.........here where I live in the UK, I check the forecasts daily but what would be considered too windy for an Aerobird 3 ? (in mph)

I would think not more than about 5 mph or so. That's a pretty light plane. A lot depends on your experience level.

CGr.

5mph !

Well that reduces flying time to around 2 x days a year

Depends on your skill but yes it wont handle much more. 5 to 6 mph tops with a skilled pilot.
Maybe its time to consider a better airplane?
I flew a Kadet Senior in 12mph wind just the other day and regularly fly in winds at or above 15mph (other planes, not the Kadet Senior) although I prefer under 10mph.
A trainer plane and joining a club so you can get someone to teach you= more time flying and less time looking at wind reports.

I have to agree with CG and Missle, I had a Firebird XL, and any wind over 3-5 MPH made it hard to fly
and even harder to get back once it's out far. After some experience you'll be able to fly it in a little
more wind. But probably never more than about 6-7 MPH.

7-8mph is ok if you have average skills.

The problem comes in where the wind is blowing harder than the plane can handle. If the nose is in the wind, then you have to overcome the wind speed with airspeed, and that takes power, and with that small electric, it goes fast. Then if you get it with the tail in the wind, well, it goes where it wants to go. Turning it with a breeze, even a light one like 5 mph, causes the thing to behave like a leaf dropping off of a tree.


Hi Chris! Flying this weekend?

CGr.

Hello Dick. Hopeful for Sunday. Maybe tomorrow?

The aerobird has a flying weight of 17OZ, couple that with a high lift wing and any headwind will cause a
balloon effect. The planes fly pretty good in low wind conditions and I was very sucessful for a while,
that is until I THOUGHT I had the plane mastered. Just remember if this is your first flights to read
all intructions 5 times. Watch the video / DVD 3 times and make sure the plane is set up properly.
Good Luck.

Hi Chris. I'll know better tomorrow or Sunday. All depends on what I have to get done. Still havn't done my taxes.. [:@]

My little BUG doesn't like the wind at all.. and that thing is as light as a feather. Even a slight breeze can be a challenge, unless I have a very large field and don't mind chasing the thing around for a half hour.

I had an Aerobird challenger a while ago, and I flew it in winds that were gusting up to 15mph plenty of times. By the time I was brave enough to try it in the wind, I had been flying the ABC for probably 2 months and I was fairly comfortable with it.

Cheers guys for the prompt inputs,

So are we saying "to fly in higher winds you need a heavier aircraft, which will inturn need to be a more powerful aircraft, which will inevitably make it a harder to fly aircraft" ?

YUP.
More wind = bigger, heavier aircraft that needs more power. But not necessarily harder to fly just different.
I think that my trainer was easier to fly than the Firebird. I had more control and it just flies better.
The reason I say it flies better is because it is more predictable, a small gust of wind doesn't blow it off course
and when the larger more sophisticated (for lack of a better word) planes get into an odd position the
more precise controls and better response make it easier to fly out of the situation.

One problem with your logic. You make the assumption that bigger, more powerfull aircraft are harder to fly. Common assumption but simply not true, in fact a large trainer is more stable, easier to see and just as easy to fly if not more so.
Notice I said trainer, I think part of the myth that bigger is harder is because when alot of people think bigger they think some aerobatic harder to control airplane.

True, to a point. Many larger aircraft are also faster than a small airplane like that. This requires the pilot to think ahead and have the experience to anticipate what's going to happen. Faster aircraft are like playing chess in the sense that you need to have at least the next two moves planned out before you get there.

If you're not thinking 2 or 5 seconds ahead of even a lowly Aero Ace, you're in for a short flight with an unplanned end. This is the single most important piloting skill to learn, and it's best taught on a real trainer.

Until this skill is mastered, the pilot will be constantly recovering the plane from attitudes and locations he never intended to be in. Again, the trainer's superior control, stability and manouverability will be an asset. The only drawback to the lowly glow trainer is the room required to fly them.

J

.......if your Aerobird were full scale, that'd be like 60mph winds to it. [X(]

There is something that will help in the long run, a sim can be flown no matter what the weather outside is doing and saves wear and tare on your airplane.

Also true to a point... though larger trainers are fairly slow flyers.

And then there are those HUGE Telemasters, that you can practically walk next to, and are such gentle and slow flyers, that you can go have a soda as the plane lands itself once on approach.

My Giant UCD is much slower than all of my small electrics as well...

Think ahead??? Dang, another thing I haven't been doing. Are you guys sure I have to fry more gray cells doing something like that? I'll give it A try but it has never worked for me in the past.
One of my students had one of those little E planes and I loved flying it. Trouble was it became A hand full when the wind started to hit anything close to 5mph. I liked it but he didn't. It ended up in A bag due to A dead TX battery.
I can understand waiting for anything close to A calm day and you can never beleave the weather reports. I have been waiting for two days already to see these 25-30 MPH winds that were supposed to hit us. Today was A perfect flying day too and they keep telling me it's supposed to be blowing up to 30MPH right now?? Calm as can be. Now they are saying later this evening then three days of wind, one day of calm and then back up to the high winds again.
If you live in A high wind area then YEP, you should go with A trainer with A nice glow engine or bigger electric power plant. That or stay grounded until it calms down. Sorry about that!!

When the winds pick up, for me it's "Stik" time.

I'm usually the only one out in 25+MPH winds, with my Big Stik in tow.