ATC asks me for winds.

I think I’ll skip the GAD13 route- unless there is another really good reason to have it- and just use the DALT/TAS/Winds feature on the 750. Glad to know I don’t have to put further graphite on the little wind calculator on the E6B flip side. Thanks to everyone for the education.

 

During initial training, I always used to imagine that "they" (whoever "they" are) expected that pilots flew along with their charts folded to their route on their kneeboards, with their E6B's close at hand...constantly spinning that thing with every course change to confirm winds and headings and fuel burns.... making sure everything was per plan and "a-o.k".... ready for mandatory position checks and ETA's upon request.

Didn't you have your E6B handy?

 

All you have to do is say stand by and get it from the RNAV

 

That is odd. One of the planes I fly feeds heading, temperature, CAS, altitude etc from non-Garmin sources and yet the GNX375 is able to display wind in one of the four corners of the map page.

 

After requesting different altitudes due to chop and gusty headwinds I had ATC once ask "Say winds aloft"...and after a confused "uhhhh....standby" response with same puzzlement you had he keyed back up and said "just how's the ride up there?"...

 

I have to disagree on that one. That really only works if your IAS = TAS, or something very close to it. Up at 8k-10k, that's really not the case where IAS might be 165 and your TAS is 190kts with a GS of 190. That's not a 25kt tailwind.

The Garmin 430 does have a utility page, though, where you can enter various data and it'll churn out at estimated wind.

 

That's all they want general head-tailwind and estimated velocity ... mainly because some poor fool is at a different altitude slugging out a massive headwind and is seeking something a little better.

Don't know why this hasn't been said yet, "I ALWAYS get a compliment from ATC as to the accuracy of my avionics"

 

ATC has requested my winds estimate a few times over the years, which I routinely monitor in cruise and for PIREPs. My Bendix-King stack (c. 2002) quickly calculates wind direction and speed by inputting barometer setting, altitude, temp, airspeed, and compass heading. It takes less than 30 seconds. I imagine more recent avionics gear does it quicker and maybe without pilot input.

HHH

 

See post #21. If it's fed live sensor data, it's updated in real-time.

 

I flew a Boeing around the country and we had only a general idea of the wind. ATC never asked us either, the amazing 727!