Navigation - Which is Better -Slow Plane or Fast Plane
Remember, a large plane and a slow both drift with the wind in straight and level flight.
Speed does make a difference in navigation. Weight, size and horsepower do not make a difference.
The Setup:
Make a 100 mile flight to a destination with a 20 mph wind blowing across your course to your destination. You take off and point the nose of your plane directly toward your destination without an allowance for drift in your 100 mph cruise in your slow plane. You correctly determine it should take one hour to complete your flight. After an hour you look at the ground and your destination is nowhere in sight. In one hour of flying through the air your plane has drifted with the air 20 miles to the downwind side of your course. If it is a hazy day with visibility of 7 miles or less you will not see your destination.
If you attempt this same trip in, a 300 mph plane, point it directly toward your destination without compensating for drift and, after an hour, it too will drift exactly 20 miles. But, at 300 mph your faster plane will arrive at the planned destination in 20 minutes. If the wind is 20 mph, then in 20 minutes your plane will drift in the wind a little less than 7 miles. Now, when you look out of your plane after 20 minutes you will see your destination off to one site easily visible. Your navigation is better when you can see your destination when you are supposed to see your destination. In a fast plane, even though it is drifting in the wind just as helplessly as your flight in a small plane, the drift is proportionately less important to the faster plane. The drift angle is less in the faster plane and that is why a faster plane is much easier to navigate.
Remember, a large plane and a slow both drift with the wind in straight and level flight.
Speed does make a difference in navigation. Weight, size and horsepower do not make a difference.
The Setup:
Make a 100 mile flight to a destination with a 20 mph wind blowing across your course to your destination. You take off and point the nose of your plane directly toward your destination without an allowance for drift in your 100 mph cruise in your slow plane. You correctly determine it should take one hour to complete your flight. After an hour you look at the ground and your destination is nowhere in sight. In one hour of flying through the air your plane has drifted with the air 20 miles to the downwind side of your course. If it is a hazy day with visibility of 7 miles or less you will not see your destination.
If you attempt this same trip in, a 300 mph plane, point it directly toward your destination without compensating for drift and, after an hour, it too will drift exactly 20 miles. But, at 300 mph your faster plane will arrive at the planned destination in 20 minutes. If the wind is 20 mph, then in 20 minutes your plane will drift in the wind a little less than 7 miles. Now, when you look out of your plane after 20 minutes you will see your destination off to one site easily visible. Your navigation is better when you can see your destination when you are supposed to see your destination. In a fast plane, even though it is drifting in the wind just as helplessly as your flight in a small plane, the drift is proportionately less important to the faster plane. The drift angle is less in the faster plane and that is why a faster plane is much easier to navigate.
