartering tail-)wind makes your airplane turn away from the dock while you are still some distance away and then you would suddenly find your self sailing to shore tail first. Then you should be able to start up quickly and try again. If you are rather close to the dock when the unintentional swing should happen, then the rear parts of the float would touch the dock first. Since this part is aft of the „balance point“, the wind would then push you more or less gently onto the tires and the friction would stop you. No need to even leave your seat in this situation. 

Still, for us as pilots it is quite natural to strive for control of the situation. so here I give you some techniques and food for thought that hopefully helps you with your desire for a controlled arrival onto a short dock in a rather strong wind blowing more or less 90 degrees toward it. 

Different scenarios make for different options.

We talk about a very small dock where a spot landing is essential. Like what you would find on a typical taxi flight. Lots of obstacles around it and limited or no „go around options“.

If you have a free approach parallel to the dock, you can come in with almost a straight in, tracking with a slight angle towards the dock. Maybe 10-20 degrees. Why not on the „extended centerline“ of your dock? Because you will start drifting down wind as soon as you stop the engine. And that would set you up to smash sideways into the corner of the dock. So stay a little bit on the upwind side. You will need a lot of rudder and waterrudder deflection to continue straight ahead. And you will note a crab angle, too. This deflected waterrudder acts like a giant brake in the water. This is important to know, because guess what happens, when you stop the engine. Exactly- the seaplane would get really slow really quickly, and you will run out of control. The art here is to time this point (hint-it is very close to your chosen impact point!) so that you will just hit the dock with the rear part of the float when you run out of waterrudder control. Then the wind does the rest for you- since your float contacts the dock behind the „balance point“, you will now turn automatically parallel to the dock and the friction of the hopefully installed tires will do the rest.

If there are no tires, install your fenders before approaching the dock. (You do bring fenders on cross country flights, right?) (How to do this?

Good question. Thank you. You would have to stop the engine some distance away and while sailing, tie your fenders where you expect to need them most. Attach them with ropes on on both ends so they are hanging flat beside the float, one of them behind the balance point if possible. Also, straighten out your ropes for quick access, while you are out there. Then start up again and continue with your docking task. )

Back to the above situation: It is essential to be close enough to the dock that the airplane can not turn away from it, because if you still have some speed left, she might just drift away from the dock on the upwind turn, leaving you standing helplessly on the float while the expensive parts hit the hard stuff around you. Best to practise this several times on a place with an open end before trying the „dead end“.

Next situation is a short dock again, as always surrounded by obstacles. Like the Menes Dock in Eidfjord for example in southerly winds. This time you have no space available for a long (angling) final and the wind is coming directly at a 90 degree angle towards the dock. You do the same. You are smart and turn off the engine extra early.

This means you are now coasting down wind towards your small dock. Adrenaline junkies might love this rush when you notice that the plane does not get any slower at all. I don’t. 

Any idea how to slow it down before the inevitable impact head on will do it for you?

Here is one. As far as I know, the only one on a plane without reverse thrust. 

Remember how you know, that you are taxiing directly downwind? 

Correct! When you need no rudder at all to keep it straight, then you have no crosswind component. So when aiming at your dock, take your best guess at the exact wind direction and visualize a downwind track towards your aim point. When you plan to dock with the left side, aim a bit to the left of the area where you want to stop the plane later, to make room for the 90 degee +- a few turn to parallel. Then establish yourself on that line and turn off the engine in good time. 

As soon as you feel the urge to slow down, intentionally turn a few degrees away from the exact downwind line. Now you will need quite some waterrudder deflection to maintain heading, and this is your brake! Take it out again by aligning again with your exact downwind line, and do it before you run out of sufficient „opposite rudder“ travel. It is a little bit like preventing a groundloop on a tailwheel airplane- you have to do it before running out of opposite rudder…

Yes, this sounds as complicated as it is, but- at least we feel that we are in control of our fate here, instead of just waiting to crash.

Now, what about the turn? If you have made it until the point close to the dock where you must make the turn, without having been turned around by the wind on your tail-congratulations! If you have made it to here with good control (that means you are still neutral on the rudder = exactly downwind, or, if „on the brake“, then hopefully on the left brake if you want to start a right turn, and vice versa… Then you are in a really good position to start believing in your successful docking maneuver. 

As soon as you start the turn away from your downwind line, the tailwind will turn more and more into a crosswind and will be more than happy to quickly turn you around. The more speed you still have, the earlier you should start the turn and the larger radius you should plan for. Because during the turn, lots of opposite waterrudder will slow the rate and create a lot of drag. Try to play the radius and the waterrudder brake to arrive parallel to the dock with low speed. If you get it right, it might look like a powerslide directly into a small parking space, only that the powerslide is probably much easier 🙂

Nothing wrong with practicing this a few times on a longer and nicely fendered dock without obstacles, just to get the hang of it before you need it in real life. 

By the way, I would never say that this works all the time for me. Far from it. If it looks bad, abort by turning into the wind and try again. Don‘t wait until you are cornered by the hard stuff, go around early. If you set up for a new approach, allow enough space for the turn from headwind to downwind, and remember to position your ailerons correctly to help you through the turn.

Disclaimer: It is your full responsibility to not bend your aircraft. Not mine.

Have fun!

Christian