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Old 6th Dec 2012, 08:59
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Shaggy Sheep Driver
 
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darkroom - not sure what you're saying there. Any steady wind (cross or not) has absolutely no effect on any aeroplane, from a glider to an A380 to a Space Shuttle, other than to vary its groundspeed and track. It has absolutely no effect on how it flies.

Regarding aligning with a runway which has a crosswind, this means a certain amount of sideslip has to introduced, usually yaw with the rudder to get onto the runway heading, with appropriate aileron to prevent a turn.

As I said before, the differnece between track and heading in a crabbed (flying in balance) cross wind approach depends only on speed. The slower the aeroplane, the greater the difference. Hence a Space Shuttle is far less affected than an A380 because the approach speed of the Shuttle is much greater than that of the 380.

The shape of the aeroplane has absolutely no effect at all in the air regarding differentt winds. Don't forget, to an aeroplane in the air THERE IS NO WIND! Wind is simply the air mass moving relative to the ground, and the aeroplane (or balloon!) is suspended in that air mass and so moves with it.
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