q8cub

Being so excited for doing my first 3d on my sd model yak 50cc I can't wait to fly 3d again (it was a high hover), but the weather is windy here in Kuwait. Wind speed today reached 30-45 km/hour.

Yesterday the wind was in the range of 15-20 km/hour and I declined to try another 3d move.

I would like to know what the 3d experts think the right wind speed for doing 3d, and what is the max wind speed for doing giant 3d comfortably.

Thanks in advance!

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

It depends entirely on how comfortable you feel flying in the wind. Folks from windy areas have no choice or they would never fly so they get used to it. Some folks that live in calm areas pack up and go home if there's enough wind to keep a small kite aloft.

q8cub

Thanks for the reply.

However, I am referring to those who are very skillfull in 3d and who can do torque rolls, hovers, harriers, inverted harriers, harrier roll loops, and in style. Would a 20 km/hour be good enough to do all those 3d manuovers?


Using a phoenix simulator, and setting wind speed at 5.5 m/s (equals 20 km/hour), I am able to do all the above manuovers, but still hesitant to attempt this in real and in 20 km/hour wind speed (this is mostly due to the "pucker factor" and this being my first real 3d).

smarks

This is a very subjective question, however, I was at the 2008 Tucson Shootout and the top pilots were doing 3D maneuvers in 30mph winds. So yes, it can be done. Is it a smart thing to do, probably not unless you are a top pilot with sponsorships that can afford to crash planes. But as BarracudaHockey said, you may not have a choice if you live where there is wind all the time. Good luck!

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

I can fly in any winds it just isn't as much fun. Depending on the plane, some land better in gusts. You gotta really stay on the throttle in case the lift drops out from under you instantly....which can really cause damage if you are late on the sticks.

nitro wing

My Feedback: (1)

as long as my plane does not cartwheel down the runway on its own, its fine to fly for me [X(]
Of course any precision suffers and everything has to be compensated alot, which makes for sloppy flying. If I am desperate for some airtime, I'll do it but the plane and engine need to be 100% reliable.

JOHNS3D

My Feedback: (5)

all the man. that you wrote can be done with wind, sometimes can help to get them right.......but hovering with wind it doesnt matter if you are a pro or not, it will almost impossible to have the airplane vertical 90 deg. cause the wind is changing the position of the airplane. On wind i get worry about landings cause sometimes you can make the approach nice and it you can lose feets in seconds due a blow wind pushing your airplane down. Iprefer to make some 3D stuff when the wind is about 0-12 kms/h.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Yeah good points above. Have to have 100% reliable engine, and lots of power to pull out of trouble since the wind sucks your power while fighting it. Especially torque rolls. Speaking of, it's fun to torque roll in the wind going from one side of the field to the other over and over. That's probably the only thing that's fun in the wind. Maybe rolling harriers into the wind too.

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

A better question would be how much TURBULENCE is too much.

I like flying in wind. It opens up a new bag of tricks. Some of my most memorable flying days have been flying in wind. I will never forget flying in my first southerly WARM november wind as Hurricane Hugo was making its way up the coast. Not 3D of course, but that was the first time I realized what can be done. I think that was sustained 30 mph with higher gusts in my area.

Turbulence isn't as fun though. If you have a nice open smooth area to fly, that's best. If you have obstructions, stay upwind of them (windward side as opposed to leeward side) so you're inot in the wake of the turbulence they create. If you can't do that, then your only choice would be to stay higher, but that's not as much fun, right?

I don't like much over 15 mph for TR's cause they drift down the runway too fast. Waterfalls will "pop" you downwind in a heartbeat, but it's fun for some thrills. Harriers and rollers are fun at any wind speed IMO. If the wind gets too high, they're not really high alfa anymore, but they are stationary. Nice BIG KE loops are fun to make round, and to mix it up I do them crosswind too.

It does really mess up your smoke though, so I normally leave the smoke fuel at home if it gets above 15 mph.

Joe