Working out the crosswind component

[hvogt]

Hi Cactus99

You can calculate the crosswind component as follows:

XWIND = WIND SPEED * SIN (WIND ANGLE)

Example:

RWY 27, wind 300 degrees 20 knots. Wind angle is 30 degrees. Sine of 30 degrees is 0.5. Crosswind is 10 knots.

For mental calculations you obviously have to use rounded values for the sine function. I use:

SIN(0°)=0
SIN(10°)=0.2
SIN(20°)=0.3
SIN(30°)=0.5
SIN(40°)=0.6
SIN(50°)=0.8
SIN(60°)=0.9
SIN(70°)=0.9
SIN(80°)=1
SIN(90°)=1

As you can see the values are rounded amply. That way you're always on the safe side.