💨 Crosswind Component
Headwind and crosswind from wind speed and angle
About this calculator
The Crosswind Component calculator breaks a reported wind into headwind and crosswind parts for a runway. Enter wind direction, wind speed, and runway heading; it uses trigonometry — wind speed times the sine of the angle between wind and runway — to give the crosswind, plus the headwind or tailwind component from the cosine. Compare the crosswind against your aircraft's demonstrated limit.
Tip: gusts count — use the gust factor, not the steady wind, when judging a landing, because the airplane feels the peak, not the average.