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Aviation vocabulary · Aviation Weather

Headwind

Meaning in aviation, with examples

/ˈhedwɪnd/nounCore term

In aviation, headwind means: A wind that blows against the direction an aircraft is moving. It lowers the ground speed but helps the aircraft take off and land in a shorter distance.

In Turkish: karşı rüzgar, baş rüzgarı

How it is used

Aircraft take off and land into the wind whenever possible, and the runway in use is chosen with this in mind. In the cruise, strong headwinds add flight time and fuel burn. Pilots calculate the headwind component.

Example sentences

  1. We have a 60-knot headwind, so we will land about twenty minutes late.

  2. The headwind component on runway 23 is 12 knots.

Common collocations

  • strong headwind
  • headwind component
  • into a headwind
  • 60-knot headwind
  • crosswindA wind that blows across the runway from the side instead of along it, which makes takeoff and landing more difficult.
  • knotThe unit of speed used in aviation and at sea: one nautical mile per hour, which is about 1.85 kilometres per hour.
  • airspeedThe speed of an aircraft relative to the air around it, which is what keeps it flying. Whenever there is wind, it is different from the ground speed.
  • runwayA long, specially prepared strip at an airport that aircraft use to take off and land. Each runway is named by a number based on its magnetic direction.

More terms: Aviation Weather

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