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Old 1st Feb 2017, 00:21
  #16 (permalink)  
megan
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
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What I posted in the thread Pilot DAR refers to.

Flying helicopters in the offshore world it was not uncommon to have 60 knots of wind when taking off from a platform. Climb speed in our particular aircraft was 75 knots and the turn to downwind while holding climb speed was visually spectacular if not seen previously. The point is, the aircraft doesn't care what the wind is, and if you are flying by reference to instruments you would have no idea what the strength of the wind is, or indeed, if there is any wind, save for the fact that you already have 60 knots airspeed prior to commencement of the take off.
If you have a physicist friend, ask him about 'frames of reference'.
One example we used to use by way of explanation was, imagine a Piper Cub flying a constant rate turn at 90 knots and such an altitude that its inboard wheel was resting on the bonnet (hood) of a convertible car, and the car drivers job was to maintain the position of the aircrafts wheel.

Now consider what the car driver experiences when no wind is blowing, and when say 60 knots of wind is blowing. Also what does the aircraft/pilot experience in both cases.

Aircraft inertia only comes into the discussion when talking with reference to gusts, which is not the subject under discussion.
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