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Terrifying that self declared 'test pilots' don't seem to understand the basics of their craft.
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Actually the Air Force and then my company declared me a 'test pilot'. I have the papers to prove it.
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You can't use the 70kts plus 80kts - 150kts of ground referenced kinetic energy (in the above example) to do a bigger pullup than the 80-70 = 10 kts ground speed kinetic energy when flying at 80 kts in the 'other' direction. It is 80kts both ways.. same pullup - same flight characteristics (just different ground result - if you can detect the ground position)
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Just for the fun of it: If you have two people throwing a ball of the same weight. One is throwing it from a standstill, the other one is throwing it from a truck travelling at 60mph. Which ball flies the longest distance?
Please read the G-TIGH accident report again. In appendix F, FDR readout, you can see that the IAS went from ca 73 KIAS to about zero at the same time the helicopter turned out of the wind into a downwind heading. Now, why did the speed drop?? because of low altitude and below clouds? It happened because the helicopter had mass and it tends to stay at the same GS. So going from a headwind condition to a downwind one, they lost IAS. When IAS drops below Vy, which in a S.Puma is about 70 KIAS the power required will increase. During this accident the power stayed at 14-15 degrees of collective pitch, which normally will keep the S. Puma flying nicely, but not at very low airspeeds.
This is called being behind the power curve and it applies to all aircraft. Less speed = more power required. If you are in this state, and speed is decreased even very little, the aircraft will not revert to the speed it had before unless you add power. It will decelerate, this has killed people numerous times.
I have the utmost respect for the UK AAIB, and they got it right.
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(i)The handling pilot's failure to recognize the rapidly changing relationship between airspeed and groundspeed which is a fundamental problem associated with turning downwind in significant wind speeds
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That is all from me on this, careful with that turn after takeoff
