I just got finished trying to fly my Tower trainer for the Second time in about 4 weeks. So I'm still wet behind the ears when it comes to this nitro thing. The winds were about 5 MPH so I went for it. Then the winds began to pick up after I got into the air. At times it was a little hard to control. I did get it on the ground without any damage When I went to look at the wind speed indicator it was 10mph with gust around 13 or so. Is that to windy for a trainer? Is it still to earlier for me to try to learn in that kind of wind? Tell me what you think.
Thanks
chopper man

I've flown a Nexstar in 15-20 mph winds, and it was dicey. A good rule of thumb is if the plane flys backwards at full throttle, its probably to windy to fly.

Seriously, flying in the wind is an excellent way of building your skills. As you practice, it gets easier. Much of it depends on whether the winds are down the runway or crosswind. Typical high wing trainers, with the dihedral wing, take a little more effort to land in a cross wind. The upwind wing will tend to get lifted by the cross wind. To counter that, you need to adjust your landing attitude to put that wing down slightly. You also need to learn to use the left stick (throttle and rudder). You also need to learn to look at the flight path of the plane, not the direction the nose is pointing, to set up your landing.

As I tell some of our club members - Embrace the wind! You'll get more flying time.

Brad

15 could be a lot the first time but you get used to it. The plane is kind of light and that is the biggest problem. A higher wing loaded plane does better in the wind.

Be careful and you can do it. Avoid crosswinds at that speed if you can for a while too.

When you set your trainer on the run way and the plane flips end over end like mine did, you know it's a little windy.

Edit: please don't be affraid of the wind, there are lots of cub members who wont fly in the slightest breeze.

Dave Trimmer

Thanks for the input. I just don't want to trash the plane so early on in my learning process. I think I just need some more stick time in somewhat gentler breezes. Coming from flying the EasyStar where you really can't have any wind to flying with a little wind is going to take an adjustment.
Thanks
chopper man

In a way, I wish I would have started with more experience flying in the wind. When I first started flying I lived in Indiana and the club field was down in a valley. Not much wind. I took a 15 year break in flying and took a job in Kansas and now it's always windy. If I don't learn to fly in the wind, I don't fly at all. I read some place that Chicago is the windy city, Wichita has more high wind days than Chicago ever had. I draw the line at tornado's though. You'll be glad you learned to handle the wind if you plan on visiting other clubs for fun flies or other events.

It really is a matter of good judgement. If the wind is srong, gusty, and at a perfect cross-wind, then I usually don't risk my lighter more expensive planes. I will fly my stryker in almost anything though just because it is so inexpencive to repair.

LT-40

Chopper man
I'm still pretty new at this myself (just soloed in December) so maybe info from another newbie might help.

My trainer is a Goldberg Eagle 2. It has a 63 inch span, weighs about 5 1/2 pounds, and I fly it with an OS 46AX. You didn't mention specs on your Tower, but if it is the 40 size it is a bit smaller and lighter, and if you fly with something like the OS LA40 has significantly less power. These might be factors in how much wind the plane (and your skills) can handle.

With mine I found that I can do fairly well in winds up to about 15mph with gusts a bit higher. The plane has the weight and power to fly well into the wind, but managing the speed it picks up downwind made learning landing approaches difficult. Crosswinds are definitely an issue as others have mentioned. Trying to keep field alignment (our paved runway is only 20 feet wide) and still keep the wings level is a major challenge for me in that situation. However, I am learning to use the rudder and if I keep rudder input small I find I can get the plane to crab over moderately and yet still keep the wings level as they need to be to land.

One issue with more power, though...I do not have a computer transmitter and, therefore, with the AX fly at less than half throttle. This means that throttle inputs for landing have to be very minute (a click at a time) as I only have about 1/3 of the total throw to work with. I don't mind this as I think it helps develop control sensititivty, but with the adjustments of a computer transmitter that would not be as much of a fussy issue.

You need to fly in the wind to learn to takeoff and land in cross wind conditions.
I have seen a LOT of pilots who were considered good who had to take off from the pits because they could not handle a crosswind.

It is too windy when the wind gusts faster than your ability to react.

I used to be a USAF weather observer. In my opinion, most people tend to over-estimate wind speeds. I've heard and seen people say that they've flown in 25mph winds, and I find that to be a bit on the unbelievable side--surely someone will tell me I'm wrong on that. The Beaufort Scale is handy when guessing. http://www.zetnet.co.uk/sigs/weather...ufort.htm#land

Constant breezes aren't much of a problem. You adapt and the conditions stay relatively the same. The problems with wind are variable directions and gusts. If the directing is shifting around regularly it can make landings very challenging. Gusts, by definition, are an 11-12mph difference between the high and low wind speeds over a ten minute time. Nobody likes it when the wind speed is changing markedly while landing.

I don't have problems flying in the wind, but I generally don't enjoy it. If the winds aren't how I like them, I've got other hobbies to keep me busy.

I have flown some with the wind so strong , I brought it nearly straight down and no ground run![X(]

I'm trying to understand what you are saying here. Are you saying you can't get full throttle or (and this is more likely):
That your throttle goes from idle to full open with only moving the TX stick only 1/3 of the travel?
If the latter is true, use a shorter arm on the servo or simply move the pushrod in on the arm or out on the engine throttle arm. It doesn't develop control sensivity, it's just wrong and (oops, not allowed to say DUMB). Please don't take offense. I realize it's just lack of experience.

??

I think Bruce is giving it to you straight. Throttles were adjusted for full throws long before computer radios were available. You may need a different servo arm but there should be a mechanical linkage fix to any control issue.

You should see how flaperons were done before computer mixing.

Are you saying you purposely limit yourself to the lower 1/3 of the engine's power? You can still mechanically compensate so the stick gives full deflection, but I think it's better to adjust for full and stick a piece of tape across the travel of the joystick. That way you have more power (like for heading into the wind).

Back to the thread: Too windy is more than 1/3 your model's top speed. ;-) Or when it blows around before you fuel it up. I like that one, too.

Hi

I enjoy Flying windy conditions and try to encourage anyone i teach to as well it vastly improves flying abilities. the limiting factor is if you can get the planes onto the field without damage and if its safe to get the plane from the pits to flying with a running engine.

I'd attempt to fly slope soarers in anything.

Simon

Here in Oklahoma you don't fly that often if you don't learn to fly in the wind. 10-15 mph is a normal flying day for us. And yes, I train students in that type of wind all the time. Trust me, if you take the challenge and learn to fly in the winds that you were faced with you will be a better pilot for it. And later down the road you'll be flying when your fellow pilots are packing it up and heading home!!!

Ken

The most fun in flying in the wind is when you hit that dead spot on 72MHz (about 300' or so away) in a turn into the wind....

That dead spot sure becomes HUGE and so much fun to deal with. Ask me how I know!

Huh? Never heard of a "dead spot" in a radio transmission unless there's an obstruction. Thet's like saying your flashlight beam has a dead spot at a certain distance but picks up again a little farther out.

Hmmmm, I've been flying for 10 years now and I have 8 different radios (all 72 Mhz) and I've never noticed a "dead spot".

Ken

Check out this thread!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_52...tm.htm#5225195

I've also had the same issues... unlike the tooth fairy, this one is for real

WAIT A MINUTE!!....the tooth fairy isn't real?

Ca Ca.

How can you tell, by the test described, that you have found a "dead spot", if your radio is 400 ft away and you have the model? There would be no commands transmitted to the servos except the neutral carring wave ("don't touch it"), which don't necessarily move anyway when a signal is lost unless you have PCM settings. Nothing was moving before you enter this mystery spot, and nothing moved while in it, so there is no proof.

The signal strength meter test maybe - so don't fly at 4 ft off the ground at 400 feet and you'll be OK. Iron is a very common element in the soil and may interfere.

Luckily, I keep my planes moving when I fly so maybe this is Earth's way of limiting 3-D fliers. Nature is amazing.

I don't know just how windy it was today but let's just say I had the feild to myself with my normal buddies that I go out there with every weekend. So there were 3 of us. My daughter was bugging me to bring her (13 yrs old) and let her fly on the buddy box. Well I took that Nexstar up and did some minor trim pulled to virtical and moderated the throttle to maintain altitude and it blew 500 ft down range in a hover like attitude in just about 15 seconds. So it was quite breezy. I landed this plane diagonally across the runway to get most of a head wind. My WM Super Sports Sr. landed straight down the runway but with about a 45 degree crab aproach... that looked cool too. Wind is fun. Think of it as a challenge. I understand you have a trainer and they are some of the most difficult to fly in the wind but just think about what you will be ready for when you master it.

No wind is no fun.

Just like RCKen, here in deep south Texas it is almost always windy (10-15mph). Live with it. When I moved here I would not fly nearly as much because of this. After some serious withdrawl, caused by not flying, I went at it in the wind. Looking back I can't believe that I thought it was that bad.

What amazes some is that on the days other are too scared to fly, I will fly my Comp-ARF 2.6m Extra or my BME 37% Ultimate. Even my son flies his H9 Ultrastick 60 in this wind.

Learn to fly in the wind, it is fun.

Safe Flying!

On really windy days (20+ mph) I love doing what I call "wind flying". You can do really fun things like "parking your plane in the air", "flying backwards", and "vertical landings". Parking your plane means to point the plane into the wind and slow down your throttle until you no foward movement at all. The speed of the wind flowing over the wings is enough to produce enough lift to keep the plane in the air. Flying backwards is the same as parking the plane but you lift the nose just a little bit and the wind will then push you backwards. A vertical landing is parking the plane over the runway and then just a little bit of down elevator to slowly lower straight down until you touch down on the runway.

On of my favorites I do with my Slow Poke. I roll down the runway for a take off. As soon as I have enough speed I'll lift up and park over the runway. I'll have no forward motion but still climb vertically to about 100' or so. Then I'll come back down and land again, without EVER moving past the end of the runway!!!!! I love doing this one!!!!

Ken

I want to learn to be able to handle the wind but I guess I'm still trying to build confidence in flying the nitro. I don't want to crash the trainer because I don't have the money for another one. This one has to stick around for some time. I guess we must learn to crawl before we learn to walk. I look forward to getting a little crazy and doing different thinks with the plane.
chopper man