Originally Posted by madmax1609
HI guys . I am a beginner and was wondering what would be your opinion in flying my plane at 15/17 mph winds, I have a Wot 4 foam-e .
Just would like to fly tomorrow and the weather forecast says that there is some wind .
I've put my 8 pound kilowatt powered model in the air at 15 MPH, even did one flight at 25 MPH. But it is not fun. At all.
Taking off and flying is usually not a problem if you have a fast and powerful model. The problem is the landings. Even if the wind is blowing straight down the runway (and it usually is not), the wind at 20 feet high can be very different than the wind at 5 feet off the ground.
So, while you're making your approach in the 15 Mph at 20 feet, you get near the ground, where the wind is now 5 MPH, and your model just lost airspeed, and pounds into the ground. Result is bent landing gear or worse.
I once flew a very light model in 12 MPH winds. Got it back to the ground very nicely. Then I taxied the model back to the pit area. While doing the taxi back to the pit, the wind picked the model off the ground and cart wheeled it a few times, and busted the fuse in half. Fixed it, but that plane now sits in my work shop without a motor or radio.