Wind Window & Crosswind Calculator
Enter a wind speed and how far off the ideal line it's blowing to see the headwind and crosswind components, checked against general guidance bands for your experience level.
Wind window
How this calculator works
This is the same headwind/crosswind decomposition used across aviation: the wind vector is split into a component along the ideal line into the slope or runway (headwind) and a component perpendicular to it (crosswind), using cosine and sine of the angle between them.
The "within general guidance" check compares your total wind speed and crosswind component against conservative, widely-cited recreational bands for four broad experience levels. It's a starting point for thinking about a day's conditions, not a go/no-go decision — that call belongs to you, your instructor, and the actual conditions on site.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 'wind window' at a launch or ridge?
It's the range of wind directions and speeds a given site can be flown in reasonably. Wind straight into the slope (a headwind component) is generally the most manageable; wind angled across it introduces a crosswind component that makes ground handling, launch, and landing progressively trickier as the angle increases.
How do headwind and crosswind components work?
Any wind arriving at an angle can be broken into two parts using simple trigonometry: the component blowing straight into the slope (headwind = wind speed × cosine of the angle off) and the component blowing across it (crosswind = wind speed × sine of the angle off). A wind straight in your face is all headwind; a wind at 90° is all crosswind.
Where do the guidance numbers in this tool come from?
They're general, conservative recreational bands by rough experience level, not a certification standard or a substitute for your school's or club's own site-specific limits. Real sites vary hugely in rotor, gust factor, and terrain, so the same wind speed can be entirely reasonable at one site and unflyable at another.
The tool says I'm 'within guidance' — does that mean it's safe to fly?
No. It means the wind speed and crosswind component you entered fall under a generic recreational ceiling for the level you selected — nothing more. Local turbulence, rotor behind obstacles, gust factor, thermal cycles, and your own currency all matter and aren't captured here. Always get a current, in-person assessment from a certified instructor or experienced local pilot before you fly.
General guidance only, not a substitute for certified instruction or an in-person site assessment. Crosswind and gust conditions are a leading factor in launch and landing incidents — when in doubt, don't fly, and always defer to a certified instructor's or experienced local pilot's read on the day.