Originally Posted by
oceancrosser
There, I fixed that for you. No comment on the "theory" yet though.
Thanks. The board won't like me put up links yet.
Looking forward to reading your opinion on this.
The Leeward Turn
The albatross gains momentum in the leeward turn using a component of aerodynamic force to act as a propulsive force. This component provides the acceleration which is seen as an increase in ground-speed rather than airspeed. Thus it gains horizontal momentum and kinetic energy without losing potential energy other than a small drag loss during the turn reversals. This propulsive force is a component of the horizontal resultant which, in turn, is the vector sum of the horizontal component of lift and the drag force.
According to the author, this effect is what produces lift and not the wind gradient.