How does a windsock work? Answer by CAPTAIN JOE

▼▼My FLIGHT-KIT I highly recommend for you guys▼▼

▼▼The VIDEO EQUIPMENT I use in my studio and outdoors▼▼
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends and followers, today I´ll be answering a recently asked question, what is a windsock and how does it work. 
A windsock is a conical shape textile tube (which resembles a giant sock, hence its name) designed to indicate wind direction and relative wind speed.
It is normally placed next to the runway or a helipad, so that pilots can clearly see it after lining up on the runway or coming in for landing. It´s also indicated on most airport ground charts with this little symbol.
During night operation it is well lit either from the ground or lamps installed within the sock.
It´s general purpose is to give pilots a quick reference as to where the wind is coming from and the approximate speed. Before accelerating for take-off you take a quick glance at it, so you can give the necessary rudder inputs whilst rolling down the runway. 
To determine the wind direction you look at your compass, check your heading, and then estimate the pointing angle of the windsock relative to your heading.
The wind direction is the opposite of the direction in which the windsock is pointing. Which means, if we had a wind blowing from the west at 270 degrees and 10 knots, the windsock would point towards heading east, cause of the direction it is blowing in. I´ll show you this in a example. 
But why does the sock have red and white rings ?
They are there to measure the wind velocity. Each ring indicates 5 knots of wind. So as we look at this video here, we have one,two rings fully blown up, and the last three are slightly tilted downwards, so that sums up to 2 rings times 5 knots, respectively windspeed of 10 knots. But at the same time you can see that the sock sometimes is fully blown up and flapping about, so you could expect some gusts as well. In the background I can see the runway, knowing it´s heading of 260 degrees I assume that the sock is pretty parallel to it, so guess the wind direction will be approximately 260 degrees. So let´s take a look at the ATIS read out. So not to bad what we´ve estimated, 260 degrees 10knots and gust, and if you compare that to the ATIS read out we got there fairly close. Again, a windsock is only for a quick reference, if you want a proper wind information you would have to listen to the ATIS or ask tower control.
So you can see, they are fairly easy to interpret and a great help to get a quick wind information. They are easy to install and cheap to maintain. It is required by flight regulations that even the smallest airport has at least one visible windsock. 

I hope you enjoyed this video and I´ve answered another aviation related question for you. So give me a thumbs up, subscribe my channel, and if you have further questions don´t hesitate to comment below.

Thanks for watching and see you next time
Your captain Joe

Look out for the wind sock the next your sitting in your passengers seat. You will most probably see them as we taxi towards the runway.

[gafoot]

My flight instructors always taught me 'just remember- eat the carrot', meaning you visualize the windsock as a carrot pointing most closely to the runway most suitable for use, and you then you land towards it as you would eat a carrot pointy end first. (If you're the kind of person who eats carrots stub end first...subtract 180!). Your content is great, I'm glad I found you!

[metalpower]

As an aviation enthusiast, I always love watching your soothing and informative videos, cheers from Morocco!

[Kevin-sgxc]

I love watching your videos. You are very relaxing to listen to. I hate flying, but I'd be much more at ease knowing you were in the cockpit!

[ariwib]

Thanks capt! I was thought the red-white segments just for visibility purpose

[Jimmy]

Ive always wondered about the separate lines of red and white and figured it had something to do with wind speed.
Thank you very much for clarifying it for me. No more wondering now😉

[peacefuljeffrey]

I was taught by my dad that a windsock should be thought of like a trumpet, and that when you’re taking off or landing the airplane, imagine you’re being “blown out of the windsock.” Its easy then to remember which direction the windsock is telling you to point the airplane.

[mdkh]

Danke das so ein netter pilot sich zeit nimmt uns richtig geile videos hochzustellen! Deine videos sind richtig geil

[kenneychappuis]

I stumbled across your channel and I'm so glad did. I had a job that required me to fly 20k miles a month and you answering so many question I had. Thank you

[hitormisshuh]

How does this guy have time to edit, make and post videos WHILE being a pilot ?!?! You're amazing!!

[simulator]

So wie Du erklärst, ist das gut verständlich für fast alle Zuschauer! Sehr gut!

[smtyproductions]

Thanks. My second grade class was talking about wind socks today. I am going to show them this video tomorrow.

[kryptopower]

Captain Joe is the best, such a good teacher.

[neurofiedyamato]

something about your videos just make it so enjoyable to watch.

[CowboyFrankHarrell]

Here in the western US, in addition to airports, we occasionally see a windsock along major highways where strong cross winds are common to help big trucks know what to expect.

[easycookingtravelvlogsbypa]

Thanks captain for the explanation... My 7 years old son was asking me about windsock... So just came here and saw ur video... Thanks for the detailed info...

[ruzainirosli]

Thanks Capt Joe. Now I know why windsocks have 2 colours hehe

[MJLeger-yjww]

Great explanation of the windsock. I think most people know to fly into a headwind, (so fly into the tail of the windsock, not the nose), but I doubt everyone knows that the stripes equal 5 knots. At my home airport, the windsock is solid orange (an uncontrolled airport -- no tower) so we had to guess at the wind speed most of the time, and due to mountains on downwind, then flat on base, then ocean to flat on final, then a hill opposite the center of the runway, crabbing in was the norm. The sock could be straight out at runway entry and then at 90 degrees at the center of the runway, so you really needed to get ready to crab or slip in with plenty of rudder/aileron control. And sudden gusts could change things rapidly! (One time, I was about 10' off the runway when a gust nearly blew me off the runway and into a barb-wire fence and I instantly had to power up and go around! Wind shear!)

[rowenanelson]

Thanks Captain Joe I was experiencing difficulty understanding how it works and as a student pilot which runway to use. Your video was very helpful.

[abdurrehmanmehmood]

Hey joe watching your old videos.. you have improved a great deal now. Your delivery is very good now and videos have more info and speed. Thumbs up man. Keep it up. I wait for your new videos. :-)

[Nosisalinda]

So informative as always :) Thanks Captain