I am not sure what you are driving at. You say that you agree with both Hufty and myself and then say we are talking rubbish. Forgive me, but which is it
Sorry, Papi, I could have made it slightly clearer where I agree with you and where I don't.
I agree that if your manual states that there is a limit and you don't comply with it, you are almost certainly not insured since compliance with the POH is normally a requirement of insurance.
I also agree that if your club's Flying Order Book gives a limit and you don't comply with it, you are almost certainly not insured since compliance with the FOB is normally a requirement of insurance for club aircraft.
However, what I do not agree with is that the "demonstrated cross wind" is a limit which must be complied with. Many aircraft manuals give a demonstrated cross wind, but do
not give a limit. And in these cases, if the aircraft is privately owned, or if it is a club aircraft and the club does not set a limit (or you are exempt from any limits the club sets), then there is no limit. The example I have given of a C172 (complete with a quote of the relevant section of the manual) is an aircraft which does not have a limit.
My club, which operates two C172s, imposes a limit of 8kts for solo students and 12kts for PPLs for depature, and the same limits on forecast winds for landings, with a warning that if the wind becomes outside these limits during flight, consideration should be given to diverting. Solo students and PPLs must comply with these limits to be insured, and we will not rent aircraft to anyone if the wind, or the forecast wind, is outside these limits. However, we do not have a limit for holders of CPL or higher licenses.
Since I hold a CPL, I regularly, legally, and being fully insured, fly in cross-winds far exceeding the 15kts demonstrated limit of the aircraft, to carry out trial lessons for example. I will also teach students (with an appropriate amount of prior experience that they will benefit from it, of course) or existing PPLs how to handle these strong crosswinds, because a) it will give them confidence to improve their personal limits up to the club's limits, and b) there is always a chance that the wind will do something other than forecast during a trip, and the wind will be outside their limits when they return. (The club's rules do not prevent them from making an approach in these conditions, they merely caution that consideration should be given to diverting.)
To the best of my knowledge, the rules my club sets are fairly typical of the majority of other clubs.
FFF
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