Personal Weather Minimums

C J Campbell wrote:

We require 3000' and five miles visibility for all student solo flights,
with maximum crosswinds of six knots. I recommend that new private pilots
maintain those minimums for some time, preferably until they start their
instrument training.

If all you're going to be doing is day trips, I suppose this is OK, but you
will never be able to handle anything worse if you don't go up in adverse
conditions. I have no argument with those who have a minimum of 3000' and five
(though you won't fly much around here unless you drop that to 2000' and five),
but a pilot needs to learn to handle strong winds, IMO.

Now, if you're used to six knots max, don't pick a day when it's 15 gusting to
20 to get more experience, but within a year of getting your ticket, you should
be able to handle 15 gusting to 20.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

Hmm, 3k feet. You'd be pushed to find a clutch of weekends
here in the UK where you'd get 3k consistently. And where I
learned in Florida, we seldom had less than a 6kt crosswind.

Paul

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
We require 3000' and five miles visibility for all student solo flights,
with maximum crosswinds of six knots.

FryGuy wrote:

I just wanted to open a discussion regarding other's personal weather
minimums for VFR flights. I recently received my PPL ASEL certificate in
July and most of the days that I have flown have been very nice days.
Yesterday though I got caught a bit off guard and it prompted me to set a
few minimums for myself.
[snip]

During training, I had to skip landing at a destination during a solo
cross-country trip because of winds. The wind was 20kts, gusts to
29kts, but it was almost straight down the runway so the cross-wind
component was probably within my limits. But the reason I passed on the
landing was that I was not comfortable with taxiing in that kind of
wind.

Here's a question I haven't found an answer to yet:
If you're using proper cross-wind correction during taxiing, how much of
a cross-wind can a 152 take? What personal limits do you have?

DanH

DanH wrote:

Here's a question I haven't found an answer to yet:
If you're using proper cross-wind correction during taxiing, how much of
a cross-wind can a 152 take? What personal limits do you have?

The first limit you're likely to hit is the ability of the rudder & steering to
allow you to turn away from the wind. I have maneuvered a Cessna 150 in a 25
knot wind with no problems on the ground. Since it was straight across the
runway, getting the plane down in the first place was an experience I would not
care to repeat often, but she did well after slowing to taxi speed.

With the Maule, I have had to turn 270 degrees into the wind to make a 90 degree
turn to downwind. Wind was something over 15 knots at the time. The highest wind
I've taxied that plane in was gusting at 28.

Wind can be fun, though. Last Sunday, it was 11 knots, pretty much down the
runway. The tailwheel was up by the time I reached the numbers, and I rotated
just after the displaced threshhold. You could hear the jaws dropping in the
Mooney waiting behind me. Almost as good as if I had the big engine.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

I did my GFT (General Flight Test) for my PPL in 25G35. Almost
straight down the runway though. The short-field landing was, well,
short! :-)

Paul

"DanH" wrote in message
...
During training, I had to skip landing at a destination during a solo
cross-country trip because of winds. The wind was 20kts, gusts to
29kts, but it was almost straight down the runway

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 10:03:54 -0800, DanH wrote:

Here's a question I haven't found an answer to yet:
If you're using proper cross-wind correction during taxiing, how much of
a cross-wind can a 152 take? What personal limits do you have?

I've heard of them flipped with 45 knot winds. For my limits on taxi
cross-winds, if I'll fly in it I'll taxi in it. 30 knots bounces a 150
around a lot on the ground, but it's never felt like it was going to go
over on me.

A Tri-Pacer certainly can be. http://pad39a.com/gene/flypix0.html
--
Gene Seibel



I've heard of them flipped with 45 knot winds. For my limits on taxi
cross-winds, if I'll fly in it I'll taxi in it. 30 knots bounces a 150
around a lot on the ground, but it's never felt like it was going to go
over on me.

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
We require 3000' and five miles visibility for all student solo flights,
with maximum crosswinds of six knots. I recommend that new private pilots
maintain those minimums for some time, preferably until they start their
instrument training.

Just out of curiousity, what do you recommend with regard
to runway length?

Cheers,
Sydney

C J Campbell wrote:

We require 3000' and five miles visibility for all student solo flights,
with maximum crosswinds of six knots. I recommend that new private pilots
maintain those minimums for some time, preferably until they start their
instrument training.

I think that a little strict. However, it does raise a problem I noticed
towards the end of my PPL training.

Where I flew too had a limit on soloing students with respect to weather.
It was probably something of the sort you're describing, or perhaps even a
little more strict (I seem to recall 5 kts xwind).

But, after taking the checkride, I was immediately permitted to fly in MVFR.
That seems silly to me. I think that there should be a progression to
"lower" weather, with much attention given - as others here have posted -
to *why* and *what comes next* (ie. are clouds dropping or rising).

Of course, I expect that most of us have followed that progression. But why
no "program" to support this? It could be a part of the PPL, or even a
post-PPL course. It doesn't even need to be regulatory, but just a
recommended set of milestones combining weather flying and weather
knowledge.

In a way, the instrument rating covers some of this. But that doesn't help
someone that, for one reason or another, isn't interested in that rating
(at least at that time).

Actually, this would probably make a good book...except it might be useful
to have local knowledge embedded within such a program.

- Andrew

"Snowbird" wrote in message
om...
| "C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
| We require 3000' and five miles visibility for all student solo flights,
| with maximum crosswinds of six knots. I recommend that new private
pilots
| maintain those minimums for some time, preferably until they start their
| instrument training.
|
| Just out of curiousity, what do you recommend with regard
| to runway length?


Our school requires instructor permission for runways of less than 2000
feet. The FBO does not allow operation of any of its aircraft from unpaved
runways, although I can take my own airplane anywhere I want. We also
require that rented airplanes stay within Washington, Oregon, and Idaho,
although exceptions are made on a case by case basis.

I also will not sign off on a cross country that takes a student pilot over
the Cascades unless I am satisfied with his mountain flying abilities. The
Cascades are very dangerous for inexperienced pilots. You can find extreme
wind shear, turbulence, blind canyons with unforecast pockets of IFR, and
constant mountain obscuration. But the worst danger is the icing, which is
so bad that when the Concorde was being developed it was brought over here
for testing in severe icing conditions.

Among renter pilots at TIW, special VFR is routine. We get a lot of low
clouds that hang right over the field and you can see sunshine out over the
water just off the end of the runway.