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Strongest winds near the ground?

Had a little time today and so made a short flight, but really just to fight the rust (in pilot and engine). It was raining and it was clear that there’s strong winds, but i didn’t expect it to be that strong … up to 50 kts in 3400 ft and pretty turbulent too. After 30 minutes I had enough … The only picture that is in focus, couldn’t really hold the phone steady.

Was a good test of the autopilot in turbulence though. Rock solid and always precise. I dialed in the final course and intercepted it with HDG+NAV and at 5 miles (+1500 ft to threshold) i setthe altitude to 1300 (field elevation, read the required descent rate from GPS 2’s VNAV calculator and let it fly down to 200 feet on A/P, checking altitude every mile i got closer. That’s my latest game when I land at my VFR home field …

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 17 Nov 16:48

You get winds like that quite often over the high deserts N and E of the L.A. basin. On a recent flight from southern Colorado to L.A. I had an average of about 25 kts on the nose which increased to between 40 and occasionally 50+ as I got closer to the mountains that form the L.A. basin. I was at about 3k ft AGL with GS occasionally dropping to below 90kts. That’s in a C182RG. Good fun – not.

Winds at 60 knots at around 500ft ago in Shannon at the weekend. “Only” 25G35 at the surface.

Made it interesting…

London area

Scotland last week, 75kts at 3000 feet, 35G45 on the ground. Severe wave at 6k which was an interesting Notam…

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

Want wind, fly in Las Vegas (KVGT, KHND, KBVU). Convective turbulence is a daily phenom there….canyon xwinds, clear air turbulence, updraft/downdraft, mountain wave, dust they have it all.

Was pretty windy down low today. An eventful flight to Doncaster.

EGTK Oxford

In Greece we get the “meltemi” wind taking place during the Summer, intensifying in July/August. You will see 10-20kt on the surface, 50kt at 500ft up to 3-4Kft, then it will drop. Due to the islands stronger wind variations (both speed and direction) will also be seen. If the airport has a circle-to-land approach (ie LGMT) the charter flights may do some go-arounds because the pilots get confused of the wind variations. The locals know these patterns.

LGMT (Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece), Greece

Want wind, fly in Las Vegas (KVGT, KHND, KBVU)

Seconded. Like the time we sat on the veranda of the old VGT cafe one November day and watched the twisters marching down the valley toward us, one after another. At least the aeroplanes at VGT are well chained down by ever attentive line crew who rush to the wing as the prop stops turning.

(I can still see those twisters in my mind’s eye and only now realise that those towering columns of dust were coming from the direction of Mercury, the atomic test site…)

EGBW / KPRC, United Kingdom

JasonC wrote:

Was pretty windy down low today. An eventful flight to Doncaster

Maintenance?

Darley Moor, Gamston (UK)

Yep.

EGTK Oxford
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