PLT013: Crosswind
What code PLT013 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Crosswind before your checkride.
Calculate crosswind / headwind components
What this means for your checkride
The crosswind component is the part of the wind blowing across the runway, and the headwind component is the part blowing straight down it. You find them from the angle between the wind and the runway: a wind aligned with the runway is all headwind, a wind at 90 degrees is all crosswind, and angles in between split into both.
The crosswind component tells you whether a landing is within your and the airplane's limits, so the FAA tests whether you can compute it from wind direction and speed using a chart or the clock method.
Pilots read the reported wind speed as the crosswind. A 20 knot wind 30 degrees off the runway is only about a 10 knot crosswind; using the full speed makes you cancel landings you could safely make, and ignoring the angle can hide one that exceeds your limit.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.