stewart grant

The wind is only relative to the ground. If its 15mph, thats because you are on the ground. If you threw a feather in the air it would be doing 15mph over the ground downwind. BUT it would have no airspeed. If you could power it into wind with a motor at 15 mph airspeed it would be stationary relative to the ground but have an airspeed of 15mph. Stalling at any speed? One has to assume control force / structure available but angle of attack ( angle of local air flow relative to wing aerofoil ) can normally be increased, particularly in models, rapidly enough to create a sudden stall from high speed flight.In aerobatics aflick roll actually takes advantage of this phenomina. My interest in the this subject is largely safety related. Iknowmodel instructors and examinerswhodon't understand this theory. The way they teach and test is ultimately flawed because of it and pilotsstruggle with accidents and poorprogress as a result.

Nice that a few pilots care. Those who ridicule the theoryare likely to betaking alot of bin bags full of wreckage home because they cant work out why its happened again! And by the way the stall is dictated by angle of attack NOT airspeed. An aircraft can stall at ANY speed. Those of us who increase power when turning do so to overcome the increase in lift induced drag when bankingand loading the aircraft and therefore maintain a constant airspeed. This technique is also used to increase airspeed in order to travel upwindsmartly to keep the aircraft positioned correctly relative to the field.

What is it about aeromodellers and the effect of wind on an aircraft? I've just looked on the forum regarding this and most of it is wrong!   Wind does NOT effect the airspeed of an aircraft. When a model is travelling downwind the GROUND speed increases. The airflow over the wing stays at the same speed assuming you hav'nt changed the attitude or throttle setting.   The rubbish that even experienced modellers spout about wind and airspeed is pathetic, even instructors and examiners seldom understand this fundamental of flight.   Gusts and wind gradient are variables in terms of AIR speed but are easily explained if anyone is interested.   The reason a model apparently climbs into wind is because its already trimmed to climb! Its just travelling slower relative to the pilot on the ground so it has more TIME to climb. When travelling downwind its moving faster over the GROUND so its got less TIME to climb before the neccessary turn. Plus the angle/perspective can be different and the model APPEARS not to have climbed as it may have travelelled further downwind because of the GROUND speed.   PLEASE STOP perpetuating this myth that wind increases or decreases airflow, lift and control response of an aircraft in flight.