Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Reduced Flaps for Landing with Gusts

Asked by: 3391 views General Aviation

I've heard both sides of the argument. What are reasons and pros/cons of using partial flaps for landing in gusty conditions. Thank you.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Skyfox on Jun 15, 2016

    I was always trained the same way, to use partial flaps or no flaps at all when landing in a stiff crosswind or gusty conditions. All I can remember for the reasoning is better control response, flaps can aerodynamically hide the tail control surfaces, and it results in a higher final approach and touchdown speed to help keep the aircraft away from stall speed in case of an errant gust.

    The only thing in text I can find about the subject (while I’m at work; my stack of text books is at home) is from the Airplane Flying Handbook [FAA-H-8083-3B]:

    “Flaps can and should be used during most approaches since they tend to have a stabilizing effect on the airplane. The degree to which flaps should be extended will vary with the airplane’s handling characteristics, as well as the wind velocity.”

    Over the years when going up for practice flights in the small things I’m used to flying, quite often, even on a calm day, I’d practice partial- and no-flap landings just to keep it fresh in my mind how the plane would handle at those higher speeds on landing without the benefit of flaps, whether a future landing requires it due to high winds or flap extension malfunction. Larger aircraft will likely be operated with full flap landings in all wind conditions.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.