current ATISYBBN 150900Z 26016KT CAVOK 20/M03 Q1006 RMK RF00.0/000.0 NOSIG the active was 19 into Brisbane, i noticed that on approach and final, the plane was abit off the runway centreline as we came into land, i found that odd, because on every landing i have done so far the plane has been lining up right in the middle of the runway...but then after a while i thought about it and it occured to me, (as you can see from the ATIS above) that the winds were 260 @ 16, now 16kts is quite windy in Brisbane, and 260 is from the west, so there was a considerable cross wind.So my question to you is, was the 737 purposely approachin the runway abit off towards the west, to counter this cross wind? If so i think the 737 is very intelligently programmed, if not, it was just a coincidence.and on touchdown she landed perfectly in the middle.Regards

In real life when you do autoland the AP applies WCA to stay centered on the LOC. Of course you cant touch down with a high WCA. I am not sure about the 737 but the 747 I believe has a decrab mode wich engages shortly before touchdown to align the aircraft with the runway.David

"I am not sure about the 737 but the 747 I believe has a decrab mode wich engages shortly before touchdown to align the aircraft with the runway."Just scanned through the A/P section of the Boeing 737 Maintenance Manual and the A/P doesn't appear to have any input to the rudder during approach/landing, David. Most interesting :-) I guess it follows the LOC simply with aileron control. No crab, no decrab. I guess this must limit the autoland capability of the 737 in some respects.Cheers.Ian.

so it was just a coincidence hey?

Clayton, it must have been a coincidence.Wind compensated AP computers, especially in mode LOC the differentiating method using the course rate signal and the track displacement completed by the track rate signal is used to keep the aircraft stable on track.There are AP's out there that use rudder for the yaw-channel to decrab shortly before touchdown but I guess the 737 does not have it. I didnt find any material covering the necessity of this feature for CAT III A/B/C approaches. I would like to find an answerDavid

yesthanks David for your input... please let us know if you find the answer.