Hi guys, This has been troubling me for some time now, and I thought I better ask.In the real world pilots point the nose towards the wind to avoid being "carried away" by the wind correct? For example on take-off roll, cross-wind landings, or even on level flights...the a/c will slightly points towards the direction the wind is coming, FROM to REMAIN ON COURSE...correct?Well, all of my a/c behave the opposite. I'm taking off, or already airborne, and I have let's say 6-10 knots of wind blowing from my left and instead of a/c be drifted to away from the wind direction (in this case to the right), the a/c moves towards the left-- to where the wind is cominig from....For instance I'm taking off (or lanidng) with cross-wind and instead of correcting for wind-direction to maintain straight flight, my a/c are making me correct for "go with the wind direction" to fly straight. I know this shouldn't be like this cause I've flown in the real world...such as the powerful and mighty Cessna 182. (well, not so mighty but I have the experience. --- On my FSX I have installed almost every "pro" add-on a/c that's out there, and I have REX installed as well. What advice can you guys give me to fix this issue.Johnny

Is it possible that you are misinterpreting the wind direction? Remember the direction given is the direction the wind is coming from, not blowing to.

Is it possible that you are misinterpreting the wind direction? Remember the direction given is the direction the wind is coming from, not blowing to.

--- Example: I am heading North, the wind is blowing From the East...My a/c should be drifting to the West; however my airplanes are drifting towards the incoming wind. (East). This happens with ALL my add-ons.

--- Example: I am heading North, the wind is blowing From the East...My a/c should be drifting to the West; however my airplanes are drifting towards the incoming wind. (East). This happens with ALL my add-ons.

Normal. Wind doesn't push A/C so much as the tail: wind from east pushes flat surface of TAIL WEST, so nose turns INTO the wind - to the east. Loyd

This is especially true on the ground. In the air using auto-pilot this is also true.

Air is a moving body of fluid, similar to water. An aircraft moving through the air reacts in a similar fashion to a boat moving through water with a current. It does sound like you might be confusing wind direction. If the wind is 240 at 9 kts, the wind is blowing from 240 degrees toward a heading of 60 degrees. Think of it like looking at a compass. These images explain apparent wind direction fairly clearly:

The phenomenon you are experiencing is called 'weathercocking', whereby your aeroplane acts like a weather vane (aka a weather cock). Basically it is because the vertical stabiliser acts like a big sail when the wind pushes on its side, and that makes the aircraft pivot toward the wind. It's especially common on large airliners when they take off in a crosswind, where the vertical stabiliser is very tall - such as the B747 - because the tail is up very high where the wind is less affected by ground friction.Al

The phenomenon you are experiencing is called 'weathercocking'Al

Bingo! I was just going to say the same. You really understand weathercocking when you take off in a glider with a C.G. tow hook and a nice crosswind. Glider will want to weathercock into the wind and drift to the upwind edge of the runway. Must apply aileron into the wind so adverse yaw will work with the rudder and keep you from ground-looping.When rolling at speed on the runway pre take-off or post-landing, always cross controls (rudder downwind, aielrons upwind) to track the centerline, engine nacelle clearances permitting.Cheers,- jahman.

Isn't weathercocking only an issue when the wheels are on the ground and keeping the plane from moving with the wind?

Isn't weathercocking only an issue when the wheels are on the ground and keeping the plane from moving with the wind?

Yup. And it should be the only time your aeroplane exhibits that behaviour. Any other time, when the wheels are off the deck, the aircraft will simply move along in the entire air mass and the aeroplane will effectively not 'feel' the wind at all apart from by virtue of how it moves the aircraft in relation to the Earth's surface.Al

I have noticed sometimes when flying with a tailwind, my airplane seems to lose speed, and has to increase throttles, sometimes redline, just to keep from dropping too much speed. I could see this happening with a headwind, but at tailwind? Something doesn't make sense. Maybe the autopilot of some addons doesn't work right with activesky or another weather addon?

I have noticed sometimes when flying with a tailwind, my airplane seems to lose speed, and has to increase throttles, sometimes redline, just to keep from dropping too much speed. I could see this happening with a headwind, but at tailwind? Something doesn't make sense. Maybe the autopilot of some addons doesn't work right with activesky or another weather addon?

If the wind shifts so you have a rapidly increasing tailwind, you get a drop in indicated airspeed so the autothrottle will increase thrust to keep up.What matters here is the airplane's speed relative to the air.

No wind shifts, a constant tailwind and the airplane is losing airspeed fast, the engines are running at full throttle. Maybe it's just wind gusts but my ground speed isn't high at all. I remember ASE used to model winds right, giving me 600+ ground speed in the 747 with strong tail winds. But recently it has not worked.

Isn't weathercocking only an issue when the wheels are on the ground and keeping the plane from moving with the wind?

Yes, that's why I said; "When rolling at speed on the runway pre take-off or post-landing".Cheers,- jahman.