Takeoff in the wind?

CaptainRAVE

CaptainRAVE

CaptainRAVE

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Joined
21 Nov 2004
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Flying from London Luton on Saturday lunchtime - the weather looks grim! 52mph gusts lunchtime. Will we even take off? I don't know much about these things. Busy half term flying day too :(
 
Wind of that strength usually causes significant service disruption. Flights may be able to operate depending on the direction and sustained strength of the wind but Ops will be slowed down.

If the wind is that strong your flight will likely be delayed if not cancelled.
 
Scuzi said:
Wind of that strength usually causes significant service disruption. Flights may be able to operate depending on the direction and sustained strength of the wind but Ops will be slowed down.

If the wind is that strong your flight will likely be delayed if not cancelled.
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I'm surprised by that. Wellington airport is one of the windiest in the world and it's rare for flights to be cancelled for 80km/h winds. That's pretty standard for Wellington :confused:
 
The kind of weather forecast over the coming weekend will very likely see flights grounded, etc. if it pans out like that. However these days the weather radars, etc. are incredibly good and the ability to manage weather and slot into the gaps, etc. in it pretty advanced.
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
I'm surprised by that. Wellington airport is one of the windiest in the world and it's rare for flights to be cancelled for 80km/h winds. That's pretty standard for Wellington :confused:
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I’m not familiar with Wellington but if it’s normal to have such windy conditions it is likely that the airport operation has evolved around that. A runway pointing in the right direction and a schedule which allows for the differences in aircraft performance brought about by strong wind go a long way. The London airports aren’t as resilient to abnormally strong winds although Heathrow has improved in recent years with the introduction of time based separation on final approach.
 
It depends on the direction of the wind and the airframe. Different air frames have different thresholds on cross winds and tail winds. Many aircraft don't have a limit on headwinds, after all that is what helps create lift.

A strong cross wind can cause the airframe to crash. A strong tail wind can cause the aircraft to plough nose down into the ground. I'm not sure on the limits on each and every aircraft, they're usually in knots though :)


Edit: just found this for a 737. Seems no limit on gusts for tail or headwind?

Wind Limits for T/O & Landing
Braking Action Max X-wind Motne Coefficient
Good 35kt 95 0.4+
Med/good 30kt 94 0.39-0.36
Medium 25kt 93 0.35-0.3
Med/poor 20kt 92 0.29-0.26
Poor 15kt 91 0.25 & less
Note 1. Different (reduced) x-wind guidelines are available for 30m wide runways.
Note 2. Maximum windspeed for taxying is 65kts
 
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Wind of that strength always causes disruption. The aircraft have limits to cross (usually around 40kts) and tail (usually 10kts - we always take off into wind!) winds for take off and landing, and wind of that strength also causes windshear (this is a rapid change of wind speed or direction which can effect the aircrafts airspeed) which can make things fun! Also the doors (both cabin and cargo) also have wind limits so we can have issues even loading the plane!

You don’t need to worry about it though. The crew will make sure everything is within limits and safe. If they aren’t sure they will delay the flight until the conditions are suitable.
 
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