Crosswind Component Calculator
AVIATION REFERENCE TOOL
Crosswind Component Calculator
Estimate headwind, tailwind and crosswind components from a reported wind and runway heading. Values are rounded to the nearest knot.
Wind angle40° right
Crosswind12 kt from right
Headwind14 kt
Gust crosswind
How the calculation works
The calculator finds the smallest angle between the runway heading and wind direction. Crosswind equals wind speed multiplied by the sine of that angle; headwind or tailwind equals wind speed multiplied by its cosine.
Runway numbers are rounded to the nearest ten degrees. When precision matters, use the published runway magnetic heading rather than multiplying the runway number by ten.
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