Any glider pilots out there?

[Dillon318]

I'm talking my written test tomorrow and came across a question while studying about glide ratio and tailwind. It said that if you have a glide ratio of 20:1 and are traveling at 40mph, if you have a 20mph tailwind it will increase your glide ratio to 30:1. I know that I should know this but can any one help?
Thanks

[CISTRS]

There are many references on the web. G00gle is your friend.

This link explains things quite well:

aerodynamics of gliding

[Dillon318]

So it's basically saying add half wind speed to glide slope?

[Genghis the Engineer]

Basically it's saying that rate of descent is the same, but add tailwind to groundspeed. (Or subtract headwind from groundspeed. )

[Dillon318]

I know about the ground speed with wind but I want to know how that affects the glide slope.

[Piltdown Man]

Relative to the air, the glide is unchanged. But when using the ground as your reference, your glide angle will change.

[appleACE]

Your glide ratio is the ratio of ground speed vs decent rate.

Your decent rate stays the same regardless of any head or tail wind, however now you have a 20mph tailwind your ground speed has increased from 40mph to 60mph.

Since your ground speed has increased by 50% but your decent rate has stayed the same, you glide ratio has increased by 50% from 20:1 to 30:1.

[Dillon318]

Thanks everyone.
I finally understand