Flying in Wind

[nikky98]

At what speed does wind cause major problems when flying? I'm more concerned about the take off and landing. I have a flight going out this Sunday and it's supposed to be up to 20 mph winds at my departure and arrival destinations. Just a little concerned about extra turbulence. My nerves are already bad. :)

[tb_neg]

20mph is probably ok, but it really depends more on the direction and the land (smooth land, or lots of buildings). It's always more shear than speed that you have to worry about.

[Smooth Sailing]

In my experience, wind is only a problem near the jet and at low altitudes.

I've flown a few times the last year on 20-25 mph wind days that were partly cloudy. Each time we had moderate up to the first layer of a few puffy clouds, and then were very smooth once over those clouds, which was only after a couple minutes into the flight.

I've landed in the same weather, and it was smooth in spite of the captain saying we'd get a few bumps on approach.

That said, my last flight took off in 30 mph gusts, and we actually had a noticeable crosswind on the runway before takeoff, but a good ride at cruise.

I've found the bigger problem at cruise is when there's high winds and you're near the jet stream or mountains.