Ground speed

Ground speed

Ground speed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground. It is the sum of the aircraft's true airspeed and the current wind and weather conditions; a headwind subtracts from the ground speed, while a tailwind adds to it. Winds at other angles to the heading will have components of either headwind or tailwind as well as a crosswind component.

An airspeed indicator can only indicate the aircraft's movement within an air mass. The air mass as a whole may be moving over the ground due to wind, and therefore some additional means to provide position over the ground is required. This might be through navigation using landmarks, radio aided position location, inertial navigation system, or GPS. When more advanced technology is unavailable, an E6B flight computer is often used to calculate groundspeed.

Ground speed is quite different from airspeed and, when an aircraft is aloft, has no affect on actual aircraft performance such as stall speeds or other V speeds.

See also

* True airspeed
* Indicated airspeed
* Inertial navigation system
* GPS


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ground speed — noun : the velocity of an airplane with relation to the ground compare airspeed * * * ground speed, the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground it passes over. * * * ˈground speed 7 [ground speed] noun the speed of an aircraft relative to the …   Useful english dictionary

  • ground speed — The horizontal component of the velocity of an aircraft relative to the ground. Ground speed is obtained by applying the effect of the prevalent wind velocity to the TAS (true air speed) …   Aviation dictionary

  • Ground speed — Die Geschwindigkeit über Grund oder Fahrt über Grund (vg oder FüG, in der Fliegersprache eng. ground speed (GS)) beschreibt die Fortbewegung eines Schiffes oder Flugzeugs relativ zum Boden (Grund bzw. Erdoberfläche) – im Gegensatz zur Fahrt… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ground speed — antžeminis greitis statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Orlaivio greitis žemės atžvilgiu. atitikmenys: angl. ground speed pranc. vitesse sol …   NATO terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • ground-speed mode — In a flight control system, a control mode in which the ground speed of an aircraft is automatically controlled to a specific value …   Aviation dictionary

  • ground speed — /ˈgraʊnd spid / (say grownd speed) noun 1. the speed reached while travelling along the ground. 2. the speed of an aircraft in reference to the ground. Compare airspeed …  

  • ground speed — noun Date: 1917 the speed (as of an airplane) with relation to the ground compare airspeed …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • ground speed — n. g.s., speed of a flying aircraft relative to the ground it crosses in a given period of time …   English contemporary dictionary

  • ground speed — noun an aircraft s speed relative to the ground …   English new terms dictionary

  • ground speed — The horizontal component of the speed of an aircraft relative to the Earth …   Military dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”