ericgreveson wrote:I've just been told that the last thing I need to get signed off prior to potentially being ready for solo is... crosswind landings. So I need to know what the crosswind is! (it needs to be in the Goldilocks zone... enough to count as a crosswind, but not enough to call off the lesson!)
Yes, and Rob's app will be excellent for brandishing in front of who(m?)ever it will be that has to tick a box that will cover them in the eventuality of you borking up a crosswind landing.
They have to write some stuff down so that if they are ever up before the beak, they can say "well yes, your honour, it did turn out that on that particular landing, there was a freak gust of 200 kt that blew the aeroplane into the nearby barn, killing the pilot and many puppies. However it's not our fault, as the forecast wind was 20 kt, at 30 degrees off the runway, and as eny ful kno, that's 10 kt across (as checked on this handy app, your lordship), and our crosswind limit for student solos is 11".
And thereby be held blameless.
I don't care about any of that. I just care about what it's actually like landing in a crosswind.
And about reassuring students that the real touchdown crosswind will almost always be less than the forecast, or the report from ATC if they give you one.
And that the way of learning the judgement you'll need, isn't to use a crosswind calculator, it's to fly in gradually more demanding conditions, and really learn what it feels like.