Solo VFR pilots.....and Weather minimums

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classicrock

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I soloed about 3 weeks ago and and afterwards, my CFI and I discussed what my weather minimums will be. (this will change and evolve over time). and indirectly, up until now, I havent had that much practice crabbing into wind, either in the pattern or just flying in general

so presently, I can fly solo(takeoffs and landings restricted to airport of departure), and must stay withine 25 miles radius of airpost. no flying in Class B airspace.weather must be 10miles visibility, cloud ceiling no lower than 2500 feet, and if crosswinds are present, then must be 5kts or under to fly. the weather hasnt been real cooperative(I fly out of KDWH in NW Houston) recently.( I keep having to cancel)

if you are still a student VFR pilot in training and recently soloed, what are your current weather minimums, and have you had much practice flying in crosswinds?
 
Not a student but a CFI.

The 10sm and 5kt x wind are a little excessive IMO. Some stations don't even report up to 10sm.

Most of my guys would have no real limits on them, just call me and run their plan by be first, most times they never would launch into bad wx, actually had to tell a few to go up in the rain.

As for the local area stuff, I used to tell them to stay within visual range of the airport.

Haven't lost one yet ;)
 
coloradobluesky said:
Follow your instructor's limits.
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This. Depending on my student, I usually give them 7 miles with 15 knots and about 5-8 knots crosswind. Some guys I loosen the restrictions and some I tighten. There's no set limit for my students.
 
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I am not still a student pilot so I feel left out.
 
I am training at KDWH with the same minimums. Assuming we are at the same school. I have been ready for my first solo for a couple of weeks, but can't get the weather to cooperate! I have just been going up with my CFI anyway. The way I see it, if my CFI is willing to fly, I can get experience in rougher weather that I can't do solo, or may not be as comfortable flying in once I get my certificate if i don't get the experience now. It has been a great experience from that perspective, but I am definitely ready to solo. Hopefully this week. I scheduled three flights at different times of day, just hoping the weather will cooperate for at least one of them!
 
Wouldn't worry about it. Fly when you can, and he or she will up the limits when you have the experience to handle it.
 
classicrock said:
I soloed about 3 weeks ago and and afterwards, my CFI and I discussed what my weather minimums will be. (this will change and evolve over time). and indirectly, up until now, I havent had that much practice crabbing into wind, either in the pattern or just flying in general

so presently, I can fly solo(takeoffs and landings restricted to airport of departure), and must stay withine 25 miles radius of airpost. no flying in Class B airspace.weather must be 10miles visibility, cloud ceiling no lower than 2500 feet, and if crosswinds are present, then must be 5kts or under to fly. the weather hasnt been real cooperative(I fly out of KDWH in NW Houston) recently.( I keep having to cancel)

if you are still a student VFR pilot in training and recently soloed, what are your current weather minimums, and have you had much practice flying in crosswinds?
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I had two instructors sign me off for solo due to switching schools, first one gave me no restriction said if i can trust you in the plane alone I trust you not to be stupid. Second one was too restictive and had to change them so i could go on xc's. Something like 5k ceilings and 10 knot winds.
Just trust your instructor and remember you're flying on their cert. They can be too cautious but better safe than sorry.
 
I think my solo student flight restrictions were: 2000' ceiling for staying in the pattern, 3000' for the practice area and 4000' for cross country, 10 miles and no more than a 8kt crosswind component. Some or all of that might have been determined by club rules.
 
Ceiling 3000 AGL
5 sm visibility
wind 15 kts with 7 knots gusts
and cross wind is limited to 7 kts
Thus
15kts plus 7 kts gust equals up to 22 kts which including gusts
 
I just looked at my logbook, my first 90 day solo endorsement only had one limitation, 8kt crosswind. That was it.
 
I was a little surprised that my CFI didn't give me any wind restrictions. I asked him specifically and he said I could use my judgement and work my way up as I was comfortable.
I have been doing just that with keeping my days to under 5 kt crosswinds on my first few solo flights and had a 10 kt day the last time out. I'm kind of watching for a 10kt-15kt crosswind day this week for more practice.
 
This is an interesting topic for someone like myself - I live in Arizona so the weather is perfect about 95% of the time. The past few weeks I have been wanting to make a cross country up north (to Flagstaff), but the weather has prevented that. However, I have been able to make it to Payson and Sedona with my instructor even in the "rainy" weather. It has been great experience and a lot of fun. It really helped me learn how to use all my resources such as Flight Service for weather updates, PIREPS, etc. I made my first solo cross country yesterday to Payson and same thing happened with the rainy weather, but I felt comfortable because I had experienced it with my instructor. I think if I hadn't experienced less than perfect weather I would be hesitant to fly on cloudy days.
 
The weather may be sunny almost all the time in Phoenix, but it's not always perfect. Excessive winds and very high temperatures can be an issue.
 
I learned at BJC. 20G33 was good student solo weather, but if the visibility was less than 10 we didn't fly.

My wife learned at IAD. 5 miles in haze was standard, but no winds over 10 knots.
 
MAKG1 said:
The weather may be sunny almost all the time in Phoenix, but it's not always perfect. Excessive winds and very high temperatures can be an issue.
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Obviously there was some sarcasm when I said always perfect...yes high temps are an issue...I would say high winds are more of problem up north than they are in Phoenix though. Flagstaff can be VERY windy in the spring time (I lived there for four years).
 
My restrictions were 10 knots crosswind component and legal VFR. However, I suspect it was too generous for me at the time. I had no idea what weather was dangerous, in particular which one is likely to turn to the worse (e.g. airport reports a perfect weather but an afternoon thunderstorm is moving in). The 5 knots limit seems like a bit much, but then I do not know how Mr. Classicrock's lands. My crosswind handling sucked. Due to prevailing weather, I didn't have much crosswind practice at all. So, I wasn't coordinated enough to dip a wing properly, and landed with an airliner kickout (if you could call it that). I'm sure I side-loaded the gear many times.
 
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zaitcev said:
My restrictions were 10 knots crosswind component and legal VFR. However, I suspect it was too generous for me at the time. I had no idea what weather was dangerous, in particular which one is likely to turn to the worse (e.g. airport reports a perfect weather but an afternoon thunderstorm is moving in). The 5 knots limit seems like a bit much, but then I do not know how Mr. Classicrock's lands. My crosswind handling sucked. Due to prevailing weather, I didn't have much crosswind practice at all. So, I wasn't coordinated enough to dip a wing properly, and landed with an airliner kickout (if you could call it that). I'm sure I side-loaded the gear many times.
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I currently feel this way...I don't get much crosswind practice around here...although Payson seems to be a pretty decent airport for crosswind practice...everytime I go there it reminds me of how much work I need to put into my crosswind landings
 
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