💨 Crosswind Calculator
Enter the wind speed, the direction it's from, and your runway heading to split the wind into its crosswind and headwind components — and see the angle off the runway centreline.
🛬 How Much Crosswind?
What is a Crosswind Calculator?
It resolves a reported wind into the two components that matter for takeoff and landing: the crosswind that pushes the aircraft sideways across the runway, and the headwind (or tailwind) that shortens or lengthens the ground roll. It also reports the wind angle off the runway centreline.
Use it to see how a wind splits into its two components and how quickly the crosswind grows as the angle opens. The results are illustrative estimates, not a go/no-go answer: compare them, gusts included, with the maximum demonstrated crosswind in the aircraft's POH/AFM, the current conditions and your own limits.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How is the crosswind component calculated?
It's the wind speed multiplied by the sine of the angle between the wind and the runway; the headwind component is the wind speed times the cosine of that angle. So a wind straight down the runway is all headwind and no crosswind, a wind at 90° is all crosswind, and angles in between split the two. Enter the wind speed, the direction it's coming from, and the runway heading, and the tool returns each component in knots.
What's the difference between a headwind and a tailwind here?
The headwind component is positive when the wind opposes your direction of travel down the runway and negative when it pushes you along it — a tailwind. This calculator shows a tailwind as a negative headwind and labels it accordingly. Tailwinds lengthen the takeoff and landing roll, so if you see one, consider the opposite runway.
What crosswind is too much?
Every aircraft has a maximum demonstrated crosswind component in its flight manual — it's a demonstrated value from certification, not always a hard limit, but it's the number to plan against. Your personal limits, gusts, runway condition, and currency all matter too. Always compare the calculated crosswind, including the gust value, against your aircraft's figure and your own minimums.
Should I use the steady wind or the gusts?
Plan for the gusts. A runway with a 12-knot steady crosswind gusting to 22 can briefly hand you a 22-knot crosswind at the worst moment of the flare. Run the calculation with the gust speed to see the worst case, and give yourself margin. These results are illustrative estimates; compare the actual conditions with the maximum demonstrated crosswind in your POH/AFM and your own limits.
Is the wind direction true or magnetic?
Runway numbers are magnetic. Winds in METARs and TAFs are reported relative to true north, while winds given by ATIS and the tower are usually magnetic. Before comparing a METAR wind with a runway heading, convert it to magnetic by applying the local magnetic variation, or the crosswind and headwind can come out wrong where the variation is large.