Chopper Man,
Sorry, I didn't mean that you should go out and get crazy with it. I was just showing that you can have a lot of fun in the wind. I will be completely honest with you, it does take some getting used to when you start parking the plane and descending while parked. This is because you have to "teach" your brain to accept the fact that they plane isn't going to fall out of the sky. We've learned from the start that they plane has to move forward in order to fly. Now you're looking at a plane that is "standing still" yet it's still in the air. Logic tells your brain that they plane should fall out of the sky. Because of this you have to get used to doing this. When you start trying to park the plane definitely do it a few mistakes high. Another thing you have to do is be ready to get on the throttle immediately if the plane falls. This can happen quickly because the wind seldom blows at a constant speed, while parked the wind could slow down slightly and suddenly you no longer have enough lift to stay up there. Just keep practicing, you'll get to where doing this is second nature.

Just like everything else we do, the more you practice the better you will get. And flying in the wind is no different. As you start trying to fly in higher winds than you are used to please start off with a day that has the wind blowing straight down the runway. This way you can get some confidence going without having to deal with crosswinds. The biggest difference you will notice when flying like this is that you can't land with the engine at an idle any longer, you'll have to have a little bit of throttle to get the plane on the ground. On good thing about flying in the wind is that it will teach you to fly the plane to the ground. Being able to do this is (in my opinion) the difference between a pilot that is truly in control of his plane and a pilot that just reacts to what the plane is doing. Most people learn to land by lining up with the runway and cutting the throttle and then just controlling the glide until the plane touches down. This is flying by reacting. To really be in control you should fly the plane all the way down to where the plane touches the runway. To do this you'll end up learning to control your altitude on a landing approach with your throttle, and not with the elevator. When you fly in the wind it becomes even more important to fly the plane all the way to the ground. Another good trick to practice doing this is to do half speed touch and goes. Fly the plane over the runway at about half throttle and try to just touch the wheels to the runway and roll down the runway for a little bit. This will teach you how to get fine control over your altitude .

Anyway, I digress. Once you get to where you can land with the wind straight down the runway you can start working on crosswind landings. And you can also work on landing in ever increasing wind. The highest wind I landing in was 35-40 mph. And even I will admit that doing that wasn't wise!!

Ken