Flying in strong Winds
 

I am not really new to the sport but i am just getting back into it...I fly an Hangar 9 F22 so called trainer anyway it flies pretty good i think....I was curious what is the fastest wind speed you guys would sugest not to fly in...is it ok to fly in 10 to 20 mph....


Thanks

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

HI
Well it seems it is windier these days, so the old saying "If you don't fly in wind you won't fly much" applies.
When the wind is steady and down the runway you can get away with 20 to 25 depending on the plane and how familiar your are with it. This New Years Day we had 18 pilots fly in up to 20 MPH wind and no crashes.:)

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Take it easy and work your way up to the higher winds. IF you have flown in 10mph, try 14 or 15 first before trying 20. You teach yourself to teach yourself. That is to say, whatever the frontier is, take little steps and move up slowly as you gain expereince. You can learn to do anything this way.:D

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

if your field is such that you don't have a cross wind makes life a little easier. There are planes that are better in the wind. A J-3 Cub is not one of them.

A small fuselage cross section and close to the ground seems better. I fly Sticks in the wind.

When the plane starts blowing over it is time to quit

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

You know that you are really getting good at flying in the wind when you're flying and the birds are walking.
Practice,practice,practice.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Remember that it is always much windier at the flying field than at home

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

No joke it is! Its so crazy dead still here get to the flying field and theres 15mph wind its annoying!

Andrew

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

I grew up in the South and as a youngster I soon learned about it being more windy at the flying field

In my early 20's I lived in Southern Ohio and the flying field was across the road from the house so I didn't have that problem

But for 40 yrs I've lived right here and the flying field is about 2 mi away. It is a whole different world. The difference is all the trees around the house keeps the wind pushed up and at the flying field the closest tree is 1/2 mile away.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

You refering too Ultra Sticks? Because I always wondered what wind speed is going too make me loose my plane. I fly a Ultra Stick .40 (.46 ASP motor in)...which wind speeds should I not try? Our average at our flying field on the farm during the day is around 15 mph. We start flying around 6:15 - 6:30am in the morning just before the wind picks up at around 7:30 - 08:00am. I'm not a experienced pilot...not by far (only have around 12 flights behind my name), but I know the plane pretty well - have tried and done almost everything with it from inverted flight and inverted loops, rolls,some aerobatics etc and my first succesful emergency landing the other day when the motor died in mid air (got it around for about 400m for an approach on the runway and put it down nice and soft hehe).

I would also like too know if someone can answer me - how much effect and lift is the flaps on the Stick going too give me..is it a tricky thing taking off with flaps or not really?

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Thanks for all the replys...I am also in the middle of building a H9 Super Stick 60 ARF I am putting a OS 75AX I think that will go a little better in the wind than my F22.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

I think its all a matter of, practice, practice, practice. I have a falcon 56 for over 12 years and I would not hesitate to ever fly it in the wind 10-17 mph +. But I will not take the twin. that is mostly because I do not have but a dozen or so flights on it. The falcon 56 is on its second covering and engine. Point being I am a comfort zone with the falcon. If I am going to maiden a new plane I will always zip around with it first to get rid of some adrenaline.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

All the features that make trainers easier to fly also make them poor performers in the wind. On the other hand, the F-22 is a poorly designed trainer, so without the training features, I expect it will fly OK in the wind. I've only seen one fly, and it had the training aids on. It flew similar to a brick with a prop. The owner hasn't brought it back to the field since.

Things I like in planes for the wind are heavier wing loading, no di-hedral, symmetrical wings, small fuselage cross section to the side. My favorite plane to fly in the wind is a modifed SPAD Debonair.

Brad

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

If your quite comforatable with your F-22 i would suggest taking some of the downthrust out of it as it has about 10 degrees of downthrust from the factory, i have read rave reviews about adding two washers on the bottom motor mount bolts to take some of the downthrust out and the F-22 flies like a totally different plane. I have already did this mod on my F-22 / Magnum .52XLS and i'm just waiting for some good weather to get it in the air.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Around here, if you don't fly in 20 mph winds then you don't fly much. I've flown 40 sized trainers in 30+ knot winds. It really depends on the pilot. Choose a day that's near your wind tolerance limit and fly. Then work up slowly as you feel comfortable.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Honestly my favorite windy flyer is my trainer. Our field is at a public park and the wind NEVER blows down the runway, but always straight across it. I'll take my trainer out there and I have gotten really good at a forward slip/crab. Full right rudder and some left aileron and I could walk out there and catch it! I have a blast flying in 15mph winds with the trainer. It definately takes some practice though. Good luck!

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Three channel high wing planes generally make poor strong wind planes because of the cross sectional area of all that dihedral in the wing. They just seem to blow over in
A cross wind gust

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Unfortunately, most people dramatically over estimate wind speed. People fly successfully in winds up to 25 mph at my field with out a problem. I suggest that you can fly in windy consditions as long as you are somewhat comfortable. Once it becomes work it's time to quit. I agree with the majority; start easy and practice, practice and don't fight the wind, let it make the turns for you. It wouldn't hurt to have an experienced pilot with you in case you get in over your head.

Try not to get into the habit of saying to yourself "Oh, it's XX mph, so I'm not flying today".

Happy Landings!

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

My experience with the park flyers is that the big problem with the wind is penetration. If you have any wind at all the plane is going to be downwind of you and it isn't coming back. Try to stay up wind with the slow electrics or land.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Yes the F22 is a pig... I just took the all the trainer stuff off about 5 flights ago and it does fly better...I don't think this is a trainer anyways (I would not recommend as first plane) once I got rid of the 46 and put the OS 55AX it really made the difference...I have flown in 10 MPH winds and it seems to fly ok...

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

It is not a strong wind unless I am the only one that flies.

I have flown at dozens and dozens of fields across the country, and found that the wind that grounds people in some clubs would be considered a light breeze at others.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Yesterday it was really calm but in about an hour of flying the wind just came up ?? It knocked over my tall flight box so I had to move that out of the wind. One pilot was using his 40 size Cub, another pilot was flying his stick and I was flying a Hots, no real problems until you landed, you couldn't turn the planes cross wind so we had to walk out and get them. A strong cross wind takes some learning but when you know your plane it gets easier. The sticks are an outstanding all around plane no mater what the conditions!! The rest of the planes that kept flying were bigger stunt planes like Extras and they didn't even know the wind was up. Most fun plane for wind flying?? Try the Sr. Telemaster and I still get a kick with any size trainer.;)

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

On the ground the planes want to weather vane and turn into the wind on their own

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

Well I don't get many days to fly, so if I can get to the field and there's no rain I try it.. Today I flew my Stick (SPADStick) in 15+mph crosswind, with gusts. I'm not good enough yet to keep her on the runway in that, but I would roll her around the end of the runway and attempt to crab in. She would some what crab in and then turn into the wind and harrier down gently for me so I was tickled to death!! (Crashed my H9 Arrow in similar winds, see the old thread Wind Bitten for the story)

I was the only flier, one guy I know was driving out as I arrived. I think I agree that you need to learn to fly in the wind, just take it easy at first. Like someone above said, don't get in the habit of saying "There's XX MPH wind so I'm not flying today"

Another note: I would have sworn the winds were more than 15 at times, but the field I fly at is across the highway from an airport. I have the airports weather repeater programmed into my PDA Via www.weatherbug.com. It was reporting 15MPH sustained, and the gusts I already reported.

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

I've actually had some pretty good flying when it was a gray cloudy day that you would normally not be thinking of going flying

RE: Flying in strong Winds
 

We took some foamies with us to the beach last summer. The kids would get out their kites and the wind would die down. Later when we got out our foamies the wind would start to blow. 3D foam bibs can only stand so much wind. We always said if you want to make the wind stop get out a kite to make it blow get out your RC stuff.