Soldato
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Takeoff in the wind?
- Thread starter CaptainRAVE
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Associate
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- 6 May 2016
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Pack a spare pair of pants.
It'll depend on wind direction / crosswind component as others have mentioned. The other thing that could impact your flight is if the aircraft you're due to fly on has flown a leg to somewhere else in the world and can't land back at Luton due to the weather. I am unsure whether the crosswind / other limitations are different for landing and take off scenarios. Different aircraft have differing limitations too. Unless your airline can find you another plane then flight cancelled in the latter situation usually I'm afraid 
I'm hoping to head to the airfield to get some strong wind flying in in a glider Sunday morning before the wind strengthens around midday. Should be fun
I'm hoping to head to the airfield to get some strong wind flying in in a glider Sunday morning before the wind strengthens around midday. Should be fun
All Indonesian Airlines are great this is a good landing there, there is a reason they were banned by the EU for years and only the national flag carrier has been let back in,
The article earlier this week about the cabin crew freaking out during an flight to Bali from Oz made me laugh as well. Sounded like Airplane! It truly feels like getting on a bus in Indonesia, I have seen a live chicken on a plane there.
This is very true, and made me smile.
Have faith in your pilots, cabin crew, if they're going, it's safe.
I caught the tail end of Ophelia landing into Edinburgh just after it passed last week. I think our winds were gusting 52kts (about 60mph) right down the runway. It was bumpy as sin below 1000ft but that's all really. An aeroplane doesn't know what speed the wind is, the only thing that matters is the air going over the wings is fast enough. I think I remember seeing my approach speed to be about 137kts and my ground speed being 85kts which felt a little funny.
The biggest problems with high winds are if the wind is in an unfortunate direction. The aircraft I fly has a crosswind limit of 39kts and a tailwind limit of 10kts. This depends on the type of approach you're flying, but it's a ballpark. The good news is most airports in the UK, with exception of Birmingham and Leeds, are built with runways into the prevailing wind, so it's not common to be out of these limits. A more pressing problem with winds however is a thing called "windsheer". Basically this is a rapid change of speed or direction of wind in a small vertical distance and is very common in these conditions. This means a rapid loss or gain of speed which can cause an unstable approach which must be aborted before giving it another try. I was flying into Rotterdam the other day, winds changed suddenly and I lost 30kts of airspeed. Plane yells "windsheer, windsheer", then we commence a go-around and give it another go
Second time around we made the landing no problem, though it wasn't my smoothest....
If flying on a windy day, expect bumpy conditions when low, delays both departing and arriving and potentially cancellations. Aborted landings, go arounds or even diversions to more suitable airports are normal. Conditions in storms are unpredictable, we didn't think we'd even get close to EDI the other day during Ophelia, but we got in on our first attempt running 10 mins early.
Best of luck, have faith in the pilots and the cabin crew to get you there safely. Please be understanding if there are delays, our single job is to get you places safely, and if that means taking time, then so be it
I caught the tail end of Ophelia landing into Edinburgh just after it passed last week. I think our winds were gusting 52kts (about 60mph) right down the runway. It was bumpy as sin below 1000ft but that's all really. An aeroplane doesn't know what speed the wind is, the only thing that matters is the air going over the wings is fast enough. I think I remember seeing my approach speed to be about 137kts and my ground speed being 85kts which felt a little funny.
The biggest problems with high winds are if the wind is in an unfortunate direction. The aircraft I fly has a crosswind limit of 39kts and a tailwind limit of 10kts. This depends on the type of approach you're flying, but it's a ballpark. The good news is most airports in the UK, with exception of Birmingham and Leeds, are built with runways into the prevailing wind, so it's not common to be out of these limits. A more pressing problem with winds however is a thing called "windsheer". Basically this is a rapid change of speed or direction of wind in a small vertical distance and is very common in these conditions. This means a rapid loss or gain of speed which can cause an unstable approach which must be aborted before giving it another try. I was flying into Rotterdam the other day, winds changed suddenly and I lost 30kts of airspeed. Plane yells "windsheer, windsheer", then we commence a go-around and give it another go
Second time around we made the landing no problem, though it wasn't my smoothest....If flying on a windy day, expect bumpy conditions when low, delays both departing and arriving and potentially cancellations. Aborted landings, go arounds or even diversions to more suitable airports are normal. Conditions in storms are unpredictable, we didn't think we'd even get close to EDI the other day during Ophelia, but we got in on our first attempt running 10 mins early.
Best of luck, have faith in the pilots and the cabin crew to get you there safely. Please be understanding if there are delays, our single job is to get you places safely, and if that means taking time, then so be it
Are you sure about that? Pilots and cabin crew "have gone" on every single air disaster in history, lol.
So the fact that a pilot and some cabin crew are merely present on board an aircraft is absolutely NO indicator of any actual safety whatsoever. The two are unconnected.
Pilots hit the ground first, it's inevitable that we don't make most crashes.
However, with all due respect, you are completely wrong. To say that the that high trained, highly skilled, professional and exceptionally talented people sitting at the front is unconnected with the safety of a flight is absolutely incorrect. If the weather is too poor, we do not go. If the landing conditions are too poor, we do not land. If we find ourselves faced with a 40,000ft high, 50 mile wide thunder storm that will rip the wings off the aircraft, we do not go through it. A sense of self preservation kicks in like any human being possesses and if something is not right, we do not do it.
Add in to this the excellent network of air traffic controllers, especially those in the UK (several of whom are on this forum), a vast team of operations staff constantly monitoring any situation and a whole army of people (engineers, security, ground crew) who do the job to move you from A to B with a higher safety record than any other form of transport.
Next time you're in a storm on an aircraft, battling high winds, torrential rain and horrendous conditions, please feel free to tell the pilots and cabin crew that they are not needed and you could easily do it yourself. I'm sure the laugh will cheer them all up after a miserable day of being thrown around the sky.
I've done this myself in a Cessna, it's a very strange feeling! I think the GPS said 9kts ground speed exactly the opposite direction we were facing
I've been on a few commercial flights where the pilot said that although technically they were allowed to take-off of land etc., They didn't want to to subject us to the conditions, which is really that they don't want to test their piloting skills at that moment
It is ultimately the call often pilot either the plane takes off, and hey tend not to take even the slightest risks
It is ultimately the call often pilot either the plane takes off, and hey tend not to take even the slightest risks
Just been reading our airspace capacity brief for tomorrow. Strong crosswinds expected along with a medium risk of convective weather. Probably going to be an impact to service, although Saturdays are generally a quieter day which mitigates slightly.
Good luck! If you do go it’ll probably be a bit bumpy for the first 15-20 mins, smoothing our after.
Good luck! If you do go it’ll probably be a bit bumpy for the first 15-20 mins, smoothing our after.
At one point it looked like it was going to topple over with the way it was lurching from side to side :/.
Yes, along with you, the luggage and most of the airport terminal.
These both made me chuckle, +1 internet point to each of you