Any glider pilots out there?
 

I'm talking my written test tomorrow and came across a question while studying about glide ratio and tailwind. It said that if you have a glide ratio of 20:1 and are traveling at 40mph, if you have a 20mph tailwind it will increase your glide ratio to 30:1. I know that I should know this but can any one help?
Thanks

There are many references on the web. G00gle is your friend.

This link explains things quite well:

aerodynamics of gliding

So it's basically saying add half wind speed to glide slope?

Basically it's saying that rate of descent is the same, but add tailwind to groundspeed. (Or subtract headwind from groundspeed. )

I know about the ground speed with wind but I want to know how that affects the glide slope.

Relative to the air, the glide is unchanged. But when using the ground as your reference, your glide angle will change.

Your glide ratio is the ratio of ground speed vs decent rate.

Your decent rate stays the same regardless of any head or tail wind, however now you have a 20mph tailwind your ground speed has increased from 40mph to 60mph.

Since your ground speed has increased by 50% but your decent rate has stayed the same, you glide ratio has increased by 50% from 20:1 to 30:1.

Thanks everyone.
I finally understand