Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

“Winds Aloft” When Cruising Under 3000 Feet

Asked by: 2639 views General Aviation, Private Pilot, Student Pilot, Weather

If I have to cruise well below 3,000 feet, what should I do to get my winds aloft for my cross country planning? 

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. KDS on Apr 18, 2019

    The FAA answer would say interpolate between surface winds and the lowest winds aloft.

    As a rule of thumb, the wind at 3,000 AGL will be about 30 degrees to the right of the surface wind in the Northern Hemisphere due to coriolis effect.

    I’ll also add that unless it either has a turbine engine or you own it and fly it a lot, figure that it’s going to fly slower than the book says and burn more fuel than the book says. While you’re at it, also figure the winds are going to be more unfavorable than the forecast says.

    I once ran out of fuel while trying to calibrate my gas gauge. I didn’t like the experience. Fortunately, it was in a Ford Mustang. A similar event in a Cessna or Piper is even less pleasant.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 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.