Wow that's some wind

jspilot

jspilot

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jspilot
I went up for a real quick trip on Sunday in a Cessna 172 where it was the most wind I ever flown in. At 3,000ft there was a 42 knot wind. Literally was doing 60kts accross the groud pointed into the wind while I indicated 102-105 airspeed! The most insane part was I was given a heading to turn to after takeoff (30 degrees off runway heading.) I turned and was literally being blown sideways while trying to maintain 300, so much so that I was pushed halfway down the runway before being allowed to turn south!

I came in to land and it was blowing 27 knots! I've never landed in that kind of wind before! It was a pretty good learning experience but man, nothing like that was predicted by any weather outlets!

What's the most wind at that kind of low altitude you can remember flying in?
 
jspilot said:
What's the most wind at that kind of low altitude you can remember flying in?
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3000 MSL, 45kts.... we nearly got the C182 to 5kts ground speed per the GPS. I still want to one day be on VFR Flight Following and do this just to see if a controller notices a negative ground speed.

Landing... see the write up SixPapaCharlie did about our trip to Borger, TX
 
With a head wind of 35 in a 172 the plane goes up like a helicopter. With the 27 knot wind on landing must have been a great landing,almost like driving it on.
 
During training I went up with an instructor and he wanted to see if we could get the ground speed to read 0 on the GPS. We could not get it below 10kts no matter how hard we tried! He made a joke that ATC probably thinks we turned into a helicopter!
 
Holy Cow that's a lot :hairraise:

What was the cross wind component ??
 
Last friday at KFRG, I think it was 23 peak gust 36, 50 degrees off runway heading.

Was interesting. +-20kts windshear at 200ft.
 
50kts @ 500ft. AGL just outside of KCMI a couple months ago. After I submitted that PIREP, the controller told me he get's a kick out of seeing people "hover" or "reverse" a GA plane on the scope. I then offered to do it over the runway right in front of the tower so he could see it, and that made his day...
 
ferrari-tech said:
Holy Cow that's a lot :hairraise:

What was the cross wind component ??
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The crosswind was small. It was only about 30 degrees off the runway. The crazy part was the wind sheer on final. As I was coming in to land I gained 15 knots for no apparent reason about a mile from the runway. I went from about 80 knots to about 95 knots in no time! I reported it to the tower because it was pretty strong.
 
last year doing T&Gs, in a C150, I was on downwind when controller asked what I was indicating. I replied 80mph. He came back with; "I have you at 120 (knots) over the ground". :yikes:
 
when i started my PPL training the first time around in 1990 I was in the Navy stationed in Memphis and was using a flying club that was on the base (NAS Memphis). My CFI was a Marine Corps reserve A-4 pilot so he had some skills. I was flying a 150 and we went out on a very windy day and he took me over a water tower to do slow flight (what he called back then minimum controllable airspeed) and we were hovering over the water tower. All I could think of was how weird it must have been for anyone on the ground to look up and see this fixed wing plane just hovering in the sky. We had no GPS so no way to tell what our speed was over the ground but we weren't moving much. Fun times.
 
That can really take you by surprise, can't it?

It isn't necessarily turbulent, either.

I once took a colleague on a Bay Tour and found a 45 knot northeast wind at 3500 feet, over San Francisco. Smooth as a baby's butt, but we heard a PIREP of "severe turbulence" 5 miles away, on the other side of the downwind mountains. As this was inside Class B, I had some real fun following vectors from Approach. They may say "heading," but they mean "course," and the WCA was over 20 deg to the right. On the other side of the Bay, much closer to upwind mountains, we found some moderate turbulence.

It really wasn't bad at all at the surface, but we got our fillings knocked out crossing the Bay at 1500.
 
I remember back in the stone ages (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) that I was flying a C-120 into Ponca City OK when the wind was cross to the active 45° at 30 knots.

Ain't no Cessna 120 driver I know can do that, so I asked what the options were. FSS (no tower) said, "Well, some of the locals use the taxiways, but that's not an approved runway."

One of the shortest landings I've ever made.

Next morning, it was howling to nearly 50 knots. Same trick. Ever seen a Cessna lift off in 10 feet and make a vertical climb out?

Jim
 
I had 30kts at almost 90deg to the runway last week at pattern altitude. It made the turn from downwind to base and then to final extremely easy. Pretty cool watching the runway out the windscreen on downwind. Luckily it died down to 5-10kts while landing. It did gust to 15 while I was flaring causing a go around
 
If the winds would calm to 30 knots here, I might actually get to fly. 80 knot winds took the top off the hot tub gazebo night before last. More of the same this morning.
 
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I've flown into a 68-knot headwind. Worst I've landed in is gusting to ~35 direct crosswind.
 
Go do some slow flight work into a really good headwind and if you play it right you can look out the side window and see yourself moving backwards....freeking crazy, and a good workout in controlling the plane at the edge of the envelope.

Doing it with ATC watching gets some interesting comments: "Cessna XXX say direction of flight?"
 
MAKG1 said:
That can really take you by surprise, can't it?

It isn't necessarily turbulent, either.

I once took a colleague on a Bay Tour and found a 45 knot northeast wind at 3500 feet, over San Francisco. Smooth as a baby's butt, but we heard a PIREP of "severe turbulence" 5 miles away, on the other side of the downwind mountains. As this was inside Class B, I had some real fun following vectors from Approach. They may say "heading," but they mean "course," and the WCA was over 20 deg to the right. On the other side of the Bay, much closer to upwind mountains, we found some moderate turbulence.

It really wasn't bad at all at the surface, but we got our fillings knocked out crossing the Bay at 1500.
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My only experience like that on the Bay was getting my fillings knocked out in a racing dingy.
 
Old Geek said:
My only experience like that on the Bay was getting my fillings knocked out in a racing dingy.
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Laser? Melges?

Used to race, got pitch-poled on a laser downwind around 28-30kts, cant imagine if it was more.:yikes:
 
MAKG1 said:
As this was inside Class B, I had some real fun following vectors from Approach. They may say "heading," but they mean "course,"
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No, they mean heading. They know what the winds are - All the airplanes are affected by them. If they say "fly heading 090" that's what they mean - Fly the heading. If they want you to fly a course, they'll tell you so, though it'll usually be "maintain west of xxx".
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No, they mean heading. They know what the winds are - All the airplanes are affected by them. If they say "fly heading 090" that's what they mean - Fly the heading. If they want you to fly a course, they'll tell you so, though it'll usually be "maintain west of xxx".
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I was just going to say the same thing. Controllers will tell you a heading to fly that they think will give them the course they want you on. If it it doesn't work out the way they planned, they will turn you to a different heading.
 
mondtster said:
I was just going to say the same thing. Controllers will tell you a heading to fly that they think will give them the course they want you on. If it it doesn't work out the way they planned, they will turn you to a different heading.
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Yep happened to me on an IFR flight to KBDL. They asked us several times our heading and asked us to check with our compass which was fine and told them we had a big wind that was blowing us
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've flown into a 68-knot headwind. Worst I've landed in is gusting to ~35 direct crosswind.
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+1 Same numbers. Don't do it unless I have to now due to price of gas (unless its the tailwind variety). Got a 50 knot tailwind going to San Antonio this past Friday from El Paso ... 3 hour total flight time in the Tiger.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No, they mean heading. They know what the winds are - All the airplanes are affected by them. If they say "fly heading 090" that's what they mean - Fly the heading. If they want you to fly a course, they'll tell you so, though it'll usually be "maintain west of xxx".
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No, they don't know the wind at 3500. They know it at the surface. It can be -- and was -- radically different.

And flying 360 was definitely not what they wanted, but it was what they asked for. They wanted to let jet traffic take off without restriction and wanted me close to the departure end of the runway. 360 wouldn't go there. 020 would.
 
jspilot said:
I went up for a real quick trip on Sunday in a Cessna 172 where it was the most wind I ever flown in. At 3,000ft there was a 42 knot wind. Literally was doing 60kts accross the groud pointed into the wind while I indicated 102-105 airspeed! The most insane part was I was given a heading to turn to after takeoff (30 degrees off runway heading.) I turned and was literally being blown sideways while trying to maintain 300, so much so that I was pushed halfway down the runway before being allowed to turn south!

I came in to land and it was blowing 27 knots! I've never landed in that kind of wind before! It was a pretty good learning experience but man, nothing like that was predicted by any weather outlets!

What's the most wind at that kind of low altitude you can remember flying in?
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I think it was 80 mph at 4,000 msl, and only 15 at the surface.
 
MAKG1 said:
No, they don't know the wind at 3500. They know it at the surface. It can be -- and was -- radically different.
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That may be true, but they do in fact mean heading. If they say fly heading such and so, they MEAN fly heading such and so. If that doesn't result in the course they want, they will give you another heading to fly.
 
Landed my DA20 at TKI when the surface wind was directly across the runway at 24G28 -- definitely a handful.:yikes::hairraise: Even got a nice comment from the controller.
 
On the surface; 37G42kts in a Cessna 170 @ Billings, MT. Landed and about an hour later took off again. Fortunately the wind was coming straight down the runway, the tricky part was taxiing in to the ramp and back out.
In the air; I've seen 40 kt groundspeeds with headwinds and/or 160 kt groundspeeds with tailwinds at 100 kt TAS a few times.
 
MAKG1 said:
No, they don't know the wind at 3500. They know it at the surface. It can be -- and was -- radically different.
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No, they have a pretty good idea of what the winds aloft are. I didn't mean they were looking at METARs to determine winds - They're looking at how the planes they're vectoring are tracking. You're not the only plane in the sky.

And flying 360 was definitely not what they wanted, but it was what they asked for. They wanted to let jet traffic take off without restriction and wanted me close to the departure end of the runway. 360 wouldn't go there. 020 would.
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How do you know what they wanted? :p If they told you all that, they maybe said something other than "fly heading 360". But if they said "fly heading 360" that's what they mean: HEADING. If you don't end up where they want you, they'll give you another turn.
 
They told me to fly heading 360 because they wanted me just west of 101 for departing traffic. Using that language. There was no doubt what they were trying to do.

I WAS the only aircraft southwest of 101 at 3500 at that time. That's not hard to determine, even in crowded airspace.
 
MAKG1 said:
They told me to fly heading 360 because they wanted me just west of 101 for departing traffic. Using that language. There was no doubt what they were trying to do.

I WAS the only aircraft southwest of 101 at 3500 at that time. That's not hard to determine, even in crowded airspace.
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It doesn't matter. If they give you a heading, fly that heading. That's in every rulebook including the AIM. If you are given heading by a controller it is not your job to apply drift correction. If you're confused, then ask. If they tell you to remain west/east of the 101 and simultaneously give you a 360 heading which will drift you contrary to their instructions, then ASK.


From the AIM, pilot responsibilities:

5-5-6. Radar Vectors

a. Pilot.

1. Promptly complies with headings and altitudes assigned to you by the controller.

2. Questions any assigned heading or altitude believed to be incorrect.

3. If operating VFR and compliance with any radar vector or altitude would cause a violation of any CFR, advises ATC and obtains a revised clearance or instructions.

______

The Pilot-Controller Glossary is an especially important area to review. Did you know, for example, that when ATC instructs you to "fly runway heading," you are expected to fly exactly that heading (i.e., with no drift correction applied)?

https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?cID=25&sID=103&preview=true

____

Or, keep doing it the wrong way. You seem like the type to bust a TFR.
 
Btw, there is no negative groundspeed. You would have positive groundspeed 180 degrees off your nose.
 
MAKG1 said:
They told me to fly heading 360 because they wanted me just west of 101 for departing traffic. Using that language.
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So did they tell you "Fly heading 360" or did they tell you "remain west of 101"?
 
KUES 211145Z 25025G35KT 7SM SCT015 OVC021 M06/M09 A2934
KUES 211127Z 2112/2212 24022G33KT 2SM -SN BLSN OVC017
FM211400 25024G38KT 5SM -SN OVC019
FM211600 25025G38KT P6SM BKN025 OVC035
FM211900 25025G36KT P6SM SCT035
FM212100 25023G33KT P6SM SCT035
FM220100 25017KT P6SM SKC
FM221100 26013KT P6SM SKC


Looks like my instructor and I will be working on my cross wind landings today. KUES main runway is 10-28.
 
mattg said:
KUES 211145Z 25025G35KT 7SM SCT015 OVC021 M06/M09 A2934
KUES 211127Z 2112/2212 24022G33KT 2SM -SN BLSN OVC017
FM211400 25024G38KT 5SM -SN OVC019
FM211600 25025G38KT P6SM BKN025 OVC035
FM211900 25025G36KT P6SM SCT035
FM212100 25023G33KT P6SM SCT035
FM220100 25017KT P6SM SKC
FM221100 26013KT P6SM SKC


Looks like my instructor and I will be working on my cross wind landings today. KUES main runway is 10-28.
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I'm surprised you'd even go, I'm a little ways north of you and its really nasty outside today!
 
I did pattern work in a 172 on Tuesday and the wind was 16016G20(ish), made for an interesting takeoff, pattern and landing on 21. The effects of wind on the traffic pattern are much more apparent in a strong wind. I must have been 15-20 degrees off on my heading on the downwind to keep a relatively consistent distance from the runway. I think it's really good practice to fly in such conditions, though it sure was bumpy up there.

Then I got 18 for the rest of the hour and it was funny watching the groundspeed. Short final was over 80 indicated and 46 across the ground. A little higher up, I am sure I could have flown a 152 backwards:)
 
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