Final turns with a crosswind
 

I always find it easier to judge final turns when I've flown base leg with the wind behind me; flying base into the crosswind gives me a hard time judging final turn. Anybody else share this? And more importantly, why should it be?

Cheers,

Kev:ok:

Other way round for me. Much more likely to overshoot the turn with the wind behind me.

Agreed yes.

We need to start the turn a bit ealier :ugh:

Much easier with base into wind as if turning a bit late, just have to wait a bit to be blown back into alignment.

With strong tailwind into base, turning late can make things difficult, especially in a glider.

I think pilots place a little too much emphasis on the grace with which they roll out on to final. The danger in trying to judge the turn perfectly is in overcorrecting in the turn, leading to a stall. Get it roughly right, then stabilise the approach and make small corrections, early, to intercept and maintain the centreline.

I wouldn't say I emphasise grace in my turns to final, or in much of my flying for that matter. But I quite agree: don't over-bank, and keep in balance.

I usually try to err (if at all) on being on the upwind side of the final track. It's dead easy to drift a few feet with the wind, but a right b*gger to get on track in the teeth of a strong crosswind.

Grace doesn't feature much in my flying. This is perhaps why I have to deliberately shoot through or cut short my base to finals turn so that I can get the height correct :(.

It was always so much easier with the constant aspect approach. I found flying a square pattern awkward and always have to make sure that I am well upwind of my desired turn. Trying to edge back into the wind to regain final is a b*stard.

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