Wind wind go away come again never!
 

It has been windy here for so long, I don't remember it being like this until I decide to get back into flying airplanes. It's always 30mph on the weekends and the days that I am supposed to go fly the trainer[:@]! I can't figure out what to do. I know RCKen is prolly dealing with the same problem, what do you do? I swear it wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't wanting to go learn to fly again so badly[:o]. What do you guys do to keep your interest up in the hobby when you can't do anything actively? I might be ordering my trainer soon so that should help, I will atleast have to put it together:D.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Start building.

G4.

:)

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I feel your pain[:o] Here in eastern OK. The winds not stopped in weeks:eek: I'm new and tring to get into the air as much as possible. I flew about a week and a half ago with the wind around 10 to 15 mph. wasn't as bad as I thought. That was the strongest wind I'd been up in. And I knew if I wanted to fly I'd better go then because the wind was going to pick back up. Just wanted to let you know that your not alone with the wind.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I work on Kits and use the Sim to keep me entertained in the hobby... I also have some RC cars too. I have gotten to fly a park flyer atleast one evening each week. Just as the sun is going down (7:30 - 8 pm) the winds die down a bit and are usually little more than 10mph. You just have to be aware of the gusts and not over react when the plane seems to have a mind of it's own. The only reason I have been flying park flyers is because I am too lazy to drive out the the club field that late in the day with my larger planes. [&:] A 40 size or larger glow plane will handle 10-20mph winds pretty well, but a beginner should first try this with the instructor by their side, as high gusts can suprise you.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

*shrug*

Fly anyway.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

30mph sounds like a lot. Under 20 go ahead and fly! You will learn to enjoy the wind. It adds either assistance (when in line with the strip) or a nice challenge (when crosswind). If you can't fly, get another plane and start building/assembling!!! To me it's almost more fun than flying, trying to get it just right, and the excitement of knowing it will one day fly is great.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

brett65

Since you're only 3 hours south you'll most likely have the same weather we'll have this weekend - for once a nice flying weekend. After being battered by the 25 - 35 mph winds we are finally forecast with winds 12 mph or less. :):)

If the winds are less than 20 mph, get out and fly – most trainers will handle it. I routinely instruct in winds up to 20 mph since my students will have to learn to fly in them if they want to fly more than 6 weekends a year.

Hogflyer

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

The last time I flew it was 10-15mph winds, and it wasn't bad at all. I could float the plane in on approaches at idle from pretty far out. I will definitely be hitting the airfield this weekend if there is no rain. We have a small chance of rain predicted.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I FLY!!! I have a couple planes that handle the wind quite well, the rest stay in the hanger till calmer conditions. A simulator helps take the edge off and building is an awesome way of relaxing and maintaining intrest. But the old saying " if you never learn to fly in the wind, you won't be doing much flying" only works for seasoned pilots and I don't recommend that for newbies!!

Cheers

Curt

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

For me, It seems the only time the wind starts up bad is when I load up my planes in the van. Untill then, not a leaf will be moving. Works the other way around too! Nice windy days can be instantly calmed by breaking out one of my kites!![sm=tongue_smile.gif]

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Well if Oklahoma was not so flat maybe they would catch some of the wind that has been blowing down here in Texas. Man it seems that other than about two weekends the winds have not layed down even in the evenings or early mornings. It has been blowing form 30 to 40mph with gusts up to 48 just about a month now. I thought last evening it was going to lye down but as soon as i even picked something up that resembled a flying piece it would gust up. Like it knew what i was wanting to do and saying go ahead and just try fool. I would look at a battery and it would pick up 5mph. Pick the battery up and instantly 15mph more. Actually touch the plane and Tornado sirens going off. Well it seems that way anyhow. lol.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

The airplane does not know that the wind is blowing. If you have a model that will fly at 60 MPH, then you are flying in a 60 Mile per Hour wind even on a calm day. Learn to fly regardless of the weather conditions (within reason), and you can fly virtually every day.

Bill, AMA 4720

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

The wind hear Monday was null to slight, Low humidity, high 70s low 80s, Thought about flying all day, to busy though, I knew i missed that opportunity, wind blew like heck yesterday, and today its windier yet, cloudy, humid, and its going to spawn some nasty thunderstorms tonight. AGAIN

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I totally agree with gaRCfeild, Wind can be your friend when landing and it can be fun. Hovering a trainer 30 feet off the ground-(slight power and keep the wings level) or practice landing with good power on, Knife edges into the wind at 5 MPH. Their is a many ways to enjoy the wind. I feel your pain and would rather not have it, but if your waiting (like most of my club members) you will fly a 1/2 dozen times this year. If your new build yourself up slowly to flying in the wind-don't let it scare you. You will become a much more accomplished pilot doing so. I don't recommend 30 mph if your new, but build up to it. Once you land a trainer actually moving backwards-you will welcome any weather-just go.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Could be like the guys who fly at the field a buddy flies at in Alabama. When the wind gets up to 10 mph it's too windy and they all head home. He gets frustrated when I tell him we train up to 20 mph here and nobody will fly there in that wind. Man, are they missing out on some fun. There are times I think a trainer handles the winds better and is more fun that a lot of other aerobatic planes.

Heck, guys here pylon race Sky Raiders in winds up to 40 mph, and today they are predicting 33 mph and they will be racing.

Hogflyer

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Ya know, I wasn't gonna say it, Bill. :) You're just a glutton for punishment, aren't you. :)

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

What happens to you when you turn and fly with the wind? Wouldn't 60 be too much for anybody?

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Gee, everything is relative is it not? As long as you maintain enough airspeed to keep the wing flying, what real difference does the wind velocity make? Think about it. Plus if you notice I did say within reason.

Bill, AMA 4720

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I here ya!! Haven't flown in a month [:'(] Just ordered some plans for a Cessna 188 Agwagon to scratch build. also have the nitro trucks to play with :D.

flynte

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

*chuckle*

Ok, I can't help it. I tried, and just can't...Gather around fishermen, cuz I'm about to open a BIG can of worms. :)

Sb's "the airplane doesn't know there's wind" is entirely, completely, 100% accurate. It simply doesn't know it's there.

Heck, fly along in even a 50 or 60 mph crosswind...not only will the airplane not know it's there, you could sit out on the wing and not feel so much as a light breeze from the side.

(All of you screaming about gusts and such, just hang on, we'll get there)

The flying airplane is quite analogous to, say, a fish in an aquarium...or, if you prefer, YOU on an escalator. Here's the deal.

Air is a fluid...the airplane is carried within that fluid just like Nemo in his fish tank. Let's say Nemo's in a 10' long tank, and swims at 1' per minute. He starts at one end, nicely centered between the front and back of the tank, and swims in a straight line to the other end. 10 minutes later, there he is, still nicely entered, at the other end.

Now...try the same thing while the tank is being moved at a rate of say...1' per minute...to what would be Nemo's right. In other words, a 1'/minute "crosswind" from the left.

Guess what...Nemo swims for 10 minutes, and sure enough...winds up EXACTLY where he did before, WITH RESPECT TO THE TANK...at the other end, nicely centered. His track THROUGH THE WATER didn't change a bit...indeed, notice that he didn't even have to "crab into the wind" to "adjust" for the "wind"...he just swam a PERFECTLY STRAIGHT LINE, and reached his destination.

What's changed is his position relative to the FLOOR below him....his GROUND TRACK is decidedly different. Whereas before, he wound up pointed at, say, the TV, he's now a good 10' right of the TV.

And that's just the thing. Nemo had NO IDEA there was any wind. he swam at his normal rate, and, sure enough, wound up exactly where he was pointed...center of the tank. The tank, in this case, is the mass of air in which the airplane flies. With respect to that air, the airplane has NO CLUE that the air mass is moving.

Now, of course, with respect to the GROUND (on which, we, as RC pilots, stand...and by which we measure the apparent "speed and direction" of our airplane), the airplane 'moves' quite a bit.

Same thing with a headwind or tailwind. Move Nemo's tank OPPOSITE the direction he's swimming (a headwind) at, say, 1'/min again. Guess what...he STILL moves through the water at 1'/min, and STILL reaches the other end of the tank in exactly 10 minutes...JUST LIKE BEFORE. Granted, his displacement relative to the GROUND has been...well..0'. :) So, his GROUND SPEED was 0, but his "airspeed" was the same 1'/min it's always been.

"So, if there's no effect on the airplane, why land/takeoff into a head wind?"

Simple...when landing, would you rather be going past the FIXED POINTS on the GROUND at 10mph, or 100mph??? Dunno about you, but I'd a HECK of a lot rather be going nice and SLOW (with respect to the GROUND, remember) than blistering along at a blur...more time to land on that short runway, carrier, whatever, ya know?

"Ok...so why do I "crab" into the wind in a scale plane on a cross country?"

Unless you live in a VERY strange part of the world, your destination airport is attached TO THE GROUND...and thus, you need to account for the fact that the airmass...your fish tank...is moving...and thus, carrying you along with it.

(There's another entire "crab into the wind" myth to be discussed elsewhere, we'll leave that go for now)

So...really...presuming a nice steady wind, the airplane honestly DOESN'T KNOW there's wind...doesn't even feel it.

Ok...what about the wind gusts and such? (told ya we'd get here)

To be completely 'precise', the airplane doesn't know about those either...but it sure as heck obeys Newton's laws...specifically, that whole inertia/momentum thing in this case.

An airplane absolutely WILL react...WITH RESPECT TO THE AIR (and ground, go figure), in the event of a sudden gust...or, for that matter, ANY sudden change in its surrounding body of fluid...even one induced by the pilot.

Back to Nemo for a minute. In our first example, the tank was moving at a nice, steady pace...so Nemo had no clue. However, what if, at say the halfway point, you SUDDENLY YANKED the tank 5' to the right.

Water's a fairly "giving" fluid...in other words, the mass of water would move with the tank almost immediately, but Nemo's inertia would want to keep him right where he was...so, for a moment there anyway, he sure as heck feels this "shove" from the left...until, of course, his inertia has caught him up with the tank's motion. That yank was, essentially, a sudden "wind gust" on a calm day.

This answers why, in very real, OBSERVED results, a sudden gust from behind can, briefly, destroy an airplane's lift...even though we'll it here and argue (quite correctly) that the airplane doesn't know there's any wind. Nemo didn't really know there was "wind" either...but he sure felt inertia!

A sudden turn, even in a steady wind condition, can have the same effect. It would be equivalent to, in our first example, you SUDDENLY changing the direction of the tank's movement. Nemo was all fat, dumb, and wind-ignorant...right until his inertia bashed him in the face.

=================

What's the end result of all this? Not a whole lot, really. :) We're still ground-based animals, especially when we're flying RC. We gauge our airplane's behaviour based upon its relationship to US, and the various trees/wires/etc at our field...all of which on the ground, of course. So, to be honest, whether the airplane "knows" there's wind or not really doesn't matter a whole lot to us...WE know there's wind, and WE judge our airplane (and thus our willingness to fly it) based on it relationship to the ground, not the air.

However...UNDERSTANDING that what we're watching is GROUND track...and that the airplane isn't "fighting" the wind, allows folks the opportunity to view the process from a different mindset...that we don't have to "fight" the wind any more than the airplane does...and if we adjust our flying based on making the airplane go where we want it in relation to the ground, rather than the air, a 30 mph wind is really no different than a 5mph wind...or, for that matter, dead calm.

It's just a matter of pointing the airplane in the right direction. :)

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Long-winded, but well said. :)
The thing to remember is that the airplane is flying thru a fluid in which solid objects are anchored to the ground below. The airplanes position relative to trees and telephone poles makes a big difference in this and our percieved safety of the plane. :eek: We all know that in a tail wind our GROUND speed is increased, thus giving the pilot less reaction time in relation to objects anchored to that ground... This is exactly why beginners need to step in a little at a time so that dumb thumbs and over reacting won't be as much of an issue.

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

And that's what you call jumping into the fray with both feet.:D:D:D

Bill, AMA 4720

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

I fly control line stunt and am more affected by the wind than you RC guys. We put up a calibrated windsock at our flying field. It is straight out at 15 MPH or higher. I am now comfortable flying in winds up to 15 MPH. I usually fly on Sunday and have made a couple of trips (49 miles one way) to the flying field for just a bull session, as it turned out. It has been very windy the past couple of weeks, but fortunately I had company last Sunday and couldn't go flying anyway. :eek:

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Kettle, pot on line 1. ;)

RE: Wind wind go away come again never!
 

Then my models seem to be smarter, or at least more in tune with their environment, than yours. :)

Once airborne in a steady 30 mph breeze I'll grant you that . . . for the most part. But if it were totally true a symmetrical racetrack parrern would not gradually position you further and further downwind. (I have sailed for 30 years and current ALWAYS messes up your navigation if you don't compensate). There is also the infamous "Figure 9" that I have watched even very experienced pilots perform in entering a loop from a downwind approach and failing to compensate for the tailwind. Crunch. And then there are the 10 gusting to 30 and 45º angle variable winds we usuallly get. I'd rather fly in a steady 25 than a gusty 10 to 20 any day.

We are in the midst of thunderstorm season and I have taken off in 5 only to land in 35 on more than one occasion. The model may have been unaware of the peril but I was carrying enough tongue-bite knee-shake for both of us.

Depends a great deal on the model. power, speed applied and airfoil. The model may in fact be neutral to the moving cell of atmosphere, but near-ground interactions (like take-off) or low speed (like banking a low power trainer with dihedral and a flat airfoil) will sure enough need you to remind the model the wind is blowing whether it happens to know or not. :D