Downwind Turns
Go fly a Chopper and give the downwind turns a try, at low speed. (Hint: pls don’t attempt it at low altitude)
It has NOTHING to do with the parcel of air question and everything to do with inertia being GROUND speed dependant. Ergo, extremely high rates of turn are possible.
The aircraft is not able to accelerate to overcome the loss of headwind component/increase in tailwind component. Think of it in terms on wind shear. Only here the wind is constant, and the aircraft changes velocity.
NO, this is not demonstratable in a B747 at FL350 holding in 100kt winds, but believe me, try it in a Chopper/gyrocopter or microlite with 30kts of headwind and a 30KIAS.
Watched a very spectacular prang of a Christan Husky at Wonderboom, Pretoria, about 15yrs ago, attempting a steep downwind turn. Literally crashed and burned, very sad, pilot died.
Last edited by Avi8tor; 15th Feb 2004 at 16:23.