Originally Posted by
Fark'n'ell
Red Paddy
Are you sure about that?
I would imagine a relative headwind to tailwind change would decrease the airspeed.
A
sudden reduction in relative headwind will, in a large heavy aircraft only, decrease airspeed, for a short period of time whilst the flight dynamics sort that out for themselves. This is called windshear.
The effect of this is to increase the rate of descent, which must be arrested with increased power. This does not affect lighter aeroplanes, whose low inertia allows the airspeed to adjust quickly anyhow.
A
more gradual change (or a change at pretty much any rate on a lighter aeroplane), will have the opposite effect. A reduction in headwind component will mean that, whilst airspeed won't be affected, the aeroplane's touchdown point will move further down the runway. To maintain the touchdown point, the power will need to be reduced, not increased.
G