It was my third trip up to the field yesterday. The previous trip there had been about a 2mph wind and by the end of that day, I was soloing my Prangster and doing good landings. I was quite pleased and confident in my flying at that stage.
However, coming up to the site yesterday, I could see things would be different. The windsock was out horizontal, the wind about 16mph. Now, I was instructed to go up by myself again like I did on Sunday. I had never flown in winds like this before. The take off was a bit hairy, with the buffetting wind upsetting the balance a lot, but I managed to climb up nicely and did a few circuits. Then I started practising my approaches. Now, at this stage I should point out that our field is in the hills of the Peak District. The wind across the patch was unstable and unpredictable, but I landed the plane okay (if not very smoothly, but it was very hard).
Then I was told to practice my deadstick landings. I had done very little of these on the calm day, and so I was understandably a little nervous. The easy ones from downwind the patch were okay, but when I did the one upwind (as if just taken off, but at about 400ft), I made the mistake of turning downwind and then trying to come about. I very nearly got it right, but the wing tip just caught the ground as I leveled her off, and the plane did a series of cartwheels across the patch. I was lucky, only one of the wing-band dowels had snapped, nothing else was damaged. I don't know if I would have been so lightly let-off if I had been flying a balsa model.
Anyway, first flights in the wind . . . t was something else all together!

The Prangster by J Perkins is the most durable "trainer" around as it is made of EPP foam. Not that many people are familiar with the Prangster or EPP foam for that matter. I put "trainer" in quotations because the Prangster is not the "average" trainer, it builds on the heavy side and the wing is fully symmetrical which gives loads of performance in windy conditions but lacks the self-righting abillitites of other flat-bottom airfoil and low wing loading trainers. However, it has considerable dihedral which helps a lot. I have one myself and is probably one of the heaviest Prangsters around. What engine are you using, i have installed an OS 40LA in mine. I am ordering a second Prangster from SMC soon. Stay with your Prangster and your Instructor, you are already off to a good start. No balsa plane would have survived that landings undamaged. When you log some considerable airtime you should consider the Prangster 3D as a second plane.

Rob,
All I can say is, nice job.

Too many people are afraid of the wind and just don't fly. This leaves them with a lot fewer days that they CAN fly. Getting use to the wind now is a good idea.
Dennis-

It is natural for new pilots to be afraid of the wind but this fear stems in great part from the fact that most trainer aircraft can not handle windy conditions properly. The "classic" flat bottom airfoil, low wing loading trainer will be all over the sky in moderate windy conditions , a fact that many hobby shop people and instructors in many cases, fail to point out.

My only issue with wind is this. I only get one day out of the week to fly it is either Saturday or Sunday. I have no problem flying in wind I have flown in 20 mph winds with my morris knife profile. If anyone has owned one they know how any profile can be in the wind. My gripe is if I am only afforded this time one day a week I want it to be fun not work. Once someone is familiar with flying in the wind it no longer becomes as much of a challenge as it does become work and not enjoyable. when you are constantly on the sticks to keep your plane straight and a hover sends you flying across the field at 20 mph because the wind is pushing you around its not fun. To me anyway thats my opionion. when I do a manuver I want not to have to figh 15 or 20 mph winds to accomplish it.

I too have a 40LA in mine. Do you find that yours tracks to one side on take off? Mine tracks over to the left all the time until it is almost lifting of the ground. I have the rudder on full right trim, but the plane is drifting sidways rather than turning. It's not a crosswind as the other planes at the field just go in a straight line with no problems at all.
Prangster 3D? Not heard of that one. I know that the normal Prangster can be made a low-wing easily, I'm not sure how that would affect the handling or aerobatic ability, though.
Do you find you Prangster is a little underpowered with the 40LA? I'm thinking of getting another Prangster and putting either a 46FX or Irvine 46 in it. I'm not sure if the wing would be able to take the extra power, though (although it is rated a 40-53 plane).

Learn-learn-learn to fly in the wind. Once the apprehension wears off, flying in the wind is tremendous fun -- you can do quasi-3D stuff in a trainer -- right in your face. Buy or build a SPAD (but with balsa ailerons for sharper response), or get some other cheap, semi-indestructible model & practice till the cows come home. If you don't learn, you will be sitting on the ground watching other guys having fun.

when you are saying that :"it tracks to the left even with full right trim" do you actually mean that the plane tracks left with full right rudder deflection?? If this is the case something is wrong because the Prangster is good on rudder inputs. Do the following: install two spacers in the top left engine mounting hole between the engine mount and the black plastic "firewall" (viewed from behind the aircraft) to buid in some right thrust. However, i guess that the engine itself is probably installed on the engine mount without any right thrust, so either get a new engine mount and install the engine with some deflection to the right with regard to the engine/engine mount centreline or install the spacers as i mentioned. Also, bare in mind that this plane is a tail dragger but has NO tail wheel which could also cause it to steer left. The 40LA is a good match for this plane. There is a "3D" version with a different wing and larger control surfaces. If you decide to go for it sometime in the future, you could upsize in engine and install a 46LA, you do not really need more powerful engines. Check them out at www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk SMC (Sussex-Model-Centre) stocks everything, they also have on offer now the OS 46LA for 52GBP

Rob,
Are you sure your landing gear is straight? From your description, it sounds like your LG is canted to the left.
Dennis-