Nasty Winds at Airports

It used to be that surface winds of the 48 lower states typically were moderate. Yes, there were exceptions. For example, Flagstaff, AZ almost daily has strong and sometimes very strong winds from the southwest. 

But now rather frequently, winds even in the Dallas area are very strong and gusty. Hence it may be useful to review how we should handle that situation. 

Taxiing

While taxiing, two simple rules tell how to use the aileron and elevator. 

If the wind comes at you from the front, position the aileron as if you were banking into the wind. At the same time, pull the elevator a bit as if you wanted to climb.  "Climb into a headwind" is a good sentence to remember the rule.

If the wind comes from behind, bank away from the wind and position the elevator for a descent. "Dive away from a tailwind" summarizes the action.

The rules require quick action when you are turning rapidly, since the direction of the wind shifts quickly and thus requires continuous adjustment of aileron and elevator.

Takeoff

The rule "Climb into a headwind" becomes "Turn into the headwind" during the takeoff, since the trim of the elevator already correctly positions the elevator. It's easy to forget "Turn into the headwind" since you are focused on tracking the runway and watching the airspeed. 

But if you do not follow the rule, the wind may push the plane sideways off the runway, all the while exerting a strong side load on the wheel bearings. 

As the plane accelerates to takeoff speed, you gradually reduce the aileron. At rotation, the upwind main wheel will stay a bit longer on the ground. Once that wheel has lifted off, you control the plane as usual.

Landing

Strong winds are often accompanied by gusts. Say, the wind is 20 kts with gusts to 26 kts. When landing, the rule taught in flight school says that you add half of the gust factor, in the example case (26-20)/2 = 3kts, to the landing speed.

What happens when the situation is temporarily much worse? The plane may stall suddenly, you may get a very hard landing, or bend metal in the worst case. 

A different rule described by Barry Schiff in AOPA Pilot of December 2010, avoids this. On final, you select the air speed so that the ground speed indicated by GPS is equal to the landing speed. 

With that choice, the plane cannot ever stall during the approach. Once over the runway, you gradually reduce the speed until you touch down. 

It may still happen that you enter an unintended stall while close to the ground, and you may bump onto the runway. But that bump is always mild and will not damage the plane.

You apply the same rule when there is a crosswind. Of course, you make sure that the crosswind component is something you can handle.

On final, you compensate for the crosswind by turning the plane into the wind. Just before touchdown, you apply rudder to line up the plane with the runway and simultaneously use the aileron to counteract the resulting drift. The jargon is, "You kick the plane around."

At this point, you are cross-controlled, something you generally want to avoid. But this action takes place very close to the ground, and a stall cannot result in the deadly spin induced by crossed controls. 

The upwind wheel touches down first, then the downwind wheel. At that point, it's hugely important that you increase the aileron input. If not done, the crosswind will lift the upwind wing and toss the plane back into the air.

Parking

When parking at a refueling station with strong winds, position the plane so that it cannot possibly be pushed into the facility as you exit the plane. Then use chocks to hold the plane in place. 

It's clever to carry the chocks with you since self-service refueling stations rarely provide them.

An Example

In May, 2025 we had an opportunity to use all these rules. Approaching the Andrews, TX airport E11, the wind was announced as 20kts gusting to 26 kts. 

Fortunately, Andrews has three runways, so there is always one with no or small crosswind. During final, we used ground speed equal to landing speed.

Just before touching down, a gust threw up the plane, we compensated by pushing the nose down, then immediately pulled back up. Then, close to the ground, the plane stalled. It was a mild bump of no consequence.

Taxiing to the terminal was a challenge due to repeated turns. But adhering to the above rules, we managed to do that okay. 

Refueling was another difficult problem since there was no help when we climbed out of the plane, and the plane swiveled around. But we controlled that, too, and after another 20 minutes were back in the air.

This was a comparatively easy case since there was little crosswind during the landing. Here is a much more challenging situation.

A Nasty Example

Once month later, in June, 2025, the Plainview, Texas airport KPVW had wind 18kts, gusting to 26, with a crosswind component of 14 kts gusting to 18. 

I approached the runway with landing speed = GPS ground speed and controlled the drift by a severe crab.

 Just as I was kicking the plane around to touch down with the left main wheel, a gust pitched up the plane like a toy. The thought "Like a child throwing up a ball" flashed through my brain.

I immediately recovered by adding full left aileron and pitching down, crabbed again, kicked the plane around, and luckily this time no gust pitched up the plane. 

The left main wheel touched the runway, then the right main wheel settled down. As all this happened, I added left aileron up to the stop to prevent the left wing from pitching up. The aileron position also prevented the plane from drifting off the runway.

Taxiing was another challenge since it required several turns. 

At the FBO, the line tech directed me so that the plane pointed directly into the wind. He added chocks. 

I opened the canopy a bit and asked, "Could you please hold the canopy with both hands so that I can climb out?" He did so. 

He then said, "That was a beautiful landing." Indeed, it was the best landing I have ever made under such severe conditions.

After refueling the tanks, he left the fuel truck in front of the plane to shield it from the blasting wind.

For the departure, he again held the canopy, I climbed in, he removed the chocks, then moved the truck. The plane started shaking in the wind.

Taxiing to the runway was another challenge. And then the takeoff! I held full left aileron to keep the plane from drifting off the runway. Used the rudder, which is directly connected to the nose gear, to keep direction.

When I rotated for liftoff, the plane immediately dipped the left wing. I corrected with the aileron and started crabbing over the runway. It was the reverse of the process during the landing.

The Takeaway

When you are approaching an airport with major wind condition, say while still 30 minutes away, you may want to review all these steps mentally, even practice them if you haven't done them for a while.

As a result, you will be well prepared for the landing, taxiing, and so on. The mental preparation was particularly important for the nasty landing at Plainview, Texas.

Yes, it's likely that there will be unanticipated events calling for quick reaction. You can focus on them while handling the other aspects using the recently refreshed memory. 

That method has worked well for me.