Why can headwind assist planes when taking off and landing? Why does tailwind not help with takeoff?
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For takeoff, you need a certain velocity of air under your wings. Lets say for simple math that it’s 50km/h. If you have no wind at all, you have to roll your plane on the ground up to 50km/h before the wings will give you lift.
But the important part is it’s not the ground speed that matters – it’s the speed of the air the plane is going through.
So if you have a 20km/h headwind, and get your ground speed up to 30km/h, now the air is moving across your wings at 50km/h and you can fly. If you have a 20km/h tailwind, you’re actually starting at a negative -20km/h air speed. You have to get the plane up to 70km/h on the ground to get your 50km/h of air over the wings.
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