Hans... we get taught to fly light aircraft, and do stuff like ground reference manouevers in what are generally light aircraft, low inertia. Where inertia is considered to be zero, there would be no such thing as wind shear... as you say the plane only sees the air...
Ostroff, A. J., et al., "Evaluation of a Total Energy-Rate Sensor on a Transport Airplane," NASA TP-2212,1983.
I want to clarify my statement about ground speed vs airspeed and kinetic energy was in reference to a steady wind. I was trying to keep it simple enough for widescreen, but I think that might be an impossible goal. Obviously if you descend/climb into a different wind direction or speed it will affect the performance until a new equilibrium has been reached. Even in light planes inertia isn’t zero, but that has nothing to do with the assertion that turning to final if there’s a steady state tailwind would require a power change.