In a slow flying glider winds aloft can really matter as I think you’ll agree with me after reading my little story below.
It is not too often that you encounter this, but sometimes the winds aloft at even relatively low altitudes can be substantially different in both direction and magnitude from the surface winds. I experienced this a few times in my flying career while flying an aircraft with a real-time, very accurate wind readout. One time in an overhead pattern I saw a 50 knot crosswind at 1700′ AGL become a 10 knot headwind on final. It was an interesting phenomenon, one that would perhaps require some adjustments in a visual landing pattern even for a fast-moving aircraft.
Gliders and general aviation aircraft often are not equipped with systems that compute and display real-time wind data. That said, several CCSC members do fly with flight computers that compute and consider winds for glide path guidance. Even without a flight computer though, you can determine the winds by taking note of your ground speed and drift effects.
I once took a 5000′ AGL tow in the Grob 102. Up front let me say I did not check the winds aloft before my flight. Bad, wrong, not smart…yep! As a result even though I released within 2 NM of CCSC at 5000’ AGL, in less than 5 minutes I was faced with the real possibility of landing out in a farmer’s field. How did this happen?
We were operating on runway 09 with the surface winds out of the southeast at 6 knots or so. Takeoff and tow were normal, and I released about 1 NM northwest of the rock causeway on the west end of Caesar Creek Reservoir which is about 2 NM from CCSC. I then decided to head northeast in the direction of a friend’s farm a few miles south of Xenia.
Based on the day’s conditions I knew there was no thermal lift to be had, so I fully expected to be in a continuous descent from release (hence the very high tow). I would naturally pad my return point accordingly. I did not, however, give proper attention to potential wind impacts. Since we were taking off to the east with a light front quarter headwind, I subconsciously expected a headwind or crosswind at worst as I headed northeast. In reality, the winds aloft at 3000′ and above were from the southwest and quite strong. I learned after the fact that the winds aloft were forecasted to be 210/34 at 3000′ and 210/42 at 6000′. So, once I released at 5000’ AGL heading ~050 I was actually cooking along at about 85 knots Ground Speed (GS) thanks to a nearly direct tailwind as I flew 50 knots IAS (no wind best L/D airspeed in the Grob 102).
At about 4400′ AGL and nearly 8 NM from CCSC — just 4 minutes after release — some air sense kicked in and I decided to do a 360 degree turn to assess my situation before proceeding any farther from the airfield. I immediately noticed by looking outside that I had very little ground speed when pointed southwest. A quick glance at XCSoar showed that my ground speed was just 15 knots even though I was flying 50 knots IAS. That meant I was faced with a ~35 knot headwind to return to CCSC. The same wind that had just pushed me along at ~1.5 NM per minute as a tailwind would now as a headwind require me to fly 4 minutes to go just 1 NM! Ugh…I had a bit of a problem.
Now what? Remember learning how to compute a speed-to-fly considering a headwind? Often what we learn to pass a test or checkride seems theoretical, and perhaps for some pilots the rule-of-thumb about adding 1/2 of the headwind component to L/D falls into that category. Well, it shouldn’t. Let me illustrate why. In simple terms, if you are flying at 50 knots and you have a 50 knot headwind, you are going nowhere. So, it is clear that adjusting your speed to fly due to a headwind can become essential. In my case, if I had just flown the no wind L/D to return to CCSC I would have continued to track along at just 15 knots GS. I had about 8 miles to go, and at 15 knots GS, it would have taken ~ 32 mins to get back to CCSC. With a constant rate descent of ~200 FPM on a non-thermal day this wasn’t going to work out real well. (Some math: 4400’ AGL – 32 mins x 200 FPM is not a positive number!) So recalling the wind correction rule-of-thumb, I added 15 knots (1/2 the headwind component) to L/D and flew between 65-70 knots on the return to CCSC.
Well, was this going to work…and how could I know? How can you know in your future flying adventures? There is actually a rather simple way. As you fly toward the airfield pay close attention to where it is on the canopy and notice how that changes over time. Do not stare at the field as you fly toward it as it is harder that way to pick up a trend in any angular change. Rather, look away from the field for say 15 seconds while doing something productive such as a visual scan for traffic. Then, take another look at the field. Repeat. What do you see? Is the airfield moving down the canopy? Good! Is the airfield staying in the same place on the canopy? Probably good but keep an eye on it. Is the airfield moving up in the canopy? Not good! You likely aren’t going to make the field unless you come across some lift, get out of excessive sink, or perhaps increase your glide speed by 1/2 the velocity of any headwind component. If you see the field continuing to move up in the canopy while faced with a strong headwind, consider turning in a direction to convert the headwind into a tailwind or crosswind as this may make it possible to easily reach airfields behind or to the side of you. 
In my case, the CCSC airfield was stationary on the canopy…probably good…so I continued on to CCSC.
Long story short, I landed via a normal pattern to runway 09 at CCSC. However, if I had gone another mile or two northeast before discovering that strong tailwind it would have gotten much more interesting. At 85 knots GS going northeast it would have only taken about 1 additional minute for me to have reached a point where I could not have made it back to CCSC.
In the end, I learned and re-learned and a lot from this flight. Here are some key points that I hope you will consider:
- With the slow speeds that gliders fly, flying in the wrong direction with strong winds can rather quickly get you into a situation where you may not be able to get to your desired destination. Again, in my case it took less than 5 mins of flying in the wrong direction to be confronted with the possibility of a landout…and that just after a 5000′ AGL release close to the field in a relatively high-performance fiberglass aircraft.
- Check the winds aloft every day you fly …you may notice something surprising!
- Takeoff direction does not define where the upwind direction is…the winds aloft do.
- Before takeoff, if possible note the direction the clouds are moving and how quickly. That would not have worked on this day as there was a high overcast of uniform clouds and so there was no easily discernible movement.
- Do wind analysis when airborne. The winds aloft report… if you checked it and it is current…may not be accurate. Looking out the window, how do you perceive your GS? Faster than normal? Slower? If equipped with a GPS, what is it saying? Also, are you drifting sideways with respect to your nose position? If time permits, you can turn to the cardinal headings (N, E, S, W) to best assess drift and determine the wind direction. Once you figure out the wind direction, if you turn into the wind and slow to just above minimum controllable airspeed, you can estimate the wind speed by how quickly…or not…you are tracking across the ground. Are you going forward, are you stationary, or are you perhaps even tracking backwards? (As we enter the winter months, strong winds aloft can occur which makes tracking backwards a possibility.) Note that gliders equipped with flight computers may need to make a few 360 degree turns to accurately determine wind direction and speed. How do the computers figure out the wind? When 360 degree turns are made the position of the aircraft changes over time and this information is used to determine the wind direction and speed.
- Always assess wind effects whether you are on a flight staying close to the airfield or headed cross-country to a different destination. In retrospect, I was moving along the ground faster than normal. I should have picked up that I had a strong tailwind sooner than I did, especially since I was flying with XCSoar which provided me with GS.
- Computing and using a speed to fly to offset headwind effects works…and can be absolutely necessary. It was in my case.
- You can visually determine if you are going to reach a given destination by noting whether the field is rising, remaining stationary, or falling in the canopy.
- During this flight I was so focused on getting back to CCSC that I didn’t consider other options. I fought that headwind and faced some uncertainty for a few minutes. I ultimately made it back but I easily could have ended up short in a farmer’s field facing unknown risks and certain inconvenience. I later had an epiphany: the headwind I was fighting could have been smartly used as a tailwind to very easily get me to Greene County Airport some 9 miles to the north. So…if necessary, turn a headwind into a tailwind (or crosswind) to get to a safe landing spot. This gameplan can apply to an engine-out powered aircraft as well.
I will reiterate what I said above… I should have checked the winds aloft before I flew. Lesson learned! I think though that it is not uncommon for pilots to skip checking the weather and NOTAMS for local flights as it takes time and it is a diversion from heading straight to the flight line to fly. In light of that, I would like to make a renewed push for each crew to post the weather…to include winds aloft… and NOTAMS…each and every day we fly. This has been hit or miss at best since the idea was first proposed. Obtaining and posting this data takes just a few minutes and will benefit everyone. Please utilize the whiteboard on the trailer for that purpose.
Below is a graphical depiction of my flight from the SeeYou program with key annotations added:
Fly safe…have fun!
Kevin Price
kevinpricefi@gmail.com
Caesar Creek Soaring Club (CCSC) Safety Officer
Revised Nov 2025