Trikes and Winds

[Arnulf]

Stormy, gsuty winds, and winds near mountains are to be avoided


This is a topic I believe deserves much more coverage in the theory of an MPL.

Maybe the hanggliging/paragliding fraternity could be squeezed for some info on this subject.

[Morph]

Many pilots have no idea what a rotor is and how dangerous it can be to flying and how far away (above or beyond) you need to be from a mountain to nit get caught in one.

A rough rule we use in the Cape is 1000ft clearence above per 10kt of wind. What is important is to phone the met office and get the wind strength at that altitude, not at ground level. Weather SA's low level wind charts for today for Cape Town show surface wind at 288deg 17kt but at 6500ft, the height of the mountains you want to cross it is 314deg 40kt . In this case you would need to climb to 10500ft to safely clear the mountains.

I am not sure on the lateral distance from the mountain but I would be inclined to use the same calculation, in this case, make sure you have reached the safe altitude at least 4000 feet away from the leeward side of the mountain (1000ft per 10kt of wind) which is about 3/4 Mile. In fact I would probably do the 2 miles away or even further.

Winds this strong cause standing waves on the leeward side of the mountain that extend for a long long way. Not safe to be near mountains

[Junkie]

Easterlies make for some exciting times down here.... had to resort to curving approach into Goeverwacht on one occasion to get one wheel down, bar in to get stopped before the wind could tip me over - dont wann do that again in a hurry ..really shite feeling