Winds aloft

Jaybird180

Jaybird180

Final Approach
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Jaybird180
This weekend, I completed my first solo distance XC. I found that during the turbulence, holding heading was challenging and I'm glad that I had a VOR I could navigate direct to, and use GPS to confirm during periods where everything looked like everything else.

After I got established (and the winds weren't bouncing me around), about 30 mins into the flight, I found picking ground landmarks and comparison to my chart easier as I settled into a groove. Everything was going according to plan, mostly.

Since my WCA was about 10 degrees off and GS (per GPS) about 5kts different from my calculations, I began to think about not having these tools available to use. I'm convinced that my calculations were correct and that the winds were not as briefed by FSS. Nevertheless, I compensated by being able to approximate direction to my next checkpoint and striving to see it (Vis 6mi, SKC 6,000); I somewhat ignored my compass and DG (dang precession) and navigated by ground reference.

How do I determine what the winds are actually doing while in flight? I am looking for answers that reference a compass, chart and a wristwatch. I would like to be able to navigate by Ded Rekoning, make corrections in flight with the new information then use Pilotage as backup and gizmos to confirm. I'm proficient with DR flight planning.
 
In my limited cross country time, I've found that the winds aloft forecasts are just approximations. Having a WCA off by 10 degrees and 5 kt gs difference would actually be pretty good.

I assume you will be discussing this with your CFI, yes?
 
The determination of winds aloft in flight should have been covered in groundschool. Take your whiz wheel and the book that came with it and you can figure it out. The book will have a section on this.

Dan
 
The best way is to fly your plan, then keep you finger on the chart (at least that's the way I did it). It works great once you get the hang of it. I had some problems when the mag compass went belly up. Hard to believe in these days and times how important the mag compass really is.
 
Jaybird180 said:
This weekend, I completed my first solo distance XC. I found that during the turbulence, holding heading was challenging and I'm glad that I had a VOR I could navigate direct to, and use GPS to confirm during periods where everything looked like everything else.

After I got established (and the winds weren't bouncing me around), about 30 mins into the flight, I found picking ground landmarks and comparison to my chart easier as I settled into a groove. Everything was going according to plan, mostly.

Since my WCA was about 10 degrees off and GS (per GPS) about 5kts different from my calculations, I began to think about not having these tools available to use. I'm convinced that my calculations were correct and that the winds were not as briefed by FSS. Nevertheless, I compensated by being able to approximate direction to my next checkpoint and striving to see it (Vis 6mi, SKC 6,000); I somewhat ignored my compass and DG (dang precession) and navigated by ground reference.
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As you progress in your flying career you're going to find that all forecasts are little more than educated guesses and depending on the tolerance you apply, wrong more often than right. And WRT winds aloft forecasts, you must consider that even if they were accurate, they are averages for a large area and a several hour timeframe so the chances of them being correct at any point along your flight is pretty much nil.

How do I determine what the winds are actually doing while in flight? I am looking for answers that reference a compass, chart and a wristwatch. I would like to be able to navigate by Ded Rekoning, make corrections in flight with the new information then use Pilotage as backup and gizmos to confirm. I'm proficient with DR flight planning.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised this hasn't been covered by your ground training and CFI briefings and I'd expect you to have honed these skills during your dual XC flights. The basics involve keeping a "howgozit" log where you record your actual heading and time between waypoints, from which you can compute the actual winds you are encountering. And even without grabbing the wiz wheel, you can guesstimate what's needed for future legs headed in the same general direction. Just use the same heading offset and percent change in fix to fix time.
 
Winds aloft forecasts have improved, but can still be off significantly where you are.

So, if you're flying VFR, find an item on the horizon that lines up with your course, and fly towards that. If you start drifting left, turn right. Check the drift.

At some point the drift will be cancelled out by the correction angle.

I know you're flying VORs, and have a GPS, but for goodness sake please learn how to use the ground to navigate! It's a shame when pilots go right into radio nav and don't get map sense.

Premature reliance on radio nav is often fostered by flight sim flying -- instead of watching the panel, look out, and correlate what you see on the ground with what's on the map.

That's a very valuable skill you should be developing now. :thumbsup:
 
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