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I am still confused whether a head wind or tailwind would affect the rate of climb. Since in a HW/TW condition our a/c is basically still climbing in the same parcel of air, it is just that parcel of air is moving with or against our course hence increasing/decreasing the horizontal distance covered to get to the target height. This means that the time needed to get to the target altitude is not affected at all, but the horizontal distance is.

Yet my friends have been insisting that with a headwind an aircraft would climb faster to the target height, as the headwind helps create more lift by increasing the amount of air passing through the wings.

Toby Speight
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Aget Aviano
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    Consider the extreme case: What happens if you are climbing in a direct headwind where the horizontal component is equal to the ground speed at best climb? – user Aug 16 '18 at 08:49
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    A headwind or tailwind affects your angle of climb. In a headwind you cover less ground for the same gain in altitude, so you're climbing at a higher angle relative to the ground. – Pete Becker Aug 16 '18 at 13:28
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    Possible duplicate of Does a headwind affect the climb gradient? – Pondlife Aug 16 '18 at 13:36
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    This is not a duplicate of the linked question. That one is about the climb gradient, which is different from the rate of climb asked about here. The answers on the linked question explain why. – Dan Hulme Aug 16 '18 at 15:31
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    Your friends may be assuming that you can somehow maintain constant ground speed. Perhaps you need to emphasise that isn't the case? – Toby Speight Aug 16 '18 at 16:06
  • To your friends: Does walking to the east or west affect how tired you feel? – slebetman Aug 17 '18 at 03:40
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    Your friends are groundlings who cannot seem to shake the paradigm that an aircraft is somehow connected to the earth, like a kite on a string. Once airborne the only thing the airplane recognizes is its relationship to the airmass. That airmass can be stationary relative to the earth, or it can be moving across the earth's surface in the form recognized by observers on the surface as wind. However, the aircraft does not perceive this as wind. It is called "wind" because that is the common term for it, and it is a useful reference in terms of its effect on travel over the ground. – Michael Hall Jul 10 '19 at 16:09

2 Answers2

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A steady (continuous) head wind (or tail wind) will not affect your climb rate, only your climb angle. It means you will reach a specific altitude in the same time interval, but your ground distance will be affected.

A head wind increase (as in a gust) will momentary increase your indicated airspeed, which you can trade for a (momentary) increase of climb rate. Similarly, a tail wind gust will temporarily decrease your indicated airspeed and you might have to pitch the nose down a little, to maintain airspeed and therefore reducing climb rate. These are only transitory effects, until the plane settles back to its original trim speed.

Toby Speight
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Radu094
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Your climb rate is dependent on your airspeed. If you are doing the same airspeed your rate of climb will be same no matter what the direction of wind is compared to your aircraft.

Just to clarify that climb rate is also dependent on pitch, but the general rule of thumb is that power controls climb and pitch controls speed. In reality you use both, but climb is not dependent on wind speed.

PrestonDocks
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  • Climb rate will also depend on your pitch angle at a given airspeed! – Bianfable Jul 09 '19 at 16:52
  • Sure. And on engine power output. And on weight of plane. Not sure how that comment is relevant to understanding or improving answer. – quiet flyer Jul 09 '19 at 16:58
  • I assume you don't mean to suggest that pitch attitude somehow depends on orientation with respect to wind – quiet flyer Jul 09 '19 at 17:24
  • What i was trying to do is dispel the myth that wind direction affects climb rate. We know as pilots that you control climb with throttle and speed with pitch. Obviously it is a combination of the two, but those are the rules of thumb, not how strong the wind is blowing. – PrestonDocks Jul 10 '19 at 06:45
  • My comments were directed at Bianfable's comments not your answer; didn't make that clear. The answer is fine. – quiet flyer Jul 10 '19 at 13:25