Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Ummm... airplanes don't know what windspeed is unless they're interfacing with the ground!
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I'm no expert on this (only been in a co-pilots seat 2 times) BUT Pilots can calculate wind speed (at their altitude). The first plane I flew (piper Cherokee 180) did not have GPS and relied upon the tower to give a radar ground speed and heading, we then (re-)calculated out flight plan based on the wind speed/ direction. Plane #2 Cessna (rental) had a GPS which interfaced with the majority of the avionics and was able to display the wind speed + direction (in near real time) based on ground speed and Airspeed + Heading.