Thread: STF question
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Old March 15th 08, 04:40 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell
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Default STF question

Dan G wrote:
On Mar 15, 3:29 am, Ramy wrote:
On Mar 14, 6:51 pm, Gary Emerson wrote:

toad wrote:
Standard STF theory says that the head/tail wind does not matter for
cruise flight. Does wind influence best speed for final glide ?
Todd Smith
3S
It's two separate issues. Speed to fly AND altitude required. Speed to
fly is NOT dependent on HW/TW. HW/TW will affect Altitude required.

HW/TW also effect speed to fly to achive best glide over the ground.
The rule of thumb is to add half the wind speed to the best glide
speed.


I thought it was add half the windspeed for a headwind, but take off
half for a tailwind? Or is it had half whichever direction you're
heading?!


The approximate answer is "Add some fraction of the headwind". Someone
suggested one half; I generally increase the MC about 1 knot, which has
a similar effect.

For a tailwind, the best distance will be achieved by flying somewhere
between the max L/D speed and the minimum sink speed, so I set MC to
zero (best L/D). If it's a really strong tailwind, I'll fly slower than
it indicates (closer to minimum sink). In the olden days, I could rotate
the MC ring to a negative number, but my 302 doesn't allow that!

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
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