I am down in South Alabama and really want to get some flying in tomorrow. We are in a bit of the wash from Rita and today was too windy I think but tomorrow is supposed to be at 20 MPH or just below.

I have a Hobbistar with an OS .90.

Is 20 MPH too much? I have flown in some wind but I am not really sure of the speeds in which I have flown. I am about 30 flights past solo and doing pretty well I think.

Thanks!

Many of the guys I fly with subscribe to the theory that:

1. If the wind doesn't blow the plane over on the runway, it's not too windy.
2. Once it's in the air, the plane can't tell the difference.

Living in Oklahoma we deal with wind all the time. 25-30 mph is were we start to think that it's getting windy. 10-20 is a normal flying day for us. Heck, I have a harder time landing when there isn't any wind because I can't get my plane to slow down!!

If you learn to fly in the wind you'll find that you get to fly more than you stay home

Ken

If it's right down the runway, no problem. We had a 15 k direct crosswind this morning and a guy stuffed his plane when it crabbed into a catch fence.

If you are comfortable messing around in the wind it must not be to much. I LOVE flying in the wind and have flown in some pretty stiff ones. There is a lot to be learned if you pay attention. The biggest hint is " don't get down wind ". Now go ENJOY !!! RED

the way i tell is if you can hear the wind blowing in your ears its too windy.

Thanks Guys! I fly at a Navy ROLF with three runways so I can find one in the right direction. Besides, what the heck, it's a trainer and that is good training, right? I'm going tomorrow.

Thanks!

I love to fly in the wind. Around 20 is okay, the bigger the plane the less the wind bothers
it.

You are right, its great training. Profile guys love it, a good headwind and it will hover
horizontally.

Personally, I don't like to fly if it's more than 15 mph, especially a cross-wind. Makes the landings too squirrelly.

But I know a lot of guys who fly no matter what the wind is. If you feel OK with it, go have fun!

If the airplane flys backwards at full throttle, it's too windy.
If the airplanes takes off without the engine running, it's too windy.
If the airplane won't come down for a landing, even in a vertical dive, it's too windy.

BTW, the airplane DOES know if it's flying in a headwind, tailwind, or crosswind, and will react accordingly. Groundspeed and lift will change, affecting the flying characteristics.

Dr.1

You will never learn how to fly in the wind if you don't do it. You have three different runways to fly off of, so take advantage of it. It will also be a good time to learn how to REALLY slow flight. Try to use good throttle management and just make the plane hang in one spot. Just use a good three mistakes high altitude. Enjoy yourself, here the rain prevents me from going to the field.

The more wind the better for me. The wind makes aerobatics more fun, landings more fun ( spot landings with almost 0 rollout are cool ) and just general flying more fun. There are guys at tmy old club that wouldn't fly if you blew in there general direction and they felt it. I have always taught my students to like the wind. I say, if your scared to fly in the wind, then you're scared to fly.

Sean

Well I went and did it and only a broken prop to show for it!

I called a local FOB on the way home and he said we had 20-25 sustained with up to 32 mph gusts!

The darn thing flew great but certainly squirrelly. Talk about fast down wind legs! Take offs took MAYBE 5 feet, litterally!

The first time I tried to land it I had to go around about 3 times because the plane just kept floating and ballooning. When I did get it down it was almost 0 speed and rolled about 3 feet! Pretty cool but nerve wracking! The rest of the landings were tricky but I definitely picked up needed skills.

Taxiing was a problem as the model would weather vane badly. I had to keep full up stick to have any rudder/wheel authority. At a standstill, putting in down elevator would lift the tail!

I did a downwind approach but chickened out on landing in that direction!

I also got her really high and tried slow speed stuff. It was amazing! The thing would almost hang in the wind with 0 fwd speed like a kite! Very fun!

My last landing (was not intended to be my last!) I came in and let it settle too far up field from me and did not have enough perspective to judge the fwd speed and bounced her pretty hard on the gear (my Hobbistar is in tail dragger configuration) and popped the prop. I then found that I had left my allen wrenches out of my box and had to call it a day.

I was the only person out there and I called one of the club guys on the way home. He told me I was a damned fool to be out there! Oh well, I am now a fool with his "high wind" ticket punched!

Thanks for all of the input, Gents!

The funfly I just attended had winds at 26-30 steady all day(Part of the terrain). Everyone flew and no one crashed! Course most of us were Okie natives and used to it. Landing at half throttle with a touch of down elevator was the formula I used. Worked out nice.

If you see light between the plane and wing on an LT 40 on the runway. dats too much wind![X(]

If you live about 30 degrees above the earth's equator, you are flying in approximately 860 mph wind whenever you fly even when it is dead calm. The only reason it seems calm to you is because you and the ground you are standing on are also going about 860 mph as the earth spins.

Keeping the above fact in mind, have you ever noticed a difference in lift when the plane is flying east instead of west on a calm day? An airplane really doesn't know which way the wind is blowing, it's just the pilot's perception.

If you could fly a model airplane from the deck of a ship that was cruising at 20 knots on a calm day, it would feel exactly like flying in a 20 knot wind to you. You would constantly have to fly "upwind" to prevent the ship from leaving your model behind.

LOL!

Too much wind is whatever wind is too much for you & the particular model that you are flying --- simple as that.

It is dependent on the pilot's skill & comfort levels, & the airplane's physical characteristics. Any one pilot will have differing wind limits depending on the airplane. Similarly, any one airplane type will be limited by the individual pilot's capabilities.

Having made that earth-shattering revelation -- if you don't learn to fly in the wind, you won't be able to fly in the wind -- meanwhile, your "windy" buddies will be having fun.

If it doesnt kill ya or your plane, it will make ya stronger.

I know what you are trying to say, but technically you're wrong. Wind is defined as the movement of air across the Earth's surface. If the atmosphere and surface are moving at exactly the same speed, then there is no difference in airflow--no wind.

As per your analogy to the ship, we'd have to have models that could fly over 800 mph, and fly them East constantly to keep up with the rotation of the Earth. That is simply not true. The reason you have to fly to keep up with the ship is because the ship is moving across the Earth's surface. When a helicopter hovers, the Earth doesn't spin out from underneath it. The Earth and it's atmosphere rotate about the axis together. "wind," is another beast all together.