Quote:
A lot of the time - but not always.Originally Posted by pinworm
2: Take off will always be into the prevailing wind.
- There may not be an into-wind runway available
- Some airports have a "preferred runway" - for reasons such as noise abatement -, and the rule in those cases is usually something like "the preferred runway will be used unless there is a tailwind/crosswind component of more than X"
- Traffic permitting pilots will sometimes request a runway that's not into wind because it will save them time/fuel - no problem if the wind is light enough and the runway is long enough
- The sun can be a consideration as well, especially at airports with a lot of VFR traffic. Making a visual approach into the setting sun is quite challenging!