Explain how a tailwind helps an airplane fly faster?

Question

I’ve been curious about this for a long time and still have not received an explanation I can comprehend. A commercial pilot recently explained to me that a tailwind helps the commercial aircraft fly faster. However, the more I think about this, the less sense it makes.

I can see how this would be true if the plane is flying slower than the wind is blowing. But a jet liner travels at 500-600 mph at cruising altitude, so even if the wind were at the jet’s tail, it can’t possibly be blowing at or greater than the speed of the jet…can it? This would mean that the jet will be “outrunning” the wind, thereby not benefiting from it. Conversely, if the wind were a headwind, you would expect the drag on the jet to increase and the speed to slow somewhat.

Can someone explain this phenomenon in terms that make sense to this non-scientist? Thank you!

Answer 1

it isnt out-running the wind. think of it a different way.
imagine a ship moving through the water at 100 kph. if it's moving with the current thats going lets say 10 kph in the direction the ship is travelling, its like the whole ocean is moving 10 kph and the ship is going in the same direction. if it was moving against the current, it would have 10 kph of drag on it.
think of it another way, like trying to run down an escalator thats already moving down.
even if youre running faster than the escalator is moving, youve still got the extra speed of the escalator moving, because youre being carried on it.
the plane is being carried in the air, so if the air is moving fast, its just adding to the plane's speed. youre not just moving THROUGH the air, youre sort of moving on the air. when youre going fast especially. the tail wind can reduce drag you would have normally felt if there was no tail wind as well. like lets say youre going at 500 kph, with a 50 kpoh tailwind, its sorta like now youve only got 450 kph worth of drag on your asss. hope that made some sense

Answer 2

Tailwind Airplane

Answer 3

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RE:
Explain how a tailwind helps an airplane fly faster?
I’ve been curious about this for a long time and still have not received an explanation I can comprehend. A commercial pilot recently explained to me that a tailwind helps the commercial aircraft fly faster. However, the more I think about this, the less sense it makes.

I can see how this...

Answer 4

Try this for an explanation. The air is always moving. The aircraft moves with the air. Just like a leaf carried in the wind, the aircraft will move forward or backward at the same speed as the wind. The aircraft is traveling 600 mph, the air mass is moving 60 mph. The speed over the ground equals airspeed plus the speed of the air mass, 660 mph. if there is a tailwind, 540 if there is a headwind.

Answer 5

tailwind is a wind that hits an aircraft from behind. This reduces the flight time by increasing the ground speed. Tailwind is an unfavorable characteristic when taking off or landing and is usually countered by landing in the direction of the runway.

For example: If the runway one is approaching is 24; having direction 240 degrees and the wind is blowing from direction 060 degrees then the pilot will land on the opposite side of the runway, namely runway 06 with heading 060, so that he will be in a headwind landing; the same applies in takeoff.

This allows the lowest possible ground speed on takeoff and landing with the highest possible airspeed.

Answer 6

You can get over your fear by knowing how planes work, and by getting to know your pilot more (he's hopefully had lots of experience in flying) to ensure that you're in good hands. Also, try talking to well-traveled people regarding their experiences with flying (It feels good if you get used to it). Here's some info: there are significantly more car accidents than plane crashes. There are only few, as in very few air accidents compared to car accidents. A possible reason why people are afraid of plane crashes is because the media always reports if there is a plane crash. However, (some?) people don't realize that car accidents are more prone to happen (Happens everyday - someone in the world probably got in a car accident while you are reading this), and media cannot report on every single car accident. Car accidents have also been shown to be one of the leading causes of death and injury, but airplanes are not. You ride cars everyday, right? I don't know if you had an accident or not, but chances are you haven't (or maybe just a minor). So there's no reason to be afraid of airplanes if you ride cars to work/school everyday. I hope that bit of info convinced you that air travel is safe (i forgot the source, tho). Relax and enjoy the vacation. It's meant to be enjoyed :)

Answer 7

Think of it like this, First you have airspeed, then you have ground speed. Air speed is how fast your going through the air, ground speed is how fast your going over ground. The following is a simplified version to try and get you to understand the effect of tail wind verses head wind. Let's say the air is calm and you have an air speed of 100 kts, you would have a ground speed of 100 kts. If you had an airspeed of 100 kts with a 25 kt tail wind, your ground speed would be 125 kts. If you had an airspeed of 100kts with a 25 kt headwind your ground speed would be 75 kts. In the real world there are several other factors you would have to compute, but this should give you the general picture.

Answer 8

Here is a simple answer to your question...when you have a wind in a plane...the plane does not know how fast the wind is blowing....all it knows is airspeed...ok..Say you are flying at 120 knots..and have a 20 knot headwind...your airspeed does not go down because of this....your Groundspeed does...you will only make 100 knots across the ground because of this wind resistance....Ok...now...Take that same airspeed...and now put it at your tail....so now...you have more groundspeed...less resistance...you will have somewhere around 140 knots GS now.....Just think of it as a boat on a river....either going upstream...downstream...or across the stream...the winds aloft are very similar...

Jonathan S
ATP-LRJET,HS-125
Flight/Ground Instructor

Answer 9

if its a head wind it slows you down, tailwind is going with you