What winds are you comfortable with?

Will Kumley

Will Kumley

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Will
Student pilot with roughly 38 hours flight time. All requirements with the exception of a little simulated IFR time are complete and checkride is scheduled. Little nervous but also have faith in my ability and faith that if my instructor thinks I'm ready I must be doing something right. I'm scheduling 2-3 flights a week until my checkride to practice things I feel less confident in and maintain proficiency as the checkride is over a month away. I also understand that the weather in the PNW could prevent a good number of those flights which brings me to my initial question.

What winds are you comfortable with? I was supposed to fly today and the forecast was calling for winds in the teens gusting possibly up to 20 during my scheduled time. I held out hoping the forecast was wrong. Called into the ASOS and reported winds were 12 gusting to 20 so I decided against it.
 
If u are going with your instructor, I would have them make the call regarding the winds.

Currently in a a 172 I would call it if it was gusting over 25, but what you did not mention was where the wind was coming from, head wind I would go, cross wind component, I would draw the line at 10-13.

My view is go when it’s hard in practice so you can build the experience. And that would make your checkride that much easier.
 
Most recently like a 25kt crosswind, but depending on conditions I’ll take a bit more.

Not sure why that matters, my experience and equipment and personal limits and completely different.

Trust your gut, don’t second guess it, if you mentally have to talk yourself into taking a risk, it’s a bad idea.
 
1anG said:
If u are going with your instructor, I would have them make the call regarding the winds.

Currently in a a 172 I would call it if it was gusting over 25, but what you did not mention was where the wind was coming from, head wind I would go, cross wind component, I would draw the line at 10-13.

My view is go when it’s hard in practice so you can build the experience. And that would make your checkride that much easier.
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Crosswind component was actually closer to 5 without the gusts but its not uncommon for winds to shift at my airport which is primarily why I called it. I'm also only signed off for acrosswind of 5 by my CFI. However, I'm also thinking that since I'm closer to the checkride stage than I was for that signoff it may not be such a huge factor. Guess I'll have to talk to him later and see what he suggest I do in the future or if he would sign me off for a slightly higher crosswind component. The reason I asked is because I understand that after I get my ticket, I won't have the CFI to rely on and it will be a determination I'll need to make on my own.
 
Just move up the scale as you complete your training. Tackle moderately higher winds and crosswinds as they become available. At some point it will feel a little scary, and that's probably a good endpoint.
 
What winds am I comfortable with?
Tailwinds. ;)

Parts of the northern PNW had a pretty strong blow yesterday.
On the crosswinds, as others have noted already, just keep working your way up with an instructor. It's all about controlling the airplane, and not letting it control you just because it's getting pushed around by a gusting crosswind.
 
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I prefer calm, or steady wind straight down the runway. But that never happens. What does happen (to me) is wind will be decent until I reach my destination. Then it will be something crazy like 9G30 about 30 to 40 degrees off the runway heading. So I just have to deal with it. As a result I've gotten better at landing in gusty conditions.
 
I'm comfortable with horizontal winds. Vertical winds still scare me.

Steady winds are okay up to the max demonstrated xwind but gusts are much more challenging. I rescheduled my ppl ride when we had 25 knot gusting xwinds.
 
Will Kumley said:
Student pilot with roughly 38 hours flight time. All requirements with the exception of a little simulated IFR time are complete and checkride is scheduled. Little nervous but also have faith in my ability and faith that if my instructor thinks I'm ready I must be doing something right. I'm scheduling 2-3 flights a week until my checkride to practice things I feel less confident in and maintain proficiency as the checkride is over a month away. I also understand that the weather in the PNW could prevent a good number of those flights which brings me to my initial question.

What winds are you comfortable with? I was supposed to fly today and the forecast was calling for winds in the teens gusting possibly up to 20 during my scheduled time. I held out hoping the forecast was wrong. Called into the ASOS and reported winds were 12 gusting to 20 so I decided against it.
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When I was instructing at BFI I would call my primary students on such a day and tell them to drop everything and head for the airport. No better way to conquer your fear than to spend an hour shooting crosswind landings...no touch-and-goes, full stops. My paraplegic students could all handle crosswinds. Some instructors are not too confident in their own crosswind ability, so choose the CFI wisely.

Bob Gardner
 
It’s only been hinted at, but the type of aircraft makes a huge difference.

Winds that I could easily handle in Cirrus would be a far bigger deal in a Light Sport. I think that’s one reason the rate of landing accidents in Light Sports is as high as it is.
 
FastEddieB said:
It’s only been hinted at, but the type of aircraft makes a huge difference.

Winds that I could easily handle in Cirrus would be a far bigger deal in a Light Sport. I think that’s one reason the rate of landing accidents in Light Sports is as high as it is.
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And a big reason it would make sense for the FAA to allow LSAs to include larger simple planes like 172s and PA28s.
 
A long (4000ft+) and wide (100ft+) I think my limit would be 15G20 direct crosswind. The 182 can handle more than I can

On our little runway with a treeline nearby on one side and buildings on the other side that same crosswind is tough for me because the wind shifts fast and it takes me more than one try. For example yesterday was 15G25 at 80deg so I decided to dabble with leveling my turn coordinator instead. Today was 20G30 at 70degrees right across the buildings and that one is the worst so also no go. Gonna start working with CFI on this as an area to attack this next year. I think I have scrubbed more local flights due to winds than ceilings.

It is weird though because I've done a direct 18G25 once and did really good but it was on a 100ft wide runway at 7000ft long so lots of time slip it and settle it down on the upwind wheel first. One thing that is so cool about strong direct crosswind landings is when you don't even realize the upwind tire is already down.
 
Now is the time to take advantage of being a student. My endorsement had wind limitations (5kt cross,10kn total) and I made a point to try to fly when the crosswind was higher (with an instructor).

My suggestion is, schedule your flights. If you are comfortable with the winds (and are endorsed) then fly, if not call your instructor and fly with them.
 
Like others have said, take advantage of the dual instruction, here.

When I was training for private, I knew that I was weak/not comfortable with crosswind landings. One day I was scheduled to go up with my CFI and winds were forecast to be 20 G 30 and the crosswind gust component was.... let's just say a bit more maybe than the demonstrated crosswind tolerance for the 172 I was flying.

We went up and it was ROUGH. Getting kicked around left/right up/down. But in the six laps around the pattern that day I learned more about how to land in winds, gusty winds, crosswinds than in all my other lessons combined (or since, I think). The last landing was so tough my CFI took the controls after turning base and asked me to call out airspeeds they were so all over the place. We taxied back and both looked at each other and laughed and said... ok that was sporting!

Anyway, the point is - pick a windy day. A crosswindy day and go with your CFI. Go with a good attitude, too. I was smiling ear-to-ear with excitement the whole time. Don't be nervous or scared - trust your CFI to take control if it gets too - sporting - and don't feel bad that they took control.

By the way, I am now a low hour (~80) private pilot and my personal minimums for wind are a lot greater than they would have been if I hadn't had that windy lesson. I'll go up to 12kt crosswind right now. down the runway - 17 or 20 is ok. I don't shy away from windy days, but instead take it as an opportunity to increase my personal mins - safely! Always be ready to go around!!!
 
Thanks all, today's flight was scheduled as a solo and my instructor was already scheduled with another student. Had he been available I would have easily shot him a text asking to meet me at the airport. I feel confident that I could have handled it but am also glad I chose not to go as the winds picked up even more and at what would have been my landing time they were gusting closer to 30. Had it been steady winds I likely would have gone as it was within limits and I can always do a few low passes to get a feel for how things react if I'm not liking my approach.
 
bobmrg said:
When I was instructing at BFI I would call my primary students on such a day and tell them to drop everything and head for the airport. No better way to conquer your fear than to spend an hour shooting crosswind landings...no touch-and-goes, full stops. My paraplegic students could all handle crosswinds. Some instructors are not too confident in their own crosswind ability, so choose the CFI wisely.

Bob Gardner
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You sound like my primary instructor! We did crosswind training on every rotten gusty day, even if something else was originally scheduled. The crosswind skills learned have been very handy over the years.
 
I'm an admitted ultra-conservative pilot that flies a light sport plane. Ive been flying for 30 years, but with somewhat limited experience compared to some.

Besides the winds, I would want to know if there was a coincident forecast for turbulence. If so, your 12 gusting to 20 with forecast turbulence would be right at my limit. No forecst for turbulence and i might go. depending on runway crosswind component.
 
Will Kumley said:
Thanks all, today's flight was scheduled as a solo and my instructor was already scheduled with another student. Had he been available I would have easily shot him a text asking to meet me at the airport. I feel confident that I could have handled it but am also glad I chose not to go as the winds picked up even more and at what would have been my landing time they were gusting closer to 30. Had it been steady winds I likely would have gone as it was within limits and I can always do a few low passes to get a feel for how things react if I'm not liking my approach.
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This same scenario is going to happen many times after you get your PPL. Even though you didnt fly you probably learned a bit more about windy wx days and how they rarely, magically go calm during the morning or afternoon.
 
I remember flying the Cub once on a very windy day when the strong wind was pretty much down the runway. A few take offs and landings were surprisingly easy, but when I was done I couldn't taxi the Cub back to the hangar (about 80 degrees to the runway direction) without getting spun around into the wind several times. At one point I wondered if it might just be easier to get out of the plane and push it into the hangar by holding onto the handle on the rear of the fuselage to anchor the whole tail section.
 
Will Kumley said:
Student pilot with roughly 38 hours flight time. All requirements with the exception of a little simulated IFR time are complete and checkride is scheduled. Little nervous but also have faith in my ability and faith that if my instructor thinks I'm ready I must be doing something right. I'm scheduling 2-3 flights a week until my checkride to practice things I feel less confident in and maintain proficiency as the checkride is over a month away. I also understand that the weather in the PNW could prevent a good number of those flights which brings me to my initial question.

What winds are you comfortable with? I was supposed to fly today and the forecast was calling for winds in the teens gusting possibly up to 20 during my scheduled time. I held out hoping the forecast was wrong. Called into the ASOS and reported winds were 12 gusting to 20 so I decided against it.
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Hopefully your CFI included wind restrictions in you logbook for solo. For your experience level 15 kts with no greater than a 10 crosswind component is reasonable unless you have not many done crosswind landings and take off.
 
25kts or less I’ll go in a 172 but it’s much easier around here because practically every airport has multiple crossing runways so crosswinds are not a factor.

Honestly though, when it’s that windy it’s just not fun and I fly for fun.
 
Will Kumley said:
I feel confident that I could have handled it but am also glad I chose not to go as the winds picked up even more and at what would have been my landing time they were gusting closer to 30...
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Whatever variety of answers you get here, @Will Kumley, there isn't any kind of "right answer" to this question. Comfort/tolerance for windy conditions is a very personal thing. (Which changes over time. And by aircraft. Or whether you're taking first-time passengers, etc.).

Today, (in a familiar 172) I'd make a derisive snorting noise at 12G20 and say Let's go! But no way would I have done this as a student solo! Endorsement limitations or no endorsement limitations.

Respect to you, for a thoughtfully-constructed no-go decision, regardless of whether the winds ended up worse or better than expected.
 
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Will Kumley said:
Student pilot with roughly 38 hours flight time. All requirements with the exception of a little simulated IFR time are complete and checkride is scheduled. Little nervous but also have faith in my ability and faith that if my instructor thinks I'm ready I must be doing something right. I'm scheduling 2-3 flights a week until my checkride to practice things I feel less confident in and maintain proficiency as the checkride is over a month away. I also understand that the weather in the PNW could prevent a good number of those flights which brings me to my initial question.

What winds are you comfortable with? I was supposed to fly today and the forecast was calling for winds in the teens gusting possibly up to 20 during my scheduled time. I held out hoping the forecast was wrong. Called into the ASOS and reported winds were 12 gusting to 20 so I decided against it.
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Gusting to 20 is not bad, but with only 38 hours total, you are doing the right thing by asking questions. At this stage, you need to slowly build up your skill and confidence. You don't want nasty conditions to rattle your confidence, or worse, have a landing incidence that will be a major setback. If in doubt, don't go.
 
Whatever the manufacturer’s limits are. I do think there’s some worth going out in gusting winds but even that has its limitations. Never really understood why some CFIs would take their students out in gusting to 40kts. The student barely retains any information and they’re going to have a bad time.
 
I had an interesting flight a few months ago. First off, my BFR was in April and it was 15 gust 20 about 45° off runway heading at my home drome. The CFI asked if I was OK with that, and I said sure, let's give it a go. Good landings and no problem, I only have a couple hundred hours but it was nice to push it again with some gentle critique from the instructor.

Fast forward to August. I flew a long Xcountry for the first time in a few years to somewhere new, Boerne to Longview in Texas (5C1 to GGG) in my Archer. I usually just fly around Central Texas so this was a good trip to go on. Quick turn around and back the same day.

Landing at Longview, I was given landing clearance still 15 miles out onto runway 13. No problem. Get the winds, and it is 200°, 10 G 15. Again, no problem. I'm getting bounced around quite a bit in afternoon thermals and know this will be a good challenge but hey, I can handle it. As I am on short base, turning short final the tower comments ... wind 200, 15 gusting 25. 70 degrees crosswind. OK, you can do this. Focus on the crab angle, wing down during the roundout and get the rudder in to line up during the flare. I do a good job at holding everything straight and catch a gust at 5 feet. Kinda drops out from under me a foot or so but no bounce and not too terribly rough. The fun was once on the runway. Since the gust planted me pretty flat and the Archer has direct nosewheel steering, I couldn't both keep the rudder in and keep the nosewheel straight at the same time. I did keep the aileron into the wind but man, the wind pushing me sideways fighting the nosewheel made a few interesting seconds while the plane was still light on it's feet. I'll still give it a try if faced with similar conditions again but will surely learn to keep in mind these things next time and be more prepared for the ground handling.

Fun trip though, lots of hours and good experience. Sure was nice and smooth, not to mention relatively cool for August in Texas up at 8500 on the way back.
 
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