Originally Posted by
RHPrague
flightcatcher rudestuff Thank you so much for your answers, they are very helpful
That of course explains why a Prague flight to London (City or LHR) usually comes in straight down from the east, as previaling winds in London are more usually from the West. I sort of suspected that, but did not quite appreciate why. Got it now!
Edit..on reflection..another dumb question. I now understand well why a plane wants to land into the wind. But how does taking off into the wind assist it?
The aircraft wings function by wind rushing past them, someone mentioned a take-off speed of 120kt and a 20kt wind speed, if that wind is directly down the runway the in to it the aircraft would only need to achieve 100kt for 120kt, if taking it as a tailwind the aircraft would need to achieve 140kt for 120kt, 40kt is quite significant particularly on such a length of runway as your mentioned LCY.
I recall one DC10 that took off out of PIK with a tailwind, they took out the approach lights at the other end as they blasted past, on the other hand I've knon DHC6's get airborne when they've only been attempting to taxy in high winds.