Why can headwind assist planes when taking off and landing? Why does tailwind not help with takeoff?
In: 11
Because the important number when you’re taking off is “air speed” not “ground speed”. Aka, how fast are you going relative to the air. This is because lift comes from the air moving over the wings, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the air moving over a wing or the wing slicing through air. They both mean the same thing for lift.
So if you have a headwind, the wind is adding to the air speed, making it easier to take off. And conversely, a tailwind *subtracts* from the air speed, meaning that the plane has to reach a significantly faster actual speed before it reaches the required air speed.
Latest Answers