Went to the club field this afternoon and took my Arrow. No one was there however because it was very breezy. And like an idiot, I put my wing on and fire up the OS .46. I use a piece of ribbon on the end of my antenna and it was blowing straight out. I taxi out and turn in order to take off against wind and the wind pushes plane over and prop hits ground and stops.
I do this twice because I'm not smart enough to let s*** alone!! Finally take off and a gust grabs the Arrow and twists it!!!
I manage to keep it level and climb. And then the wind really hammers it as I turn and then turn back into the wind. Plane is at full power and just keeps climbing although not moving forward that much. I wrestle the damn thing and after 4 laps,
decide I better land and go home. 1st attempt looked good but as soon as I got 4 feet from touch down, wind grabs plane and hit full throttle and climb in order to try final again. This time, wind dies a little and I bring the Arrow in and cut throttle.
Glide and finally wheels touch ground but plane bounces and is airborn for about 10 yards and then touches down again.
Nose goes over just enough for prop to hit ground and engine stops. I thank the RC Gods and go get my Arrow, start it to drain remaining fuel from carb, clean off oil, pack my s*** into truck and leave. I feel very lucky in that the plane is still in one piece!! Most would not even fly in 20 mph winds (what weather underground said for my area) with gusts hitting 25 to 30. And those that would try, good luck in getting plane back to pits in one piece. Thats the last time I pull that stunt!

Dave...

Well at least you learned something and you didn't break your plane doing it! You found out that there is breezy and then there's Woa! I have 1 plane that loves to fly in wind that has others scurrying for their cars. I thought it could handle anything until I had a flight that turned out a lot like yours. The plane does have limits and I now know what they are! I am glad that your plane is still in 1 piece. The plane I fly in the wind is made from plans. ITs a Cloud Dancer 60 with a Tiger Shark 75 engine on the front.

you were smarter then me....And mine was a cross wind

Thank the gods it was only the firewall, and acouple of peices of balsa

I have a couple of flying wings (e-powered) that can handle gobs of wind but man, it was gusting pretty good!!! I'm not at the point of wanting to fix and buy parts for this arrow yet.....Especially for doing something stupid. Which usually results in my crashing.

Dave...

Yes Dave, but that's good trouble, like a 7 pound bass on 4 lb. test...........

When I started flying I did much the same thing. I had soloed and I wanted to get out to the field and get stick time. One day I was out at the field and there was no one there. The wind wasn't really that bad but it was changing direction and blowing cross ways from time to time from the direction I was used to taking off. Hard headed fool that I am, I had no patience and attempted to take off anyway. Sure enough just as the plane got airborne the wind shifted and I got a crosswind gust. The right wing tip dipped and I wasn't fast enough to react. The tip caught the ground and the plane cart wheeled. It tore the firewall out of the plane and since it was an RTF Superstar and I hadn't built any kits yet I didn't think I could fix it. That little lesson in patience cost me around 75 dollars for a replacement fuse. Now, even though my club field is an hour from my house if I get there and conditions don't look good, I just simply do not fly.
Michael

We`ve all probably been there. I think one of the most important things to develop in this hobby is the good judgement to learn when to fly in conditions that might test you a little and help you improve vs. conditions that are over the line. One of the questions I ask myself is, " Will this be fun if I fly or will I be constantly worrying about getting my plane back down in one piece? "

I think even if I had a 11 or 12 pound aircraft like a larger edge 540 etc., it woulda had a hard time flying. The Arrow has a 63 inch wing span, semi symetrical wing. The wind just blew the crap out of it. Could be that the wing is so big that the wind has an easy time moving it around. The field is about 15 miles from the house so driving aint too bad. Next time I look at weatherunderground for the wind chart.

Dave...

Dave,
I have both the Alpha, for students, and the Arrow for kicks, and you CAN fly the Arrow in some pretty hearty wind. No plane knows it's windy once in the air, just on the ground, and immediately after the transition from ground to sky. (lots of turbulent air near the ground) The key here is to take off EXACTLY into the wind.

Major gusts on the other hand, will require a very quick response on the sticks to maintian your planes' health.

The 63" wing isn't the problem. The Cloud Dancer 60 has a 73" wing with almost 1000 sq. inches wing area. Its the wing sitting up top where the wind can catch it that is the problem. For flying in breezy conditions give me a low wing any day! I had a Cessna 182 that was great in mild breezes. It was fast and aerobatic but when the winds got into the 20 to 30 km. range it would want to flair and climb in the gusts on landing. [8D]

There are different horses for different courses. I love flying in the wind, but I don't use one of my old Superstars for doing it (unless the wind is pretty much up & down the runway). Don't quit flying in the wind, (it really is great fun), just dig up some equipment that will handle it -- ask your more experienced buddies at your field what they use in windy weather (I use a Blue Movie SPAD & an old Ultra Sport 40). If you sit on the ground when it's windy, you will miss a bunch of flying time and a lot of fun as well.

Although you don't want to fly when its too windy but it's good to be able to fly in moderate wind if you always wait for perfect weather you will spend a lot more time on the ground than in the air (At least here in the U.K ) and also flying in the wind will sharpen up your reactions and make you a better pilot.

I have a SPAD Dogfighter, 40 inch wing all coro and pvc plastic. It may make a good wind buster type plane. One where if you dork it,
your not out tons of cash. This could be a good .25 to .30 plane. A .46 may be a little too much.

Dave...

I actually used to fly my old Gentle Lady 2-meter glider in some relatively fearsome wind. It got knocked around pretty good, but it's sooooo stable.....plus I was using standard size servos so wing loading was probably a bit on the high side, which would help. The other day I tried my GP .40-size Cub and it was just a bit to windy for comfort. I thnk the plane may be bit tail-heavy too. Combine this with the fact that I'd been away from tail-draggers for about 3 years, and, well, it was interesting. Good chance to practice crosswind corrections on taxi/takeoff/landing.

My Tiger handles wind pretty well........it gets knocked around a bit but is responsive enough it's easy to quickly recover from upsets.

-Matt Bailey

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When In doubt............pack up and save you plane for another day

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When In doubt............pack up and save you plane for another day

The day I soloed was 10-12 mph winds. I know that isn't much but it was the first time I'd really flown In wind over 3 mph. Luckily my reflexes are pretty fast although she got a little shakey taking off once. Fun landing in that wind though.. Bring er down really sloww for a greaser with 5 foot rollout!