Weather terms for the landing pattern
Airspeed and ground speed, head, tail and cross components, the wind gradient, gusts and rotor, the sea breeze, density altitude and the windsock — explained as the Academy and the cited articles describe them.
Reviewed Oct 7, 2026 · 10 cited sources · Sources
Airspeed and ground speed
Airspeed is how fast the canopy moves through the air; it gives the wing its lift and does not change with the wind. [1]
Ground speed is airspeed plus a tailwind or minus a headwind, which is why the same canopy covers the ground faster on downwind than on final. [1][2]
Headwind, tailwind and crosswind components
SkyLara splits a stored wind into a head or tail component and a cross component against your landing heading; these come from weather records, never from FlySight. [1][3]
A station some kilometres away or a model grid cell can differ from the wind on your landing area, so these components are labelled as context. [3]
The wind gradient
Friction with the ground slows the wind, so it is usually weaker near the surface than a little higher up; over trees and hangars the gradient is steeper and bumpier, over water or a beach flatter. [4]
Descending into a headwind through the gradient, the wing briefly loses a little airspeed before it settles again — the reason a final through a strong gradient can feel as if the wing sinks. [4]
Gusts, lulls, turbulence and rotor
A gust is a short-lived rise in wind speed and a lull the opposite; the spread between the steady wind and the gusts is what makes a day feel bumpy on final. [5]
Wind flowing over hangars, buildings and tree lines breaks into rolling eddies downwind of them; Pete Allum's article puts their reach at up to about 20 times the obstacle's height. [5][6]
Rich Madeley's article on canopy inputs describes full flight as keeping the wing pressurised in bumpy air, and brakes as giving up airspeed the wing uses to make progress and to flare. [7]
The sea breeze
On a sunny day the land warms faster than the sea, and cooler air flows in from the sea: a sea breeze, often setting in late morning and strengthening into the afternoon. [8]
At a coastal drop zone the surface wind, and with it the landing direction, can change during the day, while the winds aloft keep blowing from a different direction. [8]
Density altitude
Density altitude expresses how thin the air is as an equivalent altitude; hot, high or humid air is thinner. [1]
In thin air the canopy flies at a higher true airspeed for the same lift, so it moves faster over the ground in the same wind and the run-out after the flare is longer. [9]
Windsock, wind limits and winds aloft
The wide end of a windsock faces into the wind; the angle gives a rough speed, and socks that disagree with each other or keep swinging show gusts and turbulence. [10]
Every drop zone sets its own wind limits, and Pete Allum's article describes a limit as a maximum, not a recommendation. [10][6]
The wind at opening altitude is often stronger than at the surface and can blow from another direction; it shapes the spot and the drift, while the surface wind sets the landing direction. [10]
Sources
Each statement above was checked against these sources on Oct 7, 2026. Link checks come from the site's source registry; sources are listed as cited, not endorsed or ranked.
- GlossarySkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Landing pattern & traffic — The landing patternSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Methodology — Weather limitationsSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Weather for canopy pilots — The wind gradient near the groundSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Weather for canopy pilots — Gusts, turbulence and thermalsSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Skydivemag — Know your wind limits, part 2 (Pete Allum, Flight-1) · www.skydivemag.comchecked Oct 7, 2026
- Skydivemag — Canopy Inputs: What To Use And When (Rich Madeley, PD test jumper) · www.skydivemag.comchecked Oct 7, 2026
- Weather for canopy pilots — The sea breeze at coastal drop zonesSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Weather for canopy pilots — Density altitude — hot and high airSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.
- Weather for canopy pilots — The windsock, wind limits and winds aloftSkyLara page — the sources behind it are listed on that page.