MinnSpin

My Feedback: (40)

There is a recent thread discussing "Know-It-Alls" who frequent many flying sites. A common utterance is......

"The Airplane Doesn't Know It's Windy!"

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Scooter, you flying today????? I quit flying when I can't taxi my plane back into the pits. That seems to be about 15 to 20 mph. If I see the weather report showing 10 to 15 I don't bother going out. It's a long way to drive just to fight the gusting. If I'm already there I stay and fly but a 60 mile round trip is a bit far to go just to fly in the gusts.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

I fly at two clubs in Houston. One club has obstacles near the runway . The airmass flowing over the runway is very trubulent at times depending on the direction of the wind and wether those obstacles have created turbulance affecting the runway . Flying there with winds near 15 mph can be very challenging.

The other club has no obstacles near its runway. The airmass flowing over the runway remains smooth, (or laminar). Flying in winds up to 30 mph are common at this field. Those winds seem to be only minor. In fact, they feel nice and refreshing.

When people say that the airplane doesn't know that it is in a moving airmass they are essentially correct. Once you climb above the height of the low level turbulance created by obstacles, the airmass is generally laminar, unless an immediate phenonenom such as a storm or front is creating turbulence.

Of the two clubs that I belong to, the one with the poorest characteristics and the worse obstacle generated turbulence is by far the larger club. It has over 100 members and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing land and building facilities. The other club has only 24 people in it. But it is far superior because of the topography. Surveying a possible flying site for obstacles and then testing the site prior to commiting to a land purchase or rental agreement is essential. Not all sites are created equal. Some are great for flying in the wind and some are not.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

The wind typically calms in late May. April and early may are usually windy. Then by mid September the days are too short to fly after work. That's the problem with this hobby in the Northeast. Flying season is about 4 months long.

opjose

Yeah at the point you can't even keep it on the ground with the nose pointed into the wind, it's time to call it quits.

With a heavier plane the bar can be raised a bit...

mistermnkim

My Feedback: (153)

Same here in Mississippi wind early and late the only calm i see is when im at work.....

flyingfrog007

same thing here in colorado some of it has been gusting up to 83 mph. not to great and not to fun..

bmschulman

My Feedback: (1)

I have found that being on top of a hill makes a difference. My house is at a lower elevation and the winds don't seem so bad. Once I get to the field, which is located near the top of a hill, it's almost always more windy. Very frustrating!

flyingfrog007

have to drive 62 miles to the field. light wind at my house gail force winds at the field. go figure...

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I use weather bug. I look at one location first and see what it's doing at one spot then I go to another location south of the first station and check that out too. We are sort of able to get a true picture of what is going on at the field before we drive out there. Here at home it's hard to gauge what is going on. Where I'm at right now the wind gauge is showing gusts over 60 mph but the close weather station by the field is only showing 18 mph. I was just out driving and it was hard to hold the van in it's lane at different places. Where the stations install there gauge is also a factor. The stations are usually schools so they may not have them mounted on a roof. The dust right now is so thick you can't see the mountains.When I got out of the van the wind tried to kick my legs out from under me when I walked. That would be a bit stronger then the weather site is showing. If it's hard to drive my van out to the field then I don't want to fly in this wind. I have done it just to proove it can be done but there is a point when flying is no longer fun. Having the dirt from the lake bed sand blasting your glasses isn't fun.

Augie11

Same story out here in CO. We got blown off the beach at our weekly float fly 12 days ago after only 2-3 of us got in flites. Hasn't stopped since with a 92mph zephyr hitting my home town last night.

Did manage to get in 2 flites early this AM before........the WIND!

Phoenixangel

I have a GP Big Stik .60, I like flying in the wind. I am usually the only one out at our club in the wind. I am comfy in higher wind when it is steady-ish, but I am just not going to fight this mess.

I LIKE having a GP Big Stik. I am not that good at flying, if I tried in this I would likely come home with a bag of Great Planes Big Stik Edition toothpicks, glow fuel flavor.

flyingfrog007

i have a giant stick with a saito 180. it is fun to fly but this 50 to 80 gust just dont hack it for me..

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

"The Airplane Doesn't Know It's Windy!"

This is true but when you are 12" off the ground and the wind goes from 25 mph to 10 mph, the ground comes up in a hurry.

WestCoastFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

20 MPH is a hefty smack. When the wind gets serious and gets your attention, that's 20 MPH. 20 is my max, but I like flying in the wind. I use weather bug all the time. There are a lot of stations in my area and it's a great way to see what's going on. Here in the Pacific Northwest April through mid summer the wind comes up like clockwork every afternoon, usually 5 - 10 MPH.

I only fly sport planes in the wind. My favorite two planes for the wind are my SPAD Coyote and MUS. They wind can get ya. I lost a little 3D airplane when the wind threw it into the ground a couple years ago and destroyed it. Flying a Cub in the wind can be like it's a yo-yo violently yanked up and down. Sticks are the best in the wind in my experience, they don't get buffeted up and down as much as other designs.

willig10

I live in Fort Worth, Texas, but travel a lot. My home field has a wind m.p.h. indicator. I have been gone since January and I look at the home field website daily. The wind since January has been pretty high (12 to 21 mph) Since january I have been to Virginia, Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas. All of the states I have visited have had high winds.

Oh well, come this summer I guess we will be wanting some wind.

Have a good one.

Glenn Williams

Mike Miller

Groan,,
I can hear myself talking in some of your posts. it is true that the airplane is not aware of the wind, although wind shear is alltogether a different story. last time I flew it was blowing a bit, and my stick-ish plane made a very helicoptor like landing. When the tin is starting to peel off of my outbuildings, it's time to go home and it truly has been like that here for quite some time now.

I remember making a landing in a cessna skylane one time (full scale) with a direct crosswind blowing left to right at very near 45 mph. I was concentrating on my heading and remember taking a look to my left and seeing just a few inches between the wing tip and the runway. I have since reminded myself that might not have been the smartest thing I ever did. Please don't look in the manual for the highest demonstated cross wind in a C 182 as I well exceeded it that day. Some days we are lucky.

Glancing down at my signature, hmmmm

cap 580

My Feedback: (40)

I am new to the hobby but I would like to watch the 20mph plus flights. Maybe I could learn how to do it.

TruBlu02

I live in corpus Christi, TX and it has been very windy here too. But to be honest it is always windy here. I am in Pilot training right now and I have gotten very good at flying in heavy winds.I used to not enjoy the winds when it comes to RC flying but now I have gotten quite used to it. It really depends on the type of plae you like to fly. My 3D planes DO NOT like the wind much so they have spent alot of time in my garage. Most of the time I am flying my Great planes escapade. it turns out that the Escapade is one heck of a windy day plane. I have flwon it in up to 40mph wind gusts and it has handled them quite well. The high wing loading has alot to do with it and the fact that it is a cheap planes make it alot more enjoyable. Flying in the wind takes some getting used to but when you have a plane you dont care about it makes it alot more enjoyable.

scooterinvegas

My Feedback: (1)

NOPE!

Got home and the winds were 32 with gusts to 45. Time to sit at the work bench and glue sticks together.

Last weekend at the dry lake, it was blowing 25 with 35 mph gusts. I flew my ParkZone P-47 3 times! With a bigger Scorpion motor and a 12X6 prop, it flew REALLY GOOD.

The wind got stronger, so I broke out the Ultra Stick Lite with a zenoah G-26 on it. Even more fun! I would have to hold on to it when I taxied it out. The last time I flew the Stick, the tail wheel lifted up when I let go of it! Every 3 or 4 min a big sand storm would blow across the dry lake, so I would climb the stick up high enough to miss the blowing sand.

I taped a video camera on the bottom of the P-47. The video came out wavy, but its cool to see the ground stop for 8-10 sec and then get closer to the plane till it landed.

I came home sunburned, hat-less, lid to ice chest-less and sand in my eyes. What a great day!

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Friday it was 90 and not a breath of wind.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

Hi;Really feel for you guys!Here in Yuma we don't fly much at 15MPH why risk plane when weather not perfect!!Getting cold now supposed to be only 70s tomorrow and might even rain first time in about 5 months I think!Last 6 months only about 3-4 days that didn't fly because of the wind!Of course being retired have more freedom to choose flight times.And a nice 600' blacktop runway out in the desert spoils me for going back up north to fight trees etc!Hope your winds will leave so you can enjoy your lanes too!

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

last weekend it was blowing 25-30+ rather constant and 40ish gusts, i had to lean into the winds to fly, it was a ton of fun though, just pickup an old beater plane and go fly, once you learn how to fly in that kind of wind its no more riskey than flying normally, it just takes alittle getting used to and a different flying style. i was flying my ultrasport 60 backwards. just man up and go fly, watch the nose of the plane to know when it is going to stall, if the wind is bouncing it around (the wings) pay attention to the nose, when the nose drops, instantly add throttle (good 50% increase) for a few seconds then back it down again. use the rudder to keep the plane pointed into the wind and just correct with your alierons when you have too.
now if you want to fly in circles (more like "normal" flying) just remember than going downwind you will haul butt, when you turn back around into the wind increase throttle alot, alot of people dont do this and they wonder why their planes stall. just keep your throttle up and you will be fine

dabigboy

I'm right in OKC, the wind is insane. Fortunately, I'm about to order parts for my old GP .40 Cub to completely restore it and convert it to a Super Cub, with flaps and all. That should keep me entertained. Hopefully right about the time we hit the sweet spot of summer, it will be ready to go. The bummer is, I'm just starting with nitro helicopters and have been having a blast with my JR Venture, and while I must say it *does* seem to tackle the windies quite nicely, the vociferous zephyrs we've been faced with here lately are more than I want to subject my beloved heli to!

I did put a full-scale up Saturday.....ASOS was reporting 19 knots gusting to 27 as I recall (about 22-31mph) although I think a lot of the gusts were much higher. Landing was real interesting! Fortunately it was only about 10*-20* off runway heading, and the 172 took it pretty well (the fact that I had nearly full fuel and a decent load of pax didn't hurt, I'm sure).

Matt

adabikerdoctor

Flying in these windy conditions makes you alot better pilot in RC and FS. I have 4 giant scale that fly excellent in the wind. If you don't have one of them buy a roll gyro and put on your smaller planes, smoothes them right out with a 25%gain. I use a gyro on my 50" EP Katanna & 49" GP EP Sporster. Make some adjustment and get out there and fly, Gentlemen!