Folks,hypothetical - 17kt tailwind at 002/29kts, TAS=480, GS=497, so 17kt tailwind, from behind us, our heading should be 250, but our track is a left crab at 248 deg.So, my magenta line is 250, but my green diamond is at 248, so about 2 degrees due to the crosswind.Can you please tell me what the aircraft autopilot is doing to 'fight' the crosswind - is it employing rudder yaw? The reason I am asking, aside from my curiousity, is a gentleman posted earlier in the forum that contrary to popular belief, rudder yaw is NOT used to correct for a crosswind during the flight.I'm confused.Also, with that 2 degree difference, doesn't that add up over a long distance? If so, will the aircraft continue to fly that offset track until the crosswind is no longer present, and then correct back to the magenta line ?cheers,Josh

Josh,>Can you please tell me what the aircraft autopilot is doing to 'fight' >the crosswind - is it employing rudder yaw? The autopilot will just fly a heading closer to the crosswind direction. No rudder yaw or anything. Just adjusting the course for the drift caused by the wind blowing it to the side of the magenta line. That's why you see the diamond offset when in crosswind conditions. It should be offset into the wind direction. Tailwind or not does not matter the only thing that will make the aircraft drift is the crosswind component. The tail/headwind component will add or substract from your GS.Hope it helps,