Why do aeroplanes always take off facing the wind?

Question

airplanes taking off

Answer 1

Let's say you have a 20 knot headwind and your computed rotation speed is 140 knots. Your ground speed will only be 120 knots when you rotate because of the 20 knots of headwind. It takes you less runway to accelerate to 120 knots than it would to accelerate to 140 knots. Furthermore, the airplane is going to climb out at a steeper climb gradient which aids in obstacle clearance.

Answer 2

It's simply so that the aircraft will not need to reach as high a groundspeed for take-off. as you move into the wind, the air flowing past the wing is already at a speed, the wings producing a little lift already. Add your groundspeed to that and soon you'll be airbourne. If you took off with the wind, you would initially be at negative airspeed, your groundspeed would increase until you're travelling at the same speed as the wind (lift at 0), then accelerate further to take off. You'd need a longer runway and would be wasting fuel and time. Why not use nature to assist you?

This is why you have airfields with two, oreven three runways, so that you can get the best headwind for take-off.

Answer 3

Well, the aircraft should always take off into the wind but that may not be available.
Taking off into the wind shortens your take off roll, lets you lift off at a slower ground speed and will help you climb in a shorter distance.
Many larger aircraft sometimes take off in a light, very light tailwind.
A 10 knot tail wind can add as much as 50% more take off roll.
That being said if and only if you have to take off with a crosswind or heaven forbid a tailwind you have to ensure you are still within the limits of the aircraft.
Any pilot who takes off in a small aircraft with a tailwind, on purpose, because he can, is asking for trouble.
Many small planes can only handle up to 20 knots in a crosswind due to design limitations.

So an airplane takes off into the wind to,
Get better lift,
Slower lift off speed,
Better handling,
Good rate of climb.

Answer 4

. The Sails on my catamaran are each and every the forerunner layout of an airplane wing. The smaller foreword jib sail scoops air basically before the better important and forces air to accelerate behind (convex) aspect of the important sail inflicting raise. raise is what motives the boat to flow ahead. Many sail boats do no longer have a jib sail. They nonetheless are waiting to flow ahead because the air travels faster behind the sail wing than the front. strong success including your sail! bypass on-line and study how airplane winds create raise. the authentic the front of the wing bulges upward slightly even as the bottom is flat which creates raise. A poultry in flight has wings which look to examine sailboat wings. notwithstanding a sailboat can no longer flow without delay into absolutely the route of the wind we veer off (fall off) about 35 - 40 ranges and (beat) foreword off wind. when we sail at a ninety degree perspective to the wind that route is termed a attain.

Answer 5

Ever fly a kite? it increases the airflow over the wings,helping them get off the ground more effectively.
They don't need to, or always do this-the plane is of course able to take off under it's own power on a day with no wind.
When constructing an airport,the prevailing winds are taken into account for laying out he runways.

Answer 6

All about aerodynamics. The wing of an aircraft generates lift by having air streams of different speed over the top and underneath. By taking of into the wind, those speeds are increased resulting in more lift, a shorter rotate and a higher performance climb.

Answer 7

I can't believe how many people are CLUELESS on this issue yet post their ignorance for all to see!

The ONLY reason is to take off in the shortest possible distance with the lowest possible GROUND speed. If you have enough runway, there's no reason why you can't take off or land with a tailwind. I've done it a number of times.

An airfoil (the wings) will generate lift when there is sufficient RELATIVE wind speed across it. If a wing needs 60 kts of relative airspeed to generate lift, taking off into a 10 kt headwind means that you need only 50 kts of ground speed to get airborne. If you have a 10 kt tailwind, you need 70 kts of ground speed to get those 60 kts and get airborne.

Some airports' design is such that takeoffs and landings can only go in one direction, either due to obstructions at one end of the runway or due to airspace restrictions. The US Navy installation at Guantanamo is an excellent example of both reasons at one airfield. All arriving aircraft must come in over the water and all departing aircraft must depart over the water regardless of the wind direction. Cuban airspace and a rather nasty cliff on the other end of the runway preclude taking off towards land under any operating conditions.

Answer 8

Steven is the only person even close.

A cessna 172 has a liftoff speed of 55kts, And requires about 1000ft if it needs to clear a 50ft object.
By taking off into the wind, the airspeed relative to the plane is the same, but the ground speed is slower, so the plane can take off in a shorter distance and clear any objects more safely.

Answer 9

You could also encounter ground effect - the airplane could take off before reaching the recommended takeoff speed.

It doesn't really matter - you can take off in any wind direction if you had to but taking off and landing in cross-winds isn't fun.

Answer 10

ok, man... to make it simple: when we speak about the speed of an aircraft we speak about speed that the wind hits plane. so if we presume that we have a 55 knots wind speed (that`s impossibe, of course), and we put our little cessna 172 facing the wind it would be able to lift with his engine shut down. so, pilots decide to take advantage of it, so they take of facing the wind.
so on concluion u should understand what does it mean the wind speed and what does it mean the grond speed.
ab the landings planes face the wind because we have to touch the ground with low ground speed... fact witch isn`t possible if we have the wind on our tail.
hope this helps :D