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Winds aloft / Wind gradient limits


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If the winds are high at altitude, there's the obvious reason for not going flying if you're not going to penetrate, but when does it actually become unsafe?

What kind of limits do you impose on yourself generally on winds aloft?

Lets say the wind is 7mph at ground level but doubles at 300 feet.  Do you fly and just accept that it's going to be a slow flight or do you stay grounded? 

Not a lot of info about this out there. Hope to get some general idea what people find acceptable.

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There are videos out there of PPG`s doing 70, 80, 90mph + with a significant tailwind so it`s perfectly feasable to fly in strong wind.

I probably wouldn`t fly if the wind was 60mph at surface level, though...

Personally i think twice if the wind aloft is greater than 10mph - not because it`s any more risky or turbulent but due to the type of flying i do - XC`s of 2 - 3 hours, i find crawling along at anything less than 20mph a little tedious, unless of course i haven`t flown for a few weeks and then i will just accept that i won`t be going very far and i`ll probably opt for some high altitude stuff instead. "If you can`t get by, go high"..

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1 hour ago, Hann__ said:

There are videos out there of PPG`s doing 70, 80, 90mph + with a significant tailwind so it`s perfectly feasable to fly in strong wind.

I probably wouldn`t fly if the wind was 60mph at surface level, though...

Personally i think twice if the wind aloft is greater than 10mph - not because it`s any more risky or turbulent but due to the type of flying i do - XC`s of 2 - 3 hours, i find crawling along at anything less than 20mph a little tedious, unless of course i haven`t flown for a few weeks and then i will just accept that i won`t be going very far and i`ll probably opt for some high altitude stuff instead. "If you can`t get by, go high"..

Yeah, I know higher winds don't necessarily make it unsafe, but I'm thinking more about the wind gradient and the possible risks it imposes. For example you can get wind shear when there's a strong gradient. 

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