I have recently solo'd on my Tiger Trainer 60 and I was wondering about the wind. Its often a little gusty here and I was wondering if I should play it safe and sit out all those days until I get better or should i just go fly? i'm ok in the air my landings need a little practice however. Thanks.

khlash99,

Most importantly always take off and land into the wind. Second, don't fight every little gust that lifts a wingtip-you will be overcontrolling in no time. If you find yourself having to hold the plane down when your trying to start it, it may be time to pack it up for the day.
Try flying in increasing amounts of wind to find your/your planes comfort level.
I know people that use the wind as an excuse not to fly, and I know people (myself) that will take off, get a little alttitude, throttle back and fly backwards down the runway, throttle up to go forward, and land with 0 ground speed. :devious:
Just remember, once the plane is in the air, it can't tell if it's windy or calm. the plane only "sees" relative airspeed. Also remember, you are bound to the ground, the plane isn't, and the wind can be faster than the highest achieveable airspeed of the plane .

Jetts

I think jetstarblue hit it exactly right with this statement.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. For most folks, it is *much* easier to fly in windy conditions when the wind is right up or down the runway. If you fly at a field where you absolutely have to take off and land parallel to the runway, then you might want to sit out when the wind is across the runway. Otherwise, as jetstarblue said, just make sure you take off and land into the wind (make sure you tell other pilots what you're doing!).

2. Be careful about airspeed. IMHO, the biggest causes of crashes in the wind is the pilot thinks the airspeed is higher than it is, stalls, and loses control of the plane. When you are flying with the wind, the speed of the plane in relation to the ground will be really high, but the air speed of the plane may not. This is where your comfort level comes in. Suppose you are comfortable flying 40 mph in calm air (trainer speed), but you're in a 20 mph wind. Up wind, you'll be going 20 mph relative to the ground, which will be fine, but downwind, you should be going 60 mph, which may be more than you're comfortable with. If you slow down to 40 mph ground speed, your plane will only have 20 mph air speed, and while it will probably fly, it will react to the controls much differently than when its airspeed is 40mph.

3. In the same vein, think about the wind in case you dead stick. In most cases, you'll want to spend most of your time up wind. If you dead stick when your plane is a long way downwind, you may not be able to bring it back to a safe place to land.

I know it may all be a lot for a new pilot to absorb, but there is a good article on wind in the January issue of Model Aviation (the AMA magazine).

Thanks, Pinball for backing me up on this!
I have gotten a lot of flak in the past about this, beause some simply refuse to believe me. The scenario I explained about "Taking off, flying backwards down the runway, and throttling up to come back up to land" actually happened to prove my point after a guy kept whinning about "to windy to fly" after he insisted on dragging me out to the field on a day I had made other plans! I have seen COUNTLESS planes lost because of the high groundspeed downwind problem. Despite practicaly yelling- QUIT PULLING BACK ON THE ELEVATOR!!!!! I have seen "seasoned" pilots put planes in trying to "slow them down" on the downwind leg, so watch out for that kh!
Best bet here is keep your throttle up (3/4 or so), fly the pattern, and when you come in on the final-your "groundspeed" will be fine. DON'T TRY TO SLOW IT DOWN!!!
Also as far as the deadstick thing-when in doubt, turn into the wind, keep the nose down, and land off field if you have to. Walking out to pick up a lightly damaged plane is better than trying to get it back to the field, and walking out to pick up your "new kit".

Jetts

The solution I use is to keep an ol' warhorse around that can take a little beating if it gets one. There's nothing like having an old beat up plane that you can haul out any time without worrying about banging it up.

Hey Jetts, I never have flown backwards because my foam parkflyer couldnt handle it, found that out when the wings snapped at 200 feet, anyway I have flown it completely level when it would take full power to stand still and I could just make it rise and fail with the elevator, so backwards doesnt seem too hard to believe,,,,,,,,Rog

ROG,

Done the same with my GWS FD! What a blast! (Flying in place that is!)
I could tell you stories about my daughter and I out flying my Dad's PT 40, and doing loops and rolls in place 10 feet off the ground, but he may be reading this! :devious:

Jetts

one of the coolest things I ever did like that is with my zagi

I like to catch my zagi to "land" it so one time i brought it around on final... stepped out onto the "runway" and got ready to catch it with the wind to my back.

it slowed down just as a breeze picked up and stopped about 4 feet away, gave a small burst of power to bring it about 2 feet away and reached out and grabed it from the air at a dead stop.

if I had a steady breeze and a full battery I could of held it right next to me in a hover.

There is an excellent article in the January issue of Model Aviation dealing with the fact that wind will always be with us :-)

Seriously, it is a very well done article and worth reading IMHO.

Jerry

THAT OLD WAR HOURSE IS A GOOD TRAINER AND TRY TO KEEP IT ON THE GROUND.

My advise, and its worth what you payed for it.

Everyone has their own personal limitations. If you just soloed, then your limits are pretty low although it might not feel like it.
And you probably don't have a good feel for what those limits really are yet.

The secret to really enjoying this hobby and avoiding accidents, is to know what "your " limits are.

Planes have limits too. Some planes are very easy to fly in windy conditions. Some planes, and this usually includes trainers, are difficult to fly in windy conditions.

Take it easy at first. Don't push yourself to hard. I live down the road in Houston and I know it is windy. But there are times of the day when the wind is usually lite, say early morning or just before sunset.

Later on, when your skills have grown and you have a plane with a symmetrical foil and a heavier wing loading, you will be able to fly in just about any condition. But being able to do it doesn't necessarily mean it is fun. If you go and fly in the Texas wind and you aren't enjoying it, then what is the point?

Soon after I soloed, I flew in the gusty wind. As you noted, landings are the trouble spot. I would always touch base with a more experienced flier at the field before I went up to make sure he was "on call" if I had trouble getting her down safely. I also tried to time my landing during luls in the wind. I only had to hand off the tranmitter once and it made me a better flying for not letting the wind keep me grounded.

I'm thinking that's a top drawer approach...

Even after soloing, we get hit with new or challenging situations once in a while, so why not go back to somebody who's up to helping you through the more challenging new situation?

Kinda puts a new slant on MinnFlyer's advice to keep an old warhorse around

I've just recently solo'd myself. My 2nd time out by myself was Thanksgiving day. I really wanted to fly but there were 5 other guys at my field just sitting out the wind. I said "what the heck!" and I took up my .40 size trainer. I had a great time! The wind made flying a little different but it was fun. I admit that I had a rough landing. I bounced hard on the runway then landed in the grass. I bent my nose wheel back about an inch. No big deal, I've done it before, it just needed to be bent back out. After my flight I saw one other guy get his plane in the air. I guess he thought that if a novice like me could do it then he could.

One thing about having the inexpensive trainer is that it takes some of the 'Pucker Factor' out of flying. I have to agree that it also has a lot to do with comfort level. I've flown in heavy wind with my RealFlight G2 sim and I kinda knew what to expect.

What ever you decide, have fun and stay safe.

C.P.

Everyone here has provided sound advice. One thing that I want to disagree with is that you also need to learn to land short if necessary. The field I fly at has, potential, obstacles on the south end of the runway. I like to land from the north. Sometime this is into the wind and cross wind but every now and then, it is with the wind. Under these conditions, I have to learn to perform short field landings to make sure I can put it on the runway. I have found that if you can land with the wind and/or strong cross wind, that all other landings become easy!

I have been flying about a year and wind would keep me from going up. All the old guys would say "too windy to fly". I will admit that flying in windy weather can be as much fun as flying in calm wind. The rules are different. We were having 20 mph gusts but it was warm out and I hadn't flown in a while so I just went ahead and did it. It was nerve wracking but a blast. You could stay in one place and do a snap roll and wind up right where you started. Flying backwards had them hooting and the ability to land with no airspeed and just drop it on the runway was great. So the wind can be fun and I think it really teaches you a lot. Kind of like running with weights on your ankles. You that much better without it.

Giestware,

I can't imagine why you would want to land short. Sounds like a formula for disaster. If you are coming in with the wind your going to be much faster then landing into the wind. To me it is better to learn both approaches on relatively calm days so you can land into the wind on breezy days.
Ace

I love flying in the wind.

I usually snatch my buddies trainer and have a ball with it.