Groundspeed and wind calculator
Enter a track, a true airspeed and a wind, and this calculator solves the triangle and draws it to scale beside the answer.
Drag the wind round the ring, or type below.
Groundspeed
177.7kt
Over the ground, which is 22.3 kt less than the true airspeed.
True heading
084°
Point the nose here to make good the track. Drift is 6.1 degrees to starboard.
Show the working
- The wind is from 45 degrees at 30 kt, and you want to make good 90 degrees at 200 kt true.
- The wind pushes you to starboard, so the nose goes left of the track by the drift angle to cancel it. Drift 6.1 degrees.
- Heading = track 90 - 6.1 = 84 degrees true.
- Groundspeed = 177.7 kt, which is 22.3 kt less than the true airspeed, so the wind is a net headwind along this track.
Everything here is degrees TRUE. A track taken off a chart is true, a wind in a forecast is true, and the heading you fly on the compass is magnetic. Apply the local variation to the heading above before you steer it.
Ready for your DGCA exam.
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