Only since getting into RC flying have I started to monitor the wind conditions near where I live and it's depressing how windy it is on a fairly consistent basis

What types of glow planes are best suited for flying in windy conditions? I've heard that bigger, heavier handles the wind better than smaller, lighter, but are there wing shapes (thin, pattern type airfoil?) or plane styles that do better than others?

if all else fails i guess i could convert to sailplanes heh


thanks,
boneman

I have an H9 Xtra Easy trainer. Now that I can land in fairly windy conditions (10 to 15 or so), I actually enjoy flying in the wind. It is a blast to see how slow you can go, see if I can completely stop it in the air, or haul ass down wind. Obviously it is quite a challenge to do any precision aerobatics, but it is still fun. Now, some days are just too windy. And my trainer actually trained me how to land in a crosswind, and he said, if you can land this, you should be able to land anytime.

m_b

Depends a lot on how you fly. I can have fun with any plane in the wind. My little light ones are a blast. Can flip them all over the place. If you are trying for easier landing and less affected by wind, probably a faster plane with less dihedral and a little heavier will be less affected.

SPAD

www.spadtothebone.com

My 4*60 with an OS 91 Surpass is great in the wind. Goes where you point it and flies very smooth in windy conditions. Like all tail draggers, just have to watch it on the ground.

If you look at the picture of Sassy and her Debonair...you'll see her hair is blowing straight back...she likes to say all the way to Nebraska...the winds were really gusting that day! It's also the day the first Debonair flew it's first test flight...it's also the day Sassy soloed. The plane didn't seem to mind a little wind at all. In Kansas..."a little wind" is is normally around 20-30 mph...we don't consider it windy until it gets over 30 mph. Anything under 20 is dead calm
http://www.spadtothebone.com/SPAD/Debonair/

I fly with Boneman, I must say, trainers in the wind isn't bad at all, is quite fun. However, both of us are moving on, and the biggest thing for me is, survivability.

I have a kyosho .40 Spitfire and a GP .60 Stuka all ready to fly, but been 15-20 MPH winds last few days, prolly rest of week.

So a heavy warbird do better then say, Boneman's fairly light Venture .60? Is it the weight, or the wing size? I have a GP 90 inch wingspan cub, pretty heavy, but will the massive wings be air magnets?

Sooner or later I am gonna just say screw it and go, getting antsy!

Mill the wind bandit

I agree with MB that the H9 Xtra Easy Trainer is pretty good in high wind conditions. I was flying yesterday in 15-20 gusts. The only problem we kept experiencing was tip-over during taxi when turning into a quartering tail wind (not a big deal on a soft grass field). That big wing wants to fly almost all the time.

Clay

glad to hear that the a 4 star 60 handles the wind well as i'm building a ventrue 60 right now which is basically the same thing.

i'm going to have to build one of those SPAD's some day soon - they look neat as hell heh. can they really be built in one night?

A Sig Fazer is, in my opinion, the best windy day plane available. The wind definitely doesn't keep this plane down. Whenever the field I fly at is windy, which is about half the year, I take out the Fazer.

My S.P.A.D. Debonair handles the wind just fine. Our annual picnic competition was quite windy and the SPAD beat all of the balsa planes. It's very stable in the wind.

OK, I'm going to get flamed for this, but here goes.

ANY plane is good in windy conditions. I'm talking about steady wind, not gusty wind. You have to learn to work with the wind and not fight it. In other words, point the nose of the model into the wind to keep it's ground speed down and climb almost straight up while keeping the airplane at a low angle of attack.

To go down wind, just slow down the throttle and turn 90 degrees to the wind in either direction.

Landings are much slower (ground speed) because all the airplane cares about is airspeed. If the wind is 15 MPH and the plane lands at 15 then essentially you can land at 0 ground speed.

It always amazes people that I take great gonzo out on exceptionally windy days. Usually I'm alone at the field on those days because nobody else dares to try it. But the fact is even with a 7.5 oz wing loading and a 29 oz overall weight, it handles the wind just fine.

Now if the wind is gusty I prefer an aileron equipped wing with a longer aspect ratio. It is also nice if it's a little heavier. The longer aspect ratio helps prevent the plane from getting flipped over due to a sudden gust of wind when low and slow on final approach. A little more mass means that the plane gets bounced around less.

Personally I love flying in the wind unless I'm trying to do aerobatics. Then I prefer calm days.

PS. If your plane has a lot of dihedral then do not let it get cross wind on the ground - especially if the plane is light and has a high wing. They can get flipped over easily and cartwheel across the flying field.

caffeen, what do you mean unless you are doing aerobatics, don't you do them every flight? I like the wind.

Used to be the helicopter guys wouldn't take them out if there was a breeze, last year at our float fly, all the fixed wing guys were whining about the wind. Noone would fly. Percy and I loaded our helis on the boat and went out and had a blast. That was fun. Wind is what you make of it. Flown my glider on the slope when it took 2 of us to launch it because you couldn't hold it. boy is that fun.

Flyboy - When I talk about me doing aerobatics, I am defiling the term. I can't fly a round loop to save my life and when it's windy it's just that much harder for me. At our field the wind usually comes over the trees creating a lot of turbulance so it's not like I'm flying in a steady wind that the airplane is unaware of.

I agree with you about the wind. What irks me is when everyone "warns" me about flying in the wind and then I damage my plane because I let it get cross wind on take-off. Then they give me the "told ya so's." They just don't get it. I see that you do and you sound like you have a lot of fun with the wind. That's why God created wind - especially for R/Cers.

This is the plane I'm talking about. Weighs 29 ounces in the configuration in the photo (3 channels, v-tail with no ailerons) and has a 7.5 ounce wing loading.

Look at the wind sock. I believe it is a 15 mph sock (straight at 15 mph) but don't quote me on that.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/images..._gonzo_015.jpg

I take that back. It does have the ailerons at that time. The weight was 34 ounces.

That one would be tougher in the wind. Fun once you get it up there though.

Caffeen,

Of course you're correct about STEADY wind. The airplane doesn't care since airspeed is all that is important. However, in my experience with real airplanes, as well as large boats, and now r/c aircraft, it's a very rare day when the wind is really steady. It's usually accompanied by gusts, which can be the killers. A steady wind is really an average of a number of wind speeds, which can be quite variable. You just have to hope you're in the right place at the right time.

At our field, the wind likes to head straight down the field one minute, and the next it's 90 degrees and gusting. Ya never know.....

Clay

maybe i should have been more specific in my first post. i appreciate all the comments from the people who love to fly in the wind - maybe i'll start a special post for you - i myself have had lots of fun flying in really windy conditions (we flew on new year's day on a frozen lake in 20 degree weather with 20-30 mph wind for instance).

my question was really more theoretical in that i was wondering what types of planes, styles, airfoils etc. are least impacted by windy conditions? i've been told that bte's delta vortex was a good wind flyer and that surprised me considering that it's really just one big wing. any input regarding the original question would be greatly appreciated.

Only on the ground.

The secret is to ALWAYS have it pointed into the wind on the ground. Take the wing off and put it in a safe place between flights.

boneman - I still think a light airplane flies best in the wind. It does get blown around a lot but it recovers faster and if the wind drops out on you then it has a better chance of remaining flying because they require a lower flight speed.

A heavier plane isn't as affected by gusts. To answer your question I would say as streamlined of an aircraft as possible. A thin symmetrical wing with no dihedral. But now you're talking about a fairly fast aircraft.

Also, you probably want something with a mid or low-wing.

at the moment most of my flying planes are lightweight funflys, the Cougar is ok because you can cope with the gusts, and here at our club that means rotors comming off the 400 foot cliffs at the end of the field, these can turn you upsidedown in a second, or change your attitude by 20 feet in a heartbeat.
Our small funfighters handle it well, over powered with 37's the 110 speeds can cope with any wind and the higher wing loading means they dont blow around. our Magnums are also good because of the wing loading, yes you could say thin wings are better.
Planes to look out for would be 30-40 size patternships like the chili breeze. or fun scale fighters that are slightly over powered and over weight.
As for gliding, i took my 1m Vagrant out a while ago in 50mph gusts, it made it lighter than normal with mini sevos for sloping in sea breezes, with the wings making cracking noises ( joiner ) i threw it out, with the nose pointing down it was just moving forwards, but what fun!

I had a Hobbico Twinstar (deceased) that weight about 8 lbs with full fuel (I belive that tha manual specified a weight of approx. 5.5 lbs.) I flew this airplane often in gusty winds, and I could hardly tell the wind was even there. Even though I gad to take off and land fairly fast, the landings were rock solid. So, I think a smaller, heaver airplane flies better in wind.

NJD

I would say the best plane for wind is the one your most comfortable with. planes will fly in windy conditions but I usally pick the same plane to fly when it is windy. which where i live is more often then not. but that is my choice and most everyone has a differant plane they like to use. to some you either fly anything or its too windy. One guy I know will fly a 1/2a when I think its windy.

It is not the plane , ITS THE PILOT , you can fly what you are qualified to fly . Most planes out of the trainer class will fly in wind. I love to fly my LT40 when every thing else is on the ground. Then I take up the hard ware.