Crosswind behaviour

[Heimi 91]

the behaviour of the aircrafts during crosswinds is strange in flight.Ok the crosswind push the aircrafts away from the course.But sometimes the wind pushes the plane away from the wind and sometimes it pulls it into the wind!?I know about the windvane effect, but whe you have 30kts crosswind from the right, it shouldn`t pull your course to the right but the left.in the most cases Flight does it wrong, sometimes (but few times) it does it correct.Anyone observed the same?

[LHookins 3,113]

What I have observed is that the weathervane effect always pushes your nose into the wind. Are you saying that something else should be happening?Hook

[Heimi 91]

Yes it should push you away from your course in same direction the wind blows. But often i observe that it is pulled into wind direction, which is wrong.Should be like his, but sometimes it is opposite (resultant path into wind).

[LHookins 3,113]

I was thinking more about the plane on the runway, but I understand now that you're talking about normal flight.Yesterday I did a flight with a 39 knot crosswind in the Icon. I had to point the nose about 30 degrees into the wind to keep on my intended course. If I pointed my nose directly at my destination, I'd be blown off course downwind.I've never seen an instance where the wind didn't act this way, and I've flown a lot.In the very beginning I wasn't sure if the wind arrow on the HUD was pointing to the direction the wind was coming from, or in the direction it was blowing. Figured it out by sitting on the runway and watching my airspeed gauge. The arrow points in the direction the wind is blowing. Hook

[FrankFasi 0]

If your wind correction is too great you will fly off course to the windward side. So the test with a direct crosswind: pick a landmark on the near distant horizon. Line up your aircraft so that the nose of your plane is pointing right at the the landmark. Do not adjust your heading to compensate. You should start to immediately drift off course downwind.It's similar to a rule of thumb used for determining if you're too far away from a landing area when your engine goes out. If your engine dies and after setting up your best glide you notice the intended landing area begins to move out of view below your aircraft--you have more than enough alt to make the field; whereas, if the landing field begins to move up in your field of view--look for a closer field because you probably won't make the field you're heading towards.

[Gibbage 199]

Also note that the wind WILL SHIFT A LOT. There is no global wind direction. Altitude and location both effect wind direction.

[LHookins 3,113]

There's an easy test to see which way your plane is drifting. Fly straight and level and go to the top down view and zoom in close to the ground. You'll see the ground moving at an angle.Hook