Maximum Safe Crosswind Velocities
A recent FAA email pointed out this interesting fact about what is commonly referred to as “Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind”. From the Airplane Flying Handbook p. 8-17.
Before an airplane is type certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it must be flight tested to meet certain requirements. Among these is the demonstration of being satisfactorily controllable with no exceptional degree of skill or alertness on the part of the pilot in 90° crosswinds up to a velocity equal to 0.2 VSO. This means a windspeed of two-tenths of the airplane’s stalling speed with power off and landing gear/flaps down. Regulations require that the demonstrated crosswind velocity be included on a placard in airplanes certificated after May 3, 1962.
I’ve seen a lot of airplanes and I’ve never seen a placard indicating the demonstrated crosswind velocity. Probably because they were all certificated under CAR3 in the 1950s. The general rule of thumb I’ve used is that 10kts is no big deal, 15 kts is tricky.
Using the information in the Airplane Flying Handbook, my old 182F has a VSO (flaps out 40°) of around 51 kts. So the Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind is 10.2 kts.
My 210L has a VSO (landing gear down and flaps out 30°) of 51 kts. So the Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind is 11.3 kts.
My Cherokee 140 has a VSO (flaps out 30°) of around 48 kts. So the Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind is 9.6 kts.
None of these has a placard or data in the POH.