🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1jl8j7INNsn5@rave.larc.nasa.gov>, sdd@larc.nasa.gov (Steve Derry) writes:
> Brian Stuart Thorn (BrianT@cup.portal.com) wrote:
> :  Every now and then one main gear touches down before the other.
> 
> I didn't see this particular landing :-(.  Was there a bit of a crosswind?
> In the presence of a strong crosswind, an airplane should be landed with
> its upwind main gear touching down first.
> --
> Steve Derry

None to speak of, the winds were almost directly off the nose, and very light. 
The fact that one wheel touching down first was made so obvious because of the
grooved concrete surface of the runway at KSC.  The grooves are murder on the
tires is any amount of side-slip exists at touchdown, the fact that one wing
was lower than the other meant that some amount of side-slip was probably
present, resulting in the very noticeable puff of smoke at tire contact. 
Reports from the runway also indicated that one tire was much more noticeably
worn than the other.  If this landing had occured at Edwards, the touchdown
would have been much less eye-brow raising, owing to the nature of the runway
there.

Darrell Holloway