Originally Posted by
oldveedubs
L/Dmax is not a function or weight, wind, or airspeed....it is a function of aerofoil. If the aerofoil isn't changing, drag polar stays the same.
That being said, wind will change your "speed to fly" based off how a tangent line intersects with the polar.
In very basic terms, you add 1/2 the headwind to your L/Dmax speed and subtract 1/4 tailwind...this is known as your speed to fly, talk to some glider pilots.
(L/D)max, won't be affected by wind.
If all other factors (i.e. airspeed, etc) remain constant, any one factor (i.e. weight) increase/decrease will make the L/D shift.
The point being though that sometimes (L/D)max does
not equate to the best glide speed for range if you're in a headwind or tailwind.... which is why glider pilot increase/decrease their airspeed like you said.