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what limits the maximum tailwind you can takeoff with?

Asked by: 4960 views Aerodynamics

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2 Answers



  1. John D Collins on May 26, 2015

    I am not aware of a published limit. Many aircraft POH provide performance information for takeoff and include headwind or tailwind as a factor. There are many factors that would affect the takeoff performance such as the runway length, surface, slope, the amount of power available, the maximum rated tire speed, and the maximum ground speed that can be achieved. With a tail wind, the aircraft has to accelerate to lift off IAS plus the tail wind component, You become a test pilot when you go outside of the charted performance information.

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  2. Alex Weeks on Jun 04, 2015

    Many aircraft have a maximum tail wind limitation for takeoff and landing in the AFM. 10 kts seems to be a common choice. e.g. The Hawker 800A has a 10kt limitation. Lear 31A limit is 10 kts. The Challenger 601-3A is 10 kts. You’ll also find a limitation in ops specs for commercial operations. The ops specs limitation is also historically 10 kts, but I remember hearing that many were changing that to accommodate places where taking off with a tailwind is clearly a better choice than the opposite direction runway with a headwind. For example, Aspen, Hailey, Telluride.

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