Skinny Bob

My Feedback: (12)

I would like your opinion on what you think is a good plane for windy flying conditions. My flying site has had 10 to 15 mph winds, most of the time, a little across the runway since flying season opened.

Thanks for your response in advance.

Skinny Bob

Charlie P.

Contender .60 w/OS FS 70-II

Giant Super Sportster w/34cc Fuji

Radian Pro motor-glider

Great Planes 30mm F-86 Sabre

I fly all of these in 15 mph winds without being too anxious.

What works best is symmetrical airfoil or close, heavier wing loading and speed.

Redback

Ultra Sport in any size

Terry

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

The quality of the airplane setup and/or trim has just as much to do with " wind damping " as the actual design.

TomCrump

The wind grabbed my Kadet Senior Sport last week, providing a few "interesting moments." This got me interested in getting out a model that was better suited to windier conditions.

I pulled out my old GP Super Sportster 60, and plan to fly it for the first time in a few years.

Sportsters, no matter the size, handle the wind well.

sensei

The airplane doesn't really know or care if there is wind present or not, only the pilot does so practicing and becoming proficient in the wind will allow you to relax, go with the wind and have fun instead of holding your breath until you get it back on the ground again. As speed has already stated, flying an airplane that is properly set up and trimmed is going to perform much better in all weather conditions. I personally like flying symmetrical airfoil airplanes and have the opinion that a lighter wing loaded airplane performs better in the wind, due to the ability of damping out the bumps out much faster then their heavier counterparts, but that is just my experience.

Bob

TomCrump

You're probably right, Bob.

The Kadet made me uneasy, as a gust of wind grabbed it just before takeoff, and lifted it into the air, nose high. Full throttle saved it, by allowing the Kadet Sport to hover until I could get the nose pointed horizontally.

I felt that the Sportster may have stayed on the ground until she was ready to lift on her own, in the same situation.

jetmech05

As said above the airplane doesn't know if it's in wind or not. Now a high wing airplane in a cross wind can be tricky just aileron into the wind and use rudder to continue straight down the runway.
i do want you to consider this... Wind has no effect on airspeed. However it has everything to do with ground speed. So if you turn down wind you'll see the airplane " speed up" that's ground speed not airspeed. So the tendency is to reduce throttle now that reduces airspeed and your stall speed is based on airspeed... So you get to the end of the leg and turn. When you drop a wing you loose a bit of lift and stall.
know the difference between ground speed and airspeed
have fun and fly

Charlie P.

I have heard this for years, but my aircraft appear to be smarter than most. I can watch a model being tossed about by side gusts or drop when a nose-wind stops and tell right away that the wind is buffeting it about. In fact, my little UMX Radian may be an idiot-savant when it comes to knowing about wind (though it does amazingly well at handling it for a 1-1/2 oz. model).

When the aircraft is in a cell of air that is steady I will agree - it doesn't care. When you have ground eddys around topography, trees and structures, different winds at different altitudes and gusts I disagree that the aircraft is not affected. I fly at a full-size grass strip airport and there is one large hanger mid-runway and close to the runway. With a crosswind it is VERY obvious when a model (or full size Cub) enters the "shadow" of that hanger and then comes back out on the other side.

jetmech05

Charlie there is wind and there is turbulence. Not the same

Charlie P.

Made of the same stuff.

Turbulence occurs "along the edges" of wind patterns. You can hardly remove one from the other in our world of R/C as we spend so much time in the boundary areas.

rgburrill

I love it. But actually it's you that are smarter than most. Wind is never stead, it always has gusts. And gust drive plane nuts. Lighter planes can rally get tossed around by them.
Next time someone tells you that airplanes don't know if there is wind tell them to take a ride along in a hurricane hunter. Or fly through a thunderstorm in a Cessna 182 instead of a Boeing 747.

jester_s1

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the venerable old Ugly Stick yet. Pick any Stick from any maker, the biggest size you can afford and/or transport. Put the biggest engine recommended by the manufacturer on it and balance it toward the front of the recommended CG range. The small side area, symmetrical wing, and "just right" sized tail will smooth things out dramatically when the wind gets gusty. Other good choices are any of the SPA legal aerobats like the Kaos and Dirty Birdy. Those planes were designed to cut through gusty wind and help pilots still get good scores at contests. However, compared to Sticks, they don't handle as well at lower speeds and are a little more prone to stalling.

CafeenMan

I love light, low wing loading, strong with high power to weight planes. Then you think of the wind as a friend to play with. It's not something to fly in spite of and defeat but something to enjoy by using it to let your plane do things it normally can't do.

Think along the lines of Telemaster or Kadet but built extra light and still strong.

While a lot of people don't agree with me on this part, I think they're wrong - you want a powerful, light engine. Again, you're doing what you can to keep the weight down but you still want the power. People will disagree because they think these engines belong in speed planes, but there's more than one purpose for high power to weight.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Wind, and especially a crosswind, can make it hard to taxi, especially with a high-wing plane with tricycle gear. Holding aileron against the wind while taxiing in a crosswind is important, as is holding down elevator while taxiing downwind. When taxiing with a quartering tailwind, hold down elevator and aileron away from the wind direction. Once you're off the ground, things get a lot easier.

sensei

As I already stated, I like to fly symmetrical airfoil lightweight airplanes, lighter flies better, at least to me, and wind is just something more to have fun in while flying.

Bob

Charlie P.

The first club I belonged to was on the top of a hill that is along the same latitude as Harris Hill in Elmira, NY (National Soaring Museum) and you can usually count on a good wind from the west. I got used to having wind to land into and I still find it easier to fly with some rather than none.

The Ugly Stik mentioned above is another good windy day model. I'd probably still be flying mine except for my one mid-air.


The S/K-50 did well but that big rudder did tend to weather-vane it a bit. But it was nicely predictable and a good flier (why do they always discontinue the good ones?)



And a similar well behaved shoulder wing is the Saratoga 40 (also discontinued!)


Good choices mentioned earlier: Giant Super Sportster & Contender.

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Most of these replies are coming from those with experience flying in windy conditions. My advice is fly early in the morning with ground surface winds below 10 mph. As your abilities increase than stretch the envelope. It is not the winds aloft that will get you in trouble. Always keep in mind that landing and take off are mandatory.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

+1

I believe landings are mandatory, it's the takeoff that's optional.

Quikturn

My Feedback: (12)

Any airplane you don't mind banging up is a good airplane for windy days. I have a profile Katana ARF 40 v2 with an OS 70 4 stroke. Had it up in 20-25 mph winds and had a blast with it. Esp. spot landings.

Granpooba

My Feedback: (5)

Off and on I have been flying the Great Planes Revolver series for a few years now. Can not offer an opinion on the REVOLVER 50CC, but I am sure that some other person can.

I can only say that both the Revolver 59 and the Revolver 70 have handled any windy conditions that I have put them into. Quite often we get a cross wind at our fields and can say that the Revolver series handles it quite well. Can actually say, that when a lot of members do not want to fly because of windy conditions, I have put up one of my Revolvers and had no problems at all. Not saying that I am a great RC Pilot when it comes to wind, but just saying that the Revolver's seem to make windy day flying much easier.

Granpooba

My Feedback: (5)

Ditto ! Try real life flying in a mountainous valley and you will experience the turbulence that is being created by the wind flow over the mountains.

Calvinman

I like my Ultrasport for windy conditions. It is easier to land with some wind actually. I built flaps into mine and find I use the flaps on non windy days so it does not land long all the time.

Calvi

sensei

Thank you for making my point valid... In your words you have illustrated that only the pilot really cares when flying through a thunder storm in a Cessna 182 instead of a Boeing 747, and also the passengers care while riding along in a hurricane hunter now that you have included them, but not once did you state how the airplanes cares, why? Cuzz they just don't old boy. Here I thought we were talking about a good R/C airplane to fly in the wind... Oh my. LOL

Bob

skylark-flier

Well, maybe not quite so much "mandatory" as "inevitable".

It's the MANNER of coming in contact with the ground that means everything.