Originally Posted by
twebb
I thought the same thing with the tailwind...comment from another instructor was, "why would you be landing with a tailwind." It happens, big airports aren't going to change the runways because of a small tailwind.
Or at your friendly, local non-controlled field where everyone uses the undersized, pot-holed runway no matter how much the winds favor the brand new six-thousand footer...
Yeah, that sounds like hogwash to me. Increasing speeds to deal with a gust factor or in generally windy conditions? Sure. But to keep your pattern the same size? How about you, you know, look out the window and adjust your legs accordingly. The nice thing about a headwind is that it allows you to keep your IAS up with a lower GS, requiring a shorter landing distance and ground roll. Do these people simply enjoy eating up the whole runway (and, yikes, have they ever tried to fly a DA-20 that way?)?