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The general effect of wind by the percent change in takeoff or landing distance as a function of the ratio of wind velocity to takeoff or landing speed. In aeronautics, a headwind is favorable in takeoffs and landings because an airfoil moving into a headwind is capable of generating greater lift than the same airfoil moving through tranquil ...
An aircraft landing into a headwind will require less runway and will be able to vacate the runway sooner. Tailwind increases the ground speed of an aircraft for the same IAS and thus a longer runway distance will be required for an aircraft to land. Landing with an unknown or unexpected tailwind could lead to the aircraft overshooting the runway.
It is also helpful to calculate the top of descent, or the point at which the pilot would plan to commence the descent for landing. The flight time will depend on both the desired cruising speed of the aircraft, and the wind – a tailwind will shorten flight times, a headwind will increase them.
Cruise is the phase of aircraft flight that starts when the aircraft levels off after a climb, until it begins to descend for landing. [1] Cruising usually comprises the majority of a flight, and may include small changes in heading (direction of flight), airspeed , and altitude .
Ground speed can be determined by the vector sum of the aircraft's true airspeed and the current wind speed and direction; a headwind subtracts from the ground speed, while a tailwind adds to it. Winds at other angles to the heading will have components of either headwind or tailwind as well as a crosswind component.
A general rule of thumb is to add half the headwind component to the best L/D for the maximum distance. For a tailwind, the origin is shifted to the left by the speed of the tailwind, and drawing a new tangent line. The tailwind speed to fly will lie between minimum sink and best L/D. [14]
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This would have to be adjusted for headwind or tailwind, [1] and also to allow for deceleration time. Alternatively, David P. Davies gives the rule as 300 feet of descent required for each nautical mile of distance. [3]: 176 Large aircraft approaching to land normally use a 3 degree approach path. [4]