What is the max crosswind component for the 737 without winglets?

• A. 33 kts
• B. 36 kts
• C. 28 kts
• D. 40 kts

Answer: (B)

Maximum crosswind component is the greatest wind perpendicular to the runway that the airplane has been demonstrated to handle safely during landing or takeoff. It’s a published operating limit from certification and flight testing, used to decide if conditions are acceptable for a given approach.

For the 737 without winglets, the demonstrated crosswind capability is 36 knots. This figure reflects the airplane’s lateral stability, rudder effectiveness, and braking performance as validated during tests for that specific configuration. The limit serves as a planning and safety threshold: if the crosswind component reaches 36 knots or less, operations in that configuration are within the certified envelope; if it exceeds this value, operations would be outside the demonstrated capability.

In practice, you determine the crosswind component from wind speed and its direction relative to the runway (component = wind speed × sine of the angle to the runway). The other numbers are not the published limit for this setup, so 36 knots is the value used for this configuration.