GREAT FALLS — On very windy days like we had on Wednesday in Great Falls, prospective pilots can and will still get their training in.
“With strong winds you get strong turbulence, and it’s going to take some additional power. Usually, if the winds are coming pretty much straight up the runway, it's not a huge problem. But you do have to power up in order to maintain your altitude, because those winds will push you down in terms of altitude,” explained Peter Dascoulias, a flight instructor with Cloud Catcher Aviation.
It all depends on if they have a runway that is oriented directly into the wind to work with, and how comfortable the prospective pilots are. They monitor the weather conditions often to ensure flying and landing safely.
“We will fly up into winds of 30 knots or maybe a little more; it depends on the student and the spot they’re at in their training. I like them to get as much real-world experience as they can,” Dascoulias said. “We have a system here called an ASOS, automated surface observation system. We can tune into that on the radio in the airplane and listen to what the winds are doing. It's almost a minute-by-minute update.”
The Great Falls International Airport has two runways that are oriented for the strong southwest winds that Great Falls is used to, which means wind really doesn’t impact the flights very often.
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“All together, we have very, very good wind coverage, and the only time you really have major problems is if you have gusting cross winds that are going to hit the wings at the side, and particularly if there's a gusting component to it,” said John Faulkner, director for the Great Falls International Airport.
Faulkner said each of the airlines that fly in and out of the airport have well trained pilots, who are able to land safely in windy conditions; however, it’s ultimately up to the pilots themselves.
“It's always the pilot's discretion as to what he's comfortable landing in. So, there are times when the pilot might say, you know, I’m not comfortable with that condition on the surface or I’m not comfortable with what's happening above the surface, you know, there's heavy clouds or something, and so they might land somewhere else,” said Faulkner.
