Not a great day for aviating in good old Wyo. This just shows averages. Gust speeds can be much higher.

Ha. RP, Swingle turned me on to that site that shows the TAF in that format and I check it multiple times a day. (I love it)


Looking good for tomorrow!

We have had steady 15-20 mph winds the past 5 days or so and I've been trying to get my plane home but my inexperience in winds of that speed in my airplane have kept me grounded.

After looking at your forecast I guess I can't bitch!

Angling across the runway can solve the takeoff and landing problem, but getting to the next fuel point on a westerly heading takes some real planning.

Evan, I was dumb enough to take off in a quartering 32k gusting 43k awhile back, then bucked 60 mph headwinds most of the way home. Probably won't try that again. Come visit us in Wyoming sometime, though, and we'll be happy to share our crosswinds with you for training purposes! Most of the local airports are used to having to come out and hold your wingtips for you while you taxi in.
(P.S. You're making the right call by waiting to fly until the winds are better. I can vividly remember learning to fly and never venturing more than 10 miles away from my strip for fear that the Wyoming wind would come up while I was away!)

Contact, I was talking to a long-time Super Cub driver yesterday who said he got caught in some 80 mph gusts around here one time. He said he was only 25 miles from home, but was legitimately worried he was going to run out of gas before he could get back!

I went to that site on the laptop and don't see anything on the app. I'm new to this smart phone routine. I imagine that I must go someplace with the iPhone to get the app but where? Apple Store? What's the app called?

Where it said get the app...... That was just an ad for some random app. That site has a lot of advertising on it. The site is usairnet.com. I just access it thru the browser on my phone.

Great name for a weather reporting station.. It is a few miles NW of Ranch Pilot, and a few miles SW of my airport, 2WY2..

http://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman ... stn=MCOBT..

Ps.. I am beta testing the equipment for LIVEATC for Jackson Hole out of my house. Hope to be up and running by tomorrow..

RanchPilot wrote:Evan, I was dumb enough to take off in a quartering 32k gusting 43k awhile back, then bucked 60 mph headwinds most of the way home. Probably won't try that again. Come visit us in Wyoming sometime, though, and we'll be happy to share our crosswinds with you for training purposes! Most of the local airports are used to having to come out and hold your wingtips for you while you taxi in.
(P.S. You're making the right call by waiting to fly until the winds are better. I can vividly remember learning to fly and never venturing more than 10 miles away from my strip for fear that the Wyoming wind would come up while I was away!)

Contact, I was talking to a long-time Super Cub driver yesterday who said he got caught in some 80 mph gusts around here one time. He said he was only 25 miles from home, but was legitimately worried he was going to run out of gas before he could get back!

Darrin,
Ya that is some serious wind. Need a few more hours under my belt before attempting much more than 15 or so. But I like challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone.

Just need to pace myself and put my toes in the water before jumping off in the deep end.

Flying in 40-45 knot winds in Wyoming isn't unusual. The worst I ever have encountered (that I can remember, anyway) was leaving Riverton in a 172, with 60 knot gusts, some 40 years ago. Wingwalkers helped me to the runway, and on turning to take off, the airplane just levitated. Winds at altitude (11,500) were even higher--called ATC and asked for the ground speed, and it was nearly 200. Thankfully by the time I got to Laramie, the wind was a whole lot less, in the 30s.

Cary

I was goofing around the other day and got my ground speed down to 4 mph on the gps. I didn't quite have enough wind to fly backwards, but it was close enough to hovering for my tastes. I was going to take a picture for posterity, but I was too busy hanging on.

First day taking lessons wind is 28-35kts at 45 degrees to runway. Takeoff was the most interesting I ever had. Instructor woud not let me land. Tower gives him a "Nice Landing". I ask whats is the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for this here 170 and he says that is when you land on one wingtip and one wheel. Then he says if you cant fly in the wind you cant fly in Montana, dont become a hangar rat

I always thought the Dakotas were the most windy region until I visited WY. Living in windy country you stop thinking about wind as a factor in flying. I used to fly my 7ECA everywhere regardless of wind. I recall one flight to Rosebud SD I tried three times to get the wheels on the runway but the crosswind and gusts made it feel like an impending disaster so I landed in a nearby hayfield into the wind. Another time landing at ABR the wind was gusting near 35kts but lined up nicely with the runway. I felt pretty cocky with my smooth landing until I taxied off the runway and found my plane turned instantly into a tetrahedron. Just not enough hp or brakes in a 7ECA to overcome the wind. One of those early lessons in a tailwheel.

You just described Rawlins in a nutshell. Landing into the wind is the easy part. However, you may have to sit on the runway and wait till the fuel guy drives up to the airport and helps you taxi in before you're going to clear the active. That kind of wind makes a person a lot more... creative about where they choose to land!

The good thing is all the line guys in Wyoming are cognizant as to how and when to help out, been there done that. A state with less wind, they might just watch you trying to taxi x wind through the FBO windows. Everyone also seems to be more casual about the need for cross runway or even taxi way take offs or landings if need be. They have seen it all before. Same with the use of the loaner cars, if it's blowing 50 mph and you need to hang out a bit, I've had nothing but great experiences in my Wyoming flying. I also get a kick about how perversely proud they are of their winds, right up there with the Kansans.

"Windy Wyoming" would make a great license plate slogan, and help keep out the riff raff.

Well, you've all given me nightmares about flying over Wyoming. I looked back in my old logbooks because I thought I had landed in Wyoming on a flight from the Seattle area to Oshkosh back in the 80's, Sure enough, I landed in Havre, WY on 7/25/85. I must have won the lottery because my remarks don't say anything about wind that day. On my return flight to the Seattle area, I skipped Wyoming with stops in South Dakota and Montana. In 1991 I made a return to Oshkosh from the Seattle area with a stop in Cheyenne, WY. My notes on the 1991 logbook page do mention fighting headwinds, but nothing about landing challenges. I must have been a better pilot back then.

I am enjoying me introduction to the usairnet.com weather information. That is a really convenient way to digest weather data and I now have the site bookmarked on all of my electronic devices.