With the wind?

In article ,
says...

Due to the volume of traffic we stayed on the
parallels until the wund exceeded a 15 knot crosswind.

Were you reading "Gone with the Wund, or Withering Heights?"
(sorry - couldn't resist)

The same thing
happens at any major airport, changing to the other runway is quite a
production.


True. They could even have been in the process of changing, but by the
time they get turned around quite a few have landed with a slight
tailwind.

I have also seen airports where the apron and terminal are all the way on
one end of the runway. In these cases pilots sometimesprefer to take a
slight tailwind to land toward their destination, rather than have to
taxi back.

On Sun, 2 Apr 2006 08:46:48 -0400, "smallg"
wrote:

The wind
was blowing at around 10-12 mph (around 10
or so knots) and the windsock appeared to agree.

The local airport PSM has a single runway, with the SE end more or
less pointing toward the small city nearby. I believe the "calm"
status is defined as up to 7 knots (possibly 7 mph). So if the wind is
blowing 7 knots or less, you take off to the NW. Perhaps your airfield
has a like orientation and reason for taking off into the wind.



-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...

ATC can't force you to do something contrary to your opspecs.


True. Your opspecs may require you to divert to another airport, they will
not require ATC to change runways.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...
ATC can't force you to do something contrary to your opspecs.

True. Your opspecs may require you to divert to another airport, they
will not require ATC to change runways.

No one has suggested they will. However, my experience has been that ATC is
quite accomodating when possible (your own tower cab notwithstanding).

Even at our largest GA airport in the area, Boeing Field right next door to
Sea-Tac, if traffic permits they will allow for landings against the
existing traffic pattern (which is always determined by the Sea-Tac pattern
and can take a while to catch up with a wind shift).

It never hurts to ask, and ATC is frequently able to accomodate a special
request like that.

Pete

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 05:41:27 -0400, Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT
net wrote:

On Sun, 2 Apr 2006 08:46:48 -0400, "smallg"
wrote:

The wind
was blowing at around 10-12 mph (around 10
or so knots) and the windsock appeared to agree.

The local airport PSM has a single runway, with the SE end more or
less pointing toward the small city nearby. I believe the "calm"
status is defined as up to 7 knots (possibly 7 mph). So if the wind is
blowing 7 knots or less, you take off to the NW. Perhaps your airfield
has a like orientation and reason for taking off into the wind.

With 11,300' of runway at sea level you could have a 20 knot tailwind
and still not worry

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...

No one has suggested they will. However, my experience has been that ATC
is quite accomodating when possible (your own tower cab notwithstanding).


There is no tower cab more accomodating than the one in which I am on duty.



Even at our largest GA airport in the area, Boeing Field right next door
to Sea-Tac, if traffic permits they will allow for landings against the
existing traffic pattern (which is always determined by the Sea-Tac
pattern and can take a while to catch up with a wind shift).

It never hurts to ask, and ATC is frequently able to accomodate a special
request like that.


"If traffic permits" is the key.

("Steven P. McNicoll" wrote)
There is no tower cab more accomodating than the one in which I am on
duty.


Maverick: "Requesting permission for flyby."


Montblack

"Montblack" wrote in message
...

Maverick: "Requesting permission for flyby."


"Cleared for the option"

"Newps" wrote in message
...
Baloney. If you get a chance go to any big airport on a day with light
winds. Most of these airports have preferred runways, landing in a
particular direction is preferred by the controllers for any number of
reasons. If the wind shifts to make that runway a tailwind, but it's only
5 knots or so, you will land with a tailwind or you will go somewhere
else. Same as my previous example about the crosswind.

Frankly, if a controller tells me I'm to land with a tailwind, he can get
stuffed. Aside from the "hey, that fence is rushing at me quite quickly"
factor, you also have the issue of the extra strain it's putting on the
tyres/landing gear because the ground speed is so much higher.

Generally, of course, the controller will try to accommodate you if you
don't like the "preferred" runway. This happened on my final PPL "skillls
test" - there was a highish (unforecast) crosswind on the east-west runway
by the time, and I wasn't sure whether the examiner would insist I used
that. So I said to him: "Do you want me to use 27, or are you happy for me
to ask for something different?". In hindsight, his reply was obvious:
"You're the pilot, you ask him for whatever you want - even if it means us
diverting". So I asked for RW22 (stiffish breeze only just off the
centreline) and got it.

I've been a passenger in a light aircraft where the controller has insisted
on the PIC using a particular (shortish) runway with a tailwind, though.
Fortunately, the PIC was (a) a 14,000-hour veteran and (b) a stroppy, but
polite old git. The discussion was an interesting one to hear, but the
one-sentence summary goes something like: "You don't have a clue what you're
saying, you don't have the performance documents or POH for this aircraft to
hand, and you're not responsible for the safety of this aircraft; I am,
though, so I'm going to do a visual approach to RWXX instead, and you can
lump it. When we're safely on the ground, if you want to come and argue with
me, that's fine". To the controller's credit, we sat and had a coffee with
him later and both sides explained their point of view in a grown-up manner,
and the controller went away with the understanding that if we'd landed with
the tailwind, we stood a good chance of being in the hedge at the other end.

D.

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:ZPVXf.7715$t22.1714@dukeread08...
It depends on runway length,
departure profile and terrain balanced by aircraft
performance.

Sure does. I remember a CAA safety evening, where the presenter showed a
photo with an aircraft poised to take off with the windsock pointing in
pretty much the same direction, and said: "Why isn't this as mad as it
looks?"

The photo had been cleverly taken/cropped and done at a jaunty angle so that
the pole of the windsock was just off the side of the picture - and there
were no reference points from which you could realise that, in fact, the
runway had a socking great downslope.

D.