Headwinds, always

"Paul kgyy" wrote:
We had 20-30 knot headwinds on 5 of the 6 legs
and never once a tailwind.

Flew round trip Mobile - Baton Rouge Saturday, with a 30-minute stop at BTR.

6,000' there, 7,000' back, course 270, 090.

Headwinds both ways.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Dan Luke wrote:
Flew round trip Mobile - Baton Rouge Saturday, with a 30-minute stop at BTR.

6,000' there, 7,000' back, course 270, 090.

Headwinds both ways.



Maybe my dad wasn't lying about going to and from school barefoot in the snow,
uphill both ways. I stand corrected.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Dan Luke wrote:

Flew round trip Mobile - Baton Rouge Saturday, with a 30-minute stop at BTR.

6,000' there, 7,000' back, course 270, 090.

Headwinds both ways.

Had some really nice winds off the gulf Saturday if you were flying
north here in LA...

"Darrel Toepfer" wrote:

Flew round trip Mobile - Baton Rouge Saturday, with a 30-minute stop at
BTR.

6,000' there, 7,000' back, course 270, 090.

Headwinds both ways.

Had some really nice winds off the gulf Saturday if you were flying
north here in LA...

That was the problem.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

I once took a trip and had tailwinds both ways! And I've only been
flying for 29 years.
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

You expected tailwinds? Hah Hah!!

Seriously, do pilots here aggressively analyze winds aloft detail as
available on ADDs? I certainly do and can often offset a bad headwind
by flying lower than I would normally, and on occassion even flying
higher. Sometimes, 1 thousand feet above or below the inversion will
give a shift that turns a HW into a TW - or at least shuffles the deck.
For example, going to 10,000 on a day may make that 20 knot quartering
HW turn into 10knot quartering on my tail. And the fuel economy is
great at 10 if the cruise is long enough (doesn't have to be all that
long to justify a climb).

With the amazingly accurate ADDS winds forecast combined with GPS
Groundspeed readouts, I can see the wind shift that normally conincides
with the main temp inversion. Sometimes on the way up to 6 or 7 to get
out of the convection I'll watch my GS drop 8 or 10 knots. By going
back down a thousand I can sometims get the speed back and still remain
out of the bumps. The current tool set can be used to great advantage
at times.

Paul kgyy wrote:
I just returned from an 8-day tour of the midwest. This was a 6-leg
circular route west to Des Moines from Chicago, then up to the Dakotas,
back through Duluth, Green Bay. We mostly flew at 7000 ft. We had
20-30 knot headwinds on 5 of the 6 legs and never once a tailwind.

Yes, I often find signifigantly better winds at different altitudes.
Sometimes it's a tradeoff between bumps or winds and what I do depends
on my mood or passengers. GPS is great for finding the best altitude.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because we fly, we envy no one.

The ADDS forecast is excellent but I don't usually have access to it
when travelling on vacation, particularly in the evening when I'm
planning tomorrow's flight in the hotel room.

On 6 Jun 2005 07:27:50 -0700, "Paul kgyy" wrote:

I just returned from an 8-day tour of the midwest. This was a 6-leg
circular route west to Des Moines from Chicago, then up to the Dakotas,
back through Duluth, Green Bay. We mostly flew at 7000 ft. We had
20-30 knot headwinds on 5 of the 6 legs and never once a tailwind.

Wind is not your friend except in the very short term.

Consider the old example taught to students (or should be):

1. 100kt airplane (no wind)
2. 50kt. wind from the west (270)
3. Round trip 400 nm (point A to point B and return)
4. Course from point A to point B is 270

Round trip time with no wind is 4 hours.

With a 50kt headwind the time from point A to point B is 4 hours.
Sure, you've got a tail wind going back, but you will never make up
for the headwind.

Why not? Ginsberg's Theorem, which paraphrases the three fundementals
of thermodynamics. may be a clue.

First Law - You can't win
Second Law - You can't even break even
Third Law - You can't get out of the game

Mike Weller

Mike Weller wrote:
Consider the old example taught to students (or should be):

1. 100kt airplane (no wind)
2. 50kt. wind from the west (270)
3. Round trip 400 nm (point A to point B and return)
4. Course from point A to point B is 270

Round trip time with no wind is 4 hours.

With a 50kt headwind the time from point A to point B is 4 hours.
Sure, you've got a tail wind going back, but you will never make up
for the headwind.

Why not? Ginsberg's Theorem, which paraphrases the three fundementals
of thermodynamics. may be a clue.



Of course, the real reason is with the higher groundspeed in the tailwind,
you're not in it as long. Headwinds always hurt more than tailwinds help, if
you're going round trip.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE