trick to avoid crosswind landing in late afternoon...

[repost from Arizona Soaring Assoc board where it seemed to be of interest]

I'm sure many already know this -- it's a good trick to know if you don't.

Late afternoon summer wind will very often completely stop right at sunset. If you are faced with a crosswind landing in the late afternoon, a solution is to hangout until sunset.

I've done this several times over the years at various airfields including just a few days ago flying out of Estrella. I came back about forty minutes before sunset to find an 80 degree cross of about 15 knots. The flag was whipping sharply. I probably could have landed it, but why take a chance?

There remained some very weak thermals able to sustain to about 2500 ft as is common at the end of the day. So I just hung out until the sun dropped below the distant mountains and landed in calm conditions. An added benefit is that you can see the runway after the sun drops if you are needing to land to the west as is the usual case in the southwest.