Looking for those strong winds; come to w Tx

A few days ago, those two airplanes could’ve come to my backyard to practice some CAT 3 landings down to minimums. It was foggy and 150-foot ceilings and viz measured in hundreds of feet.


A pilot is flying a small, single-engine, charter planewith a couple of really important executives on board into Seattle airport. There is fog so thick that visibility is 40 feet, and his instruments are out. He circles looking for a landmark and after an hour, he is low on fuel and his passengers are very nervous.

At last, through a small opening in the fog he sees a tall building with one guy working alone on the fifth floor. Circling, the pilot banks and shouts through his open window: "Hey, where am I?".

The solitary office worker replies: "You're in an airplane."

The pilot immediately executes a swift 275 degree turn and executes a perfect blind landing on the airport's runway five miles away. Just as the plane stops, the engines cough and die from lack of fuel.

The stunned passengers ask the pilot how he did it.

"Elementary," replies the pilot, "I asked the guy in that building a simple question. The answer he gave me was 100% correct but absolutely useless; therefore, I knew that must be Microsoft's support office and from there the airport is three minutes away on a course of 87 degrees."
 
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We cancelled a large portion of the flying gos today for winds. Not for crosswinds incidentally enough, but for surface wind limits for our parachutes. Haven't had too many of those in my career.
 
If we had any big airports, the Oregon Coast would work great... Admittedly it's less consistently windy than West Texas, but today we have a nice breeze with gusts over 45kts.
 
20G40 doesn't scare me all that much as long as it's a fairly constant direction. The ones I hate are when the wind direction is +/- 50 degrees AND gusting 20...
 
At least the winds are working. It’s when the winds start breaking that flying really stinks. ;)
 
20G40 doesn't scare me all that much as long as it's a fairly constant direction. The ones I hate are when the wind direction is +/- 50 degrees AND gusting 20...

Like I said..... 20G40 will be a normal day. Of course it will be 30 to 60 degrees off the centerline. Windy days are when it is sustained 50 and higher gust. But don't forget the mechanical turbulence coming from the wind coming over the ridge. Those days I wonder why I didn't stay home sick....
 
Learned to fly in Texas in summer, I don't get why some have a problem with crosswinds, or bumpy rides.
 
Like I said..... 20G40 will be a normal day. Of course it will be 30 to 60 degrees off the centerline. Windy days are when it is sustained 50 and higher gust. But don't forget the mechanical turbulence coming from the wind coming over the ridge. Those days I wonder why I didn't stay home sick....

No, I mean when it is shifting +/- 50 degrees every few seconds. IMO, a weaker but wildly oscillating wind is worse than a steady stronger wind, even 90 degrees to the runway.
 
I dont mind winds either, its the wind shear that is no bueno.
 
I picked up my twin,years ago,in West Texas.Departed with 50 kt head wind.which when I headed east northeast turned into one fine tailwind. My portable gps had never recorded speeds that fast.
 
I picked up my twin,years ago,in West Texas.Departed with 50 kt head wind.which when I headed east northeast turned into one fine tailwind. My portable gps had never recorded speeds that fast.

Should have shut down both engines. Then bragged online about the low fuel burn of twins..
 
No, I mean when it is shifting +/- 50 degrees every few seconds. IMO, a weaker but wildly oscillating wind is worse than a steady stronger wind, even 90 degrees to the runway.

I understand what you mean. The mechanical turbulence coming off the ridge here not only changes the direction of the wind from side to side, but also up and down.

Then when summer hits, I have a hard time landing in calm winds...:lol::lol: Then dust devils can make landings and take offs fun

I like the one desolate airport we go to occasionally. The AWOS will state the wind as variable, 2G10.....:rolleyes: :lol::lol:
 
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