Popriv

The wind seemed borderline to much for me to fly yesterday.
Today is worse, weather info website for our field says 15 mph with gusts of 28 mph...

Hopefully tomorrow will calm down..

I solo'd Saturday and now I want to get to the field and FLY, FLY, FLY!!!!

For a new pilot, what would be considered a " no fly due to wind " wind speed????

I dont want to push my luck now...so I'm waiting...



Steve

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

There are so many variables that it's hard to say.

A 15 MPH wind is not bad for a beginner if it is steady and straight down the runway, but gusty winds can make you lose an airplane fast - especially if they are variable.

So there's no set formula. If you think it's too windy - it probably is!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Like Minn said, it depends on a lot of things. A big part of it is where you live. Winds that may ground some are normal flying days for others. When Minn and I were in Dayton covering their airshow we got a laugh at the warbird guys talking about "the bad wind" and "it was too much to fly". All I could think was "what a gorgeous day to fly"!!!!! I would guess the wind was 5-10 mph!!! But here in Oklahoma that is a GOOD day of flying, and we don't shut down until it gets to 15-20+

Ken

Jim Thomerson

At our control line field, we installed a calibrated windsock. It stands straight out at 15 MPH. I am now comfortable flying in anything up to 15 MPH, whereas before I probably would have chickend out at maybe 8 MPH. Knowledge is power!

opjose

If the windsock is straight out, it's time to bring out your Big Stiks.


I spent the last weekend flying both days with only two pilots at the field...

The winds were strong, and we both had Big Stiks... we had a blast.

hogflyer

For training I usually don't like to fly beginning students over 15 mph, but after they get some experience I'll fly them up to 20 mph if I feel they are capable of handling it and want to. I never force a student to make any flights, and some I have will only fly a couple of flights a day before their nerves won't take it. I've even got one who can handle the 20 mph winds but has no confidence and will probably be a perpetual buddy box student all his flying career.

Just after I started flying 4-channel (mostly flew 2 and 3 channel back then) I would take my Sweet Stik out in 25 mph winds not knowing I shouldn't fly in them until some of the more experience pilots told me it was too windy. Looking back I wish they wouldn't have said anything since l now will fly my planes in winds over 25 mph. At that speed it starts to become more work and less fun, so generally when it gets between 20 and 25 mph I don't spend too much time in the air. My Alpha 60 seems to handle 25 mph as well as, if not better than, the Tower Kaos 40 or Twist 60 do.

It all comes down to what your instructor is comfortable instructing in, and what you are comfortable with, capable of handling and have flown in. And it doesn't come instantly for most learning to fly in the wind - it takes some time to get your confidence up. If you think its too windy, go up on the buddy box to get your confidence up, then solo if you feel you are capable of handling it, otherwise don't fly, enjoy the day and look forward to the next good day for flying.

Hogflyer

Popriv

thanks for the info, I'm probably being conservative. I really want to get to the field, set up and fly on my own without waiting for the instructor...


I'll have my stuff in the car tomorrow and see how the weather is after work.


Steve

fcomer84

My instructor told me, "The wind is your friend"! My rule is if the wind is up and blowing in my face at our field, I usually do not fly.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

When the wind blows over full fuel jugs, we think about packing up in my neck of the woods. Juet recently I flew at a pattern contest with 35MPH winds and gusts into the 40's... boy that was a fun day. On a more serious note, try flying in some windy conditions until you get a feel for what you can handle. The key to this is to get a vetran pilot you trust to spot for you in case you are having problems landing, i.e. let them land the plane for you.

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

Yeah, 5-10 is a perfect day even if its a crosswind! I am looking for a high steady wind to take my trainer up in to get it to fly backwards, I trust her in just about any conditions.

Jr25

My Feedback: (7)

Unless you feel the wind is too strong, or blowing in the wrong direction, throttle up and fly away! As others have said, ther is no "magic" number as to what is too much or too little wind to fly. This past weekend we had Ike blowing thought MO producing some gusts that probably topped 30+ mph, yet several of of taxied out and had a great time. If your not comfortable with the conditions, it is probably best to leave it grounded and just watch. You can bet no matter how strong it's blowing, there will be a few of us idiots out there giving it a ry.....


Jr

doubledee

My Feedback: (4)

Too much wind? You are probably flying a high winged trainer, so I would say 12 to 15 MPH is about the max you want to try and fly in.

However, if you are nervous about the wind, don't fly. As a new solo pilot you have enough on your mind without worrying about wind. There will be days when the wind isn't so strong, is straight down the runway, and is steady as a rock. Those are the days you want to practice flying in the wind. At least until you get a few more flights under your belt.

If you do decide to fly in the wind, remember to keep a llittle power on during final approach to make sure you make the runway, cut the power when you are over the end of the runway and fly the airplane all the way to the ground. Keep a little extra speed on to compensate for wind gusts that will cause varying lift over your wing.

Regards,
doubledee

HampdenTech

Lately around here, if it's not the wind it's the rain. I'm hoping to maiden my Alpha 40 this weekend. The last 2 weekends have been washouts. The killer is that we had some georgeous days last week but I can only fly on Saturdays.

I've become mainly an early morning flyer since up until now I've only flown electrics, and my planes do not like the wind very much. I can fly them okay, but it's more like fighting them. It's not really fun. Hoping for a great weekend!

OffroadBEAR

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Ken, spoken like a true Okie . I used to live in Norman, OK, and I moved to Wichita, KS for a job recently. Its windier here than in Oklahoma, and the worst part is that a lot of times its a straight cross-wind. When I first got here, I flew with a guy who moved here from Indiana, and the wind was barely blowing (at least to me), at a max of 10 mph, and he was saying it was too windy for him. He was floored when I just put my 4*60 together and started flying completely unphased by the wind speed. Once he started flying, he realized that 10 mph winds won't bother his Kaos too much and wasn't bothered by wind again.

It really depends on your trainer. Some of the smaller, lighter ones do not have good wind penetration, but the larger ones will do just fine. I do not remember a day in Oklahoma where we flew in winds lower than 10 mph. I learned on a Kadet LT40, and it will fly in some serious wind. The only time I was uncomfortable flying that thing in the wind was when it was so windy that forward flight upwind was a max of 10 mph and downwind flight was close to 70 mph. I got a little scared a few times thinking i didn't have enough thrust to move forward. If you can afford it, buy an anemometer, that way you can measure what wind speed is "too high" for your comfort level when you're out at the field. Other than that, pucker up and fly.

hogflyer

OffroadBEAR

What field do you fly at?

Hogflyer

OffroadBEAR

My Feedback: (2)

Well, I did fly at beech field, but I think its too small and I won't be flying anything large there (working on a CG 1/4 Sukhoi 26 for next season), but I started flying at chapin, until I crashed (for the second time this season) and took a break.

Chapin is nice because its basically a field, not a runway, so its almost like cheating the wind. Beech is a pain if the wind is from any direction other than due north or south. The beech runway being due North-south makes it difficult on days when the wind has variable direction or even constantly from an ordinal direction. The fact that its narrow and its surrounded by a hill and pilot box on the west, a gully on the east, a drop-off on the north, and a hill on the south means that you pretty much have to hit the runway or go around for another try.

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

A big factor is what is upwind of the landing strip.

If you have trees or buildings that could cause turbulence then you need to stop flying a lot sooner. 10 knots might be max.

I used to teach people on a smooth site and if the trainer could make forward progress we flew. It was windy old England!

I would not let them land on those days though!

hogflyer

That's why I fly most of the time at Chapin and not Beech. Down the middle of the runway at Chapin is a sweet spot, also called the hump which is where I take-off/land on that most of the time. If want a rough area with an east/west runway, I've been working on mowing in the east/west 3-pole course at the north end of the field. It’s far enough away from spectators/pits area to fly 428 pylon with the proper AMA safety margin.

When I feel like playing with a short runway and a flying area about the size of the pattern then I'll head off to Beech. I usually wont fly anything beyond a Sky Raider or Alpha 60 there, but do like the challenge of a good crosswind. Last time I was there I was shooting touch-n-go's in a 14 mph 90 deg. wind out of the west.

Last time I was there I just about hit the trees to the east of the runway – forgot how small it is.

Hogflyer

OffroadBEAR

My Feedback: (2)

heh, yeah, I have an orange Skyraider MII (now with black monokote tape) that got eaten one day by an unexpected crosswind gust on a landing. Winds were southwest, and I was about 5 feet above the runway when a due west gust flipped it over and flopped it on the pavement. It got rebuilt relatively easily.

I go to beech because I live at 29th and rock rd, so chapin is a bit of a drive, but worth it. Its more like my home field (CORCS in Norman, OK), where guys come out for the day, flyin planes and shootin the bull.

I discovered the other field out at chapin the last time I was out there when I had to recover what was left of my Phoenix Sukhoi.

Campgems

As stateded before, the landing strip has a lot to do with wheather to fly or not in a wind. We have a paved runway. You will land on it or you will damage your plane. So, if the wind is 10+ down the runway, it a fun day. If it is 10+ across it, no way for most of us. The problem is that is is not consistant. I've seen days that I took off into the wind coming straight down the runway and landed from the end of the runway with a 60 degree cross wind that was gusting and variable direction. I've lost planes in conditions like this, miss judging my down wind speed and then stalling.

There is a good article on flying in winds in the last edition of Fly RC. Good reading.

Don

ErikElvis

My Feedback: (2)

When I first got my wings I was flying in whatever wind. Some days the plane would do about 5mph one way and like 60 the other. And landing in some of those crosswinds... forget it. But luckily we have a separate Heli runway we can always count on in bad crosswinds to the main runway. But learning in bad wind in a jerky trainer really helps when you move up. It makes you use rudder. About all I can do well is take off and land. Thats all I have worked on so far. Ill work on the fun stuff later when I have less of the dumb thumb syndrome.