What is considered good flying conditions, other then being sunny, warm and mild wind?

At what point, speed, is the wind too much for a 40 size trainer, or for that matter, for any size plane?

Hello,

This question comes around from time to time. In the UK, where I fly in Essex it's around around 15 mph because of the trees that surround our flying site, turbulence being the main issue. From what I remember some of the guys in the US fly when the wind's in the 20s (30s sometimes) if conditions are right.

Regards,
Andy

i stop thinking about trying to fly when the wind gets to be 20 mph

The amount of wind an airplane can take is more of a function of pilot skill than the aircraft being used. I consider 10 mph or less great conditions, 10-20 mph fair, and 20+ bad. These windspeeds are assuming wind is within 10 degrees or so of being parallel with the runway. These numbers drop a little when messing with crosswinds. I've personally flown in 20mph winds gusting to 28 blowing straight across the runway (90 degrees) with much of my fleet; however, I wouldn't consider it very fun.

What Nathan said is right on the money. It's more what you are used to flying in than what the plane can take. Here in Oklahoma we regularly fly in wind that would ground flying in other parts of the country. A normal flying day for us is 10-20 mph. Once it gets over 20-25 is where we really stop flying. Also, the direction of the wind matters as well. 25 mph directly down the runway is easier to fly in than 15 blowing across the runway.

Ken

jentzsch,

Calm would be the best!

However, since that is rarely the case. The wind directly down the runway at less than say 10kts would be second best. A bit of headwind is an advantage as it lessens your groundspeed and provides lift on takeoff. Learning to deal with crosswinds is important, as your skill increases you will be able to fly in wider parameters.

As your experience and comfort level increases each of us has to decide just how bad it has to be before flying or not!!!!!!!!

Not too long ago I almost let my ego exceed my skill level, maybe it did! Took off in maybe 15-20kts+ gusting crosswind showing off, no one else was flying. Realized immediately once the airplane broke ground, the conditions were pretty much beyond the capabilities of myself and the bird. Got the bird on the ground in one piece, but my pride was a bit tarnished. Stupid me!!!!!![] I am now still willing to fly in reasonable winds, but not a gusting gales.

Establish your own limits don't let anyone influence your decisions.

He who walks away has his airplane to fly another better day!

Windy conditions aren't necessarily a reason to stay grounded; you have to judge the "quality" of the wind. Our runways here in Nebraska tend to run north/south due to the prevailing winds, so a 30 mph wind is actually flyable so long as it is steady and blowing consistently from the north or south. I went to a club fun fly in SW Iowa when the prevailing winds were 25 to 30 mph straight out of the south. A bunch of us flew, and there were no crashes. My Goldberg Tiger 2 had to be flown at full throttle upwind, but flew well.

On the other hand, gusty wind conditions where speed and/or direction vary can be much more hazardous to your plane. I was flying my Tower Trainer last fall on a day with gusty wind conditions. The wind died down significantly as I was making my approach, so I cut my throttle way back and was gliding in for a nice landing down the middle of our asphalt runway. I was about 10 foot above the deck and just a click or two above idle on the throttle when a big gust came up out of nowhere. It caught the wing on my trainer and popped the plane straight up, then proceeded to flip it over upside down and backwards onto the runway.

Fortunately my wife was there to capture my moment of glory on camera!

I sometimes have to carry my plane to the end of the runway because it is too windy to taxi but once there it is not a problem, even for an 80" wingspan Kadet Senior.
I am comfortable up to near 20mph or so but not if it is gusting or constantly changing direction.
I have the advantage of it being very windy when I learned to fly so the wind is less of a factor than if I had only trained on calm days.
As my instructor put it "if you don't learn to fly in the wind you wont get to fly much"

Ken and I fly in similar conditions. He is right on but I would also add. There are days that it blows a steady 15-20mph. These are not to bad. Then there are days when it is 5-20mph that I wont fly. I gust at the wrong time will put you in the shop for a few hours.
I would also add the plane does make a difference. As a rule the lighter the wing loading the lighter the winds it will take. I had a US 60 I flew for many years. I flew it no matter the wind. One year at our fly in it was blowing 30+ all day long. My and another guy had a low inverted pass contest. He was flying a Patriot that also cut the wind. When you have an event with a few hundred spectators someone has to fly. I won BTW. He would not drag his rudder in the grass.

David

Hi there, I agree with Bigedmustafa, it depends on the quality of the wind. If you have wind that is constantly blowing in one direction, flying would be considerably easy (of course, it has to be an average wind), but if you have winds that are blowing in all directions, flying could be a headacke. I am not an expert but I have been flying for several months in harsh conditions and I have been able to detect the good and the bad winds. Here in Colombia we have hundreds of clubs, and mine is at an altitude of 4800 feet above sea level. It is pretty high, considering that all planes and engines are tested at sea level. My club has pretty nice mountains surrounding it, that are, of course, several miles away and it won´t be dangerous to crash into them. But there is one factor that could be difficult to manage: The wind. That is because of the mountains and the change of temperatures in the air. As I said before, I am not an expert, so I want to know how can I measure the wind speed, the turbulence, in order to see when I can fly. I´ve always trusted in my eye, but I want to have an instrument that tells me exactly when can I fly and when I can´t fly. I´ll appreciate any help. Thanks.

OH. By the nature of the Subject line I thought this thread was about farting. []







sorry, couldn't help it

Here in michigan we fly in wind, if its not too gusty. It also depends on how many back up planes you got on hand My friend and I went to a FLY IN once that was giving small gifts per flight up to three flights. It was so windy no one wanted to fly, the two of us flew soo much they gave the us extra stuff because we were the only ones flying........

I agree with what's above. I was told if you want to fly in Vermont, you have to fly in wind, and it's been true nearly every time I'm out flying, at least for part of the session.
Today was my first real crash, and it was because the wind really picked up, so I was trying to practice. It was just over 15mph, straight across the runway. I used some rudder about 15 feet altitude and went into a stall due to lack of power (got to keep some throttle in the wind, Joe!) Point of the story is that 10mph down the runway is actually a help. I think probably over 20mph would keep (most) people out of the air here in Vermont, but we've regularly been flying in the 15mph range since last week. Oh yeah, the toughest part is when the wind is changing directions. It's happened a couple of times in the past week where you take off facing one way, and land coming back the other, with everything in between. You start to compensate for the wind, then it changes, keeping you on your toes. The hardest part for me right now is my plane weathervaining into the wind on the runway, usually just after touch down as the plane slows down, but is still going fast enough to require some serious reflexes! Watch out!

I prefer 5 to 10 mph, will take more if it's not gusty or changable. Dead calm makes take-offs and landings harder. I have flown a full-symmetrical wing in 25 mph but can't say it was easy or relaxing.

Depends a LOT on the model I have at the field at the time. My Hot Stik is much more wind sensitive than any of my other models. It gets tossed around like a leaf when I slow down for a landing.

With much dihedral or a flat-bottomed wing it adds some complication. 12 to 15 mph would be about as much as a trainer should attempt under fledgeling thumbs.

I think I can second this one

Last weekend no-one at my club flew... except me I have no idea as to how windy it was (speed) But on Sunday (club meeting day) a couple of the guys showed up for the meeting. I asked them if they were going to fly. They all said it was to windy. So I pull the Hobbico Avistar I am setting up to train my daughter on. The .40 LA just made headway into the wind and hauled the mail on the downline. I treid to tell the others that if we were in the Midwest this would be a beautiful flying day. I have gotten to where I refuse to be grounded because the conditions are not "ideal". I just have many planes for many different conditions of flying.

Nathan has a great point (as do several other posters). As an example, several years back, I was fairly new to RC. I really wanted a Goldberg Skylark 56. Nostalgia hit (that was my very first trainer back in 1977 when trainers were anything you learned on). Move ahead several years and I re-solo'ed and really wanted one of these planes.

Goldberg re-released it and I saw that, and had to have one. So, I bought one, built it, and put an OS 52 Surpass four stroke engine in the thing. That was a big pain in the butt for a beginner because everything was on the opposite side (engine wise). So, I just went ahead and built it.

Naturally, I had to fly it so fly I did. I had, oh, 20 or so flights on it when I headed out to the field one day and took a look at the wind. It was February in New Jersey and it was not so cold but it was windy. The wind was left to right and down the runway centerline. It was blowing a constant 15 - 20 kts, but I though that because it was down the centerline, it would be ok, which it would have been had I had a couple years more experience.

I flew it one flight that day. I didn't realize that the expiration date had been established on that airframe, and that was the date. I made several orbits, a few loops... sloppy ones at that, and a couple rolls.. sloppy ones too.. but hey.. they were still loops and rolls.

Now it was time to land. So, I came around and treated the plane just like my trainer. I did the downwind leg, then turned to base, then turned to final and cut the throttle. As soon as I did, the wind took over, flipped it over from front to rear.. and now it was headed in the opposite direction, inverted, and at idle. Amazing it was still in the air, but I was struggling to keep it up there. Eventually, (maybe 5 to 10 seconds later) I managed to get it upright and headed back.. then it flipped over again. The wind was treating it as though it was a leaf. At no time did I remember that I had the throttle at idle. Had I had more experience, I would have added a half throttle or so and recoverd and brought it back. But, lack of experience.. I forgot the throttle because I was focused on trying to get it upright.

At one point, it just lost airspeed and fell out of the sky.. headed straight in. I was totally devastated and felt totally stupid for even trying to fly it in those windy conditions. It was a total loss.

Move ahead several years. I now am confident to fly anything I have in windy conditions exactly like what caused me to lose my Skylark 56. In fact, I now have a Skylark 70 and was out flying it in exactly the same conditions as I lost the Skylark 56, and put in four or five tank fulls and thoroughly enjoyed flying it in those windy conditions.

So, make sure you are ready to fly in the conditions or are willing to face the consequences of a lack of experience.. OR are willing to put up with the weather conditions to gain experience. Always remember the throttle.. and what it's for.... extend approaches... elevator to bleed off air speed.

CGr.

can any one tell how to fly in strong wind. i mean what all one has to look out for regarding the model,etc. i had a bad crash last week trying my first RC solo in wind.

For the first while as a new flier ONLY fly when it is calm and slowly progress up into windier conditions. A trainer type plane can get buffetted around by wind quite badly. I know the enthusiasm a new flier has to fly but there are limits that he should fly in. Proress in baby steps and it will all be good.

Curt

If there is any wind at all my Slow Stick is grounded!! Or sometimes just stuck in a tree.

I would say when your full throttle and the plane is still going backwards. [&o]

Yea that would describe the way my Slow Stick flies in a little wind.

it all depends how confident you are and what plane you have

myself, i have planes for all different occasions

for the still/calm days i have a Ripmax Bossanova which is built light, fast and agile but gets thrown around terribly in the wind

for the windier days i have a Mick reeves Gangster .60 with a super tiger .75 ringed engine, its built like a brick outhouse and is very fast, even survived a belly flop from about 40 feet after an engine failure (only suffered a broken prop) and because it is heavier and faster it cuts through the wind alot better and is less vulnerable.

birds are a good indication, if they are all in their roost then its not ideal flying conditions but if they are all out and about then it should be fine for you to fly in

however, if you feel confident flying in a hurricane then by all means see how you get on, if you dont want to fly in a breeze then dont risk it

I'm afraid the technique is far too nuanced to explain on a forum, but I can give you some tips. Some airplanes get flipped taxiing on a windy day, so learn how to taxi properly. Remember this phrase, "dive away from the wind." For example, if you are taxiing and getting wind from five o'clock give down elevator and left aileron input as you taxi. This will make your airplane much harder to tip by a gust and will save you from many prop strikes while taxiing on gusty days. Wind at the ten o'clock position will require left aileron.

Now that I've covered ground stuff let's move on to flight. Learn to use the rudder efficiently! Constantly correcting for gusts with your ailerons on approach will not give you a good stabilized approach. There are two ways to handle crosswind landings. The easiest method is called 'crabbing.' Essentially, you use that rudder to yaw the aircraft into the wind. Your airplane will look like it's going to fly away from the runway, but the wind is keeping it properly lined up. The airplane looks like it is flying sideways a little. As you flare ease up on the rudder to get your flight path parallel with the longitudinal axis of the airplane and set her down. The other way to do this is to use a method called slipping. I prefer this method because the approach looks a little prettier and more impressive since your airplane will appear to just not be affected by the wind. I've actually had guys think the airframe of the model was just so good that it wasn't affected by the wind. WRONG! I was just fooling them using a good slip technique. Slipping requires cross coordinated inputs. Basically this means the rudder and aileron inputs will be constantly opposite. Imagine a crosswind coming from the left side. Bank the airplane slightly left (into the wind) and give enough right rudder to keep the nose lined up and the aircraft from drifting. You do this right down to the ground, but remember that the slower you get the more correction you must add. Basically you will be correcting more and more until touchdown because your airplane is decelerating throughout the approach.

Let's talk about how the airplane will look in a strong headwind. More specifically, let's discuss perceived speed. Remember, the speed you are watching the airplane fly at is with reference to the ground. Unfortunately, airplanes fly with reference to an invisible entity called the wind. How can we judge airspeed when our reference is invisible? I personally watch the angle of attack of the airplane along with monitoring how much elevator I am giving. On an approach with a strong headwind, a slower looking airplane will actually be going the same airspeed as a 'faster' one on a calm day. How much more? Only experience can give you the answer. This is why everybody seems to float halfway down the runway on windy days. They are mistakenly using the ground as a reference to gauge their speed. Effectively, they are trying to land the airplane much faster even though it 'looks' the same!

It's almost always windy here, I have gone out and there wasn't even A breeze. By the time I got my plane ready it was already over 20 but I really wanted to maiden it. I built the plane just for the windy days. A 60 size hots with A rather big engine so it was A perfect day to see how it flew in high wind, no real problems but this was on A dry lake bed so I could take off and land into the wind.
When it turns into more work then fun that's when it's time to pack it up and go home.