On Mar 7, 12:12 am, Mxsmanic wrote:

I'm rarely on the centerline when I turn at the last minute, but there is
still time to line up, usually.

"turn at the last minute"? How long is your final approach leg? If
you're flying the traffic pattern, your ground track should be a
perfect rectangle with rounded corners, and in your Baron, your turn
from base to final should be completed about 3/4 mile out from the
threshold leaving you plenty of time to get stabilized on final. If
you turn substantially inside this point, you will have too little
time to stabilize your approach, and you should go around.

I can't feel a crosswind in the sim, of course, but I can "feel" (note quotation
marks) the aircraft drifting to one side or otherwise moving by looking out
the window or watching the instruments (in low visibility). I'm so-so at
correcting for that.

You can't feel a crosswind in a real plane either. It's the same as
in the sim, you just look forward out the window and check to see if
the ground is drifting by sideways, then correct for it by turning
slightly into the wind, so that you end up tracking exactly along the
runway's extended centerline.

If so, then that is not unusual, or bad, but you MUST align before
touchdown. (Use rudder to straighten out, and opposite aileron to
prevent lateral drift)

That's what I try to do. I try to use both rudder and aileron unless I'm
extremely close to the runway, as I've read that using rudder alone is a Bad
Thing.

When landing with a crosswind, the combined effects of rudder and
opposite aileron are needed to cause the plane to both (1) track the
centerline and (2) align it's long axis with the centerline. You need
to maintain this configuration (i.e., a slip) all the way to touchdown
(and beyond).