How much wind will you guys fly in?

I think what responders here will say is not too relevant to YOU. You should set your own limits based on your proficiency and tolerance. Practice! I trained in crosswind central, with burbly flanking hills, so you couldn't solo until you could handle crosswinds, with 10-15 of being common in three seasons. Practiced a few days ago in 12G20 crosswind and it's a handful with the turbulence, but I trained in this and I practice on selected crappy days. The first practice landing is often an interesting if safe ride. At our airport more than 20 kts crosswind will significantly reduce safety margins in a light single. BTDT, and not that fun. Down the runway it can howl and not be a problem, with the wind aligned with the valley. We even did a practice session many years ago with winds at pattern altitude in excess of 50 kt, allowing us to "back up" in the pattern. That's rare to have such wind and relatively smooth flying. (The airport neighbors were alarmed at the backwards flying plane).

Train like you fly, and fly like you train. Have confidence but know your limits.
 
I'm a ~13XX hour pilot, with >1,000 hours in tailwheel. I fly an RV-6, a taildragger with a stall speed in the low 50 MPH range. I'm very confident in steady direct crosswinds of 15knots, but if you add in turbulence and gusts, that greatly shrinks my comfort zone. At my home field, we have a lot of mechanical turbulence, so a 10 knot crosswind can be fairly evil. If the winds are down the runway, 20 knots or more is not a problem. But again, if you add turbulence and gusts, my comfort factor drops. Not that I can't get the airplane on the ground safely in bigger winds and with bigger gusts, but the quality of my landings goes down, as does my comfort level.
 
For me, it's not so much the landing as much as it's the turbulence and wind shear. It seems like the wind is always gusting around here if it's blowing at all. I don't like getting beat up so I don't fly too much if it's real windy.
 
Dunno how one person here managed to land a 172 in a 30+ knot direct cross without skipping it down the runway. The SP runs out of rudder authority about ~20kt's direct crosswind. Ask me how I know. o_O
 
Flight review, 20G30, 60 degrees off runway heading. Still had a little rudder left on the C172R.
 
champ driver said:
149 kts on the nose is about my limit, thankfully it was not a crosswind.

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You need to turn around.. the wind is pointing the wrong way :)


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Was CFI'ing many years ago. I have yet to see anyone at the 40-60 hour mark truly master the slip technique for a true crosswind landing. That's not to say they weren't competent enough to get through the ppl, but just haven't truly mastered the perfect one wheel landing.
 
NIce crosswind. Enough to require you to land on one wheel. Land and then give it some power to stay at 30mph. Go down the entire runway on one wheel, leaning into the wind. Take off when you get to the other end. If you can do that you are competent to land in crosswinds.

Leaning into the wind isnt that weird. When you walk across the ramp to the plane, YOU lean into the wind. Just keep doing it until you have it down and it feels right. After a while, NOT leaning into the wind feels weird.
 
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I just had the wind switch while on base allowing a Navaho to slide by me. As soon as he landed he told tower they needed to swith as the winds had changed almost instantly. I was getting bounced on short final. Landed with the wind on my tail at 15G20. That made for a mini rodeo. Things can change fast.
 
coloradobluesky said:
NIce crosswind. Enough to require you to land on one wheel. Land and then give it some power to stay at 30mph. Go down the entire runway on one wheel, leaning into the wind. Take off when you get to the other end. If you can do that you are competent to land in crosswinds.

Leaning into the wind isnt that weird. When you walk across the ramp to the plane, YOU lean into the wind. Just keep doing it until you have it down and it feels right. After a while, NOT leaning into the wind feels weird.
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Sounds fun can you teach me???
 
Best airport is one with 90 degree runways so you have crosswind on one frequently. Start conservatively and work your way up!
 
Biggest I've done in a 172 was 320@16G24 for RW 23. The wind was strong, but it was smooth and not too difficult. On the other hand, we have a ridge on the east side of the airport that can make any east winds pretty rough. During training, we had just got a new (old) cherokee as a replacement for one that went down and when I checked the winds that morning, they were 140@10G15. I didn't think we'd fly. I was only at 9 or so hours and had just started landing the plane on my own. My instructor comes in smiling and tells me what a great day to get some xwind practice in. By the time we finished 8 or 9 laps, the wind was 140@18G24 and I was exhausted. Good practice though.
 
...how windy it has been here in AZ
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Interesting you should post this topic CC. I recently failed my pre-solo prog check at KDVT because the crosswinds were just blowing me all over the place. Since then the instructor and me have been focusing a lot of time and attention to crosswind landings.
 
RobertSubnet said:
Interesting you should post this topic CC. I recently failed my pre-solo prog check at KDVT because the crosswinds were just blowing me all over the place. Since then the instructor and me have been focusing a lot of time and attention to crosswind landings.
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Yea I got some great crosswind practice down south at Akchin
 
I've done that too at Ak Chin. That's one narrow runway but it probably has the nicest fuel pump in the state. BUT, if the wind is coming from the West, you get to smell the dairy. Ummmm umm.

It's nice that Casa Grande is a couple miles away if the cross winds are too great at Ak Chin.
 
Most I've flown in was 15G25. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't scary either.
 
bikert said:
A lot of super pilots like to point out that demonstrated crosswind is not a limitation and that they've done 2 or 3 times that themselves. :rolleyes:

Do yourself a favor and don't push the envelope. Super pilots are self certified. They just announce themselves on the internet. No proof required. Remember that.
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Wow! Hit the nail on the head there!

To the OP, everyone is going to have their "big wind" numbers and my highest successful crosswind landing was direct 33 (notice direct no gust - it was much easier than you'd expect). On the other hand, I've caught some massive downdraft/sinkers at time of flare during 20G25 that were only 45* off runway heading that were TRULY ugly. I check winds on short final (after the usual inbound check) and plan to fly a low approach with no intention to land. Approaching the numbers, I give the airplane a chance and if things look good we touchdown, if it starts getting ugly you bug out.

Did a night currency flight that was *supposed* to be calm winds all night. After flying over to the Class C winds kicked up to 45G55 and I headed back to my home field. I'm in a mountain area so the TB was very impressive. Home AWOS was reporting 25G30 direct (which I've done in the daytime) so I made the approach. Nearing short final I caught the mother of all shears that dropped me a 100 feet instantly requiring full power to hold at 50 feet. I bugged out and after cleaning up flaps, carb heat and my pants:eek: I checked AWOS which then updated and reported 49G60. I flew to the next city 30 minutes away which had no wind and landed at midnight, slept in the back, and returned to home field to go to work at 530 am the next morning in calm conditions.
 
"A lot of super pilots like to point out that demonstrated crosswind is not a limitation"

That's not an opinion, it's a fact.
 
wI fly for pleasure, so I'm a fair weather flyer for the most part. I don't have a hard number, but I usually won't go if the crosswind component is over 15kt or so. However, this is Oklahoma, so it's pretty common to take off in fairly calm conditions, and be faced with fairly high winds when it's time to land, in which case, if I have enough rudder to keep it straight and enough runway to come in faster with less flaps, I'll put her down. I think the most crosswind I've ever landed in was about 22-25kt straight cross in a 172. I was skipping sideways a little, on one wheel, but got it down. One wheel crosswind landings are more common than the regular kind here in the spring and summer.

The most interesting landing I've ever had, was a 20+kt tailwind. Took off heading 190 with wind 200 or so at about 8kt. Flew about 10 miles out to check my buddy's horses, turned around, and headed back to the field. On short final for runway 19 at about 100 agl, a gust from due west nearly flipped me and blew me off track. A gust front blew in ahead of a storm. Did a go around and noted that the wind was now a direct crosswind with the sock standing straight out (20+kt). The nearest AWOS is 30 miles downwind, and still reporting wind at 200-ish. Came back around for a second landing on 19, this time with just 20° flaps and a little hot, about 95 MPH in the 182. Came over the fence at about 90, and flew it to the ground. It felt pretty darn fast, and I was landing long, but I barked the tires, retracted the flaps and got on the brakes......harder on the brakes...........stood on the brakes! I used 3,099 ft of the 3,100 ft runway to get stopped. Had to drive off the end to turn around. After picking the fabric out of my hind parts, I taxied back and noted that the wind had shifted another 90° while I was in the pattern and I landed in a direct tailwind of somewhere above 20kt, and probably around 30kt. So I was already landing fast due to the previously observed crosswind and the tailwind added even more to the groundspeed, I figure I set the 182 on the ground with a groundspeed of around 120 mph! That was no bueno, but I didn't break anything, and I learned to keep a close eye on that wind sock.
 
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I have no hard rule, it's a judgement call every time. That said, I don't worry about it unless we're talking about something > 10kts crosswind component or winds near or above around 20kts.

If we are into that "worry zone" then I start looking at the situation closer. What time of day is it? Winds tend to die down in the evening. What's the forecast? Is it supposed to get worse? Can I delay for an hour or two and have less wind? What about the field? Is it one I've landed at before? How long and more importantly how wide is the runway? What's the wind angle... is this a direct crosswind or say 20 degrees off runway heading? How current am I, have I flown and landed in a strong crosswind lately?

As others have said, you really need to know how the combination of you, your airplane, and different conditions are going to work together. That's what will help you make a good decision, not someone else's personal minimums.
 
Interesting how it seems like just about everyone has had a few "sketchy" moments along the way...
 
Fact is if you're going to fly and actually start going places you are not going to have control over what the wind is going to be doing when you get there. If you're going to an airport with more than one runway (non-parallel) there's a good chance the wind is going to be somewhat aligned with one of them. If going to an airport with a single runway have a definite alternate plan. Also winds are often variable so giving it a few tries doesn't hurt. What seemed impossible on the first approach can sometimes turn out a piece of cake on the second.
 
I've done 14 at 190 on 27 when I was about 60 hours and my last week as a student in the 172. My instructor was with me but it was all me. I wouldn't have done that solo and haven't even attempted that again. Yet. I have about 90 hrs now. I still take it way easy and try to keep it around 10 to 12 knots and 5 to 8 direct x when I go now.


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