Why is wind directon expressed as "FROM"?

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 17:49:51 GMT, Jose
wrote:

One could easily design a vane that worked the other way.

But they didn't. All weather vanes point into the wind. So those New
Hampshire farmers must have been onto something, since their cast-iron
horses, carriages, sailboats, kiddies etc all point in the direction I
should land the Cub.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com

One could easily design a vane that worked the other way.

But they didn't. All weather vanes point into the wind. So those New
Hampshire farmers must have been onto something, since their cast-iron
horses, carriages, sailboats, kiddies etc all point in the direction I
should land the Cub.

Then why don't airports use weathervanes instead of windsocks?

JohnH wrote:

Then why don't airports use weathervanes instead of windsocks?

Wouldn't a wind tee be considered a weathervane?

--
Peter

"JohnH" wrote in message
...

Then why don't airports use weathervanes instead of windsocks?


Windsocks are a bit more useful to a pilot, they provide an indication of
wind direction and speed. Weathervanes provide only an indication of wind
direction.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...

One could easily design a vane that worked the other way.

But they didn't. All weather vanes point into the wind. So those New
Hampshire farmers must have been onto something, since their cast-iron
horses, carriages, sailboats, kiddies etc all point in the direction I
should land the Cub.

Then why don't airports use weathervanes instead of windsocks?

Some do.

--
Geoff
the sea hawk at wow way d0t com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.

You disturbed a large number of electrons when you posted

"Then why don't airports use weathervanes instead of windsocks? "

but we think you know weathervanes are telling us where the last wind
came from, and windsocks give us some information as to how hard it's
blowing at the moment.

Flags work well at doing that, too but come to think of it, I'd rather
have a windsock on the flagstick of my golfcourse than a flag.

(and several more on high poles about a 100 yards out, although that
would remove still another excuse for for bad golf shots.)

Larry Dighera wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 11:51:58 -0500, "JohnH"
wrote in ::

Why is that?

The convention is probably a result of the way a weather vane works;
the arrowhead points into the wind, so a compass rose placed under it
indicates the direction of the wind's origin.

I'm pretty sure that is confusing cause and effect. I suspect that the
explanation is the one others have given about the source of the wind
being relevant to weather. Weather vanes could easily have been built
with no "tailfeathers" and a big arrowhead if the convention had been
the other way.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

I suspect that it comes from the days of sailing ships. All of your course
decisions are based on the direction of the wind. Tacking, running,
reaching, etc. are all referred to the current wind direction. I'm not sure
I fully understand why FROM was chosen as the convention, but when you're
sailing, you tend to keep the wind in your face unless you're running.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 11:51:58 -0500, "JohnH"
wrote in ::

Why is that?

The convention is probably a result of the way a weather vane works;
the arrowhead points into the wind, so a compass rose placed under it
indicates the direction of the wind's origin.

In article ,
"Bob Chilcoat" wrote:

I suspect that it comes from the days of sailing ships. All of your course
decisions are based on the direction of the wind. Tacking, running,
reaching, etc. are all referred to the current wind direction. I'm not sure
I fully understand why FROM was chosen as the convention, but when you're
sailing, you tend to keep the wind in your face unless you're running.

Even more so than today, the old fashioned sailing ships never had the wind
in their face. I sail a J/24, which is a fairly modern design racing boat.
With everything set up right, new sails, and flat water, I can get within
about 35 degrees of the wind. The old square riggers were doing well if
they could get any closer than 60.

This, BTW, is why a toilet on a boat is called the head. On a vessel that
spends most of its time with the wind behind it, you put the toilets up on
the very front (i.e. the head of the boat) for odor control. Even sailors
know not to **** into the wind. It also happens to be the part of the boat
that gets the most water sprayed on it, which is wet and cold for the
users, but does make the apparatus somewhat self-cleaning.

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote
I suspect that it comes from the days of sailing ships. All of your course
decisions are based on the direction of the wind. Tacking, running,
reaching, etc. are all referred to the current wind direction. I'm not
sure I fully understand why FROM was chosen as the convention, but when
you're sailing, you tend to keep the wind in your face unless you're
running.


I'd go back even further in time. Even before the age of ships, the
direction the wind comes FROM was the most interesting, as looking in that
direction could tell how the weather will change (well, fronts are
different, but they are a later invention). Later, when man learned to build
boats, looking INTO the wind was (and is) the best way to see how hard it
blows at sea, i.e. is it safe to leave the shore. It's easy to imagine that
the wind god is in that direction - better keep attention to him!

Just my $0.02 ;-)