On 19 Jan 2007 22:53:33 -0800, wrote:

I was wondering what people view as their limitations in terms of wind.
I'm talking 172 / Warrior territory here.

Clearly this is a personal decision, based on your perceptions of your
own skills, the aircraft you are flying, the specific conditions on the
day (E.g. how gusty, reports of LLWS & turbulence), your risk
tolerance, etc.

But I'm interested in what the various opinions are. How much wind is
too much to fly, for you? And how much crosswind component? Does your
max crosswind component vary with windspeed? And how about how gusty it
is? Clearly if it's more gusty that's a bad thing, but how gusty is too
gusty?

Of course I have my own views on this but I'm wondering what others
think. And by the way the context is that I have decided to cancel my
flight tomorrow (Boston area) due to winds, but I'm still hoping to fly
on Sunday.

I guess as an aside, what are the scariest windy conditions you've ever
flown in? Would you do it again?

Thanks

Tom

you should be able to fly in conditions where the windsock is
horizontal from any direction.
(obviously you change runway ends when it is from behind)

the scariest ????? (scariest isnt the right word here, you shouldnt
ever be scared because you have been trained)
the most demanding conditions are turbulence and gusting winds.

the winds dont go away just because you arent up to speed with the
demands so you should read up on the correct technique and then
practise in increasingly more difficult conditions.

if you cant fly with the windsock horizontal you'd better not try
flying crosscountry because one day you will find it horizontal and at
the end of a long flight you might not have enough fuel to go anywhere
else.

there is no bravado to flying in strong winds. it is just difficult
and demanding flying. it can be done though.

do you know how to guess at the wind speed from the windsock angle?
its a useful skill.

Stealth (windsock horizontal in any direction) Pilot
Australia