Page 88 - 6748

1 What is the difference between airspeed and groundspeed? How do wind speed and wind
direction result in a difference between an aircraft’s airspeed and its groundspeed?
2 If an aircraft’s groundspeed and airspeed are the same, what must the wind speed be?
3 In theory, an aircraft can fly with a groundspeed of zero in certain extreme conditions.
What would these conditions be, with regard to wind speed and the aircraft’s direction relative to
the wind?
4 To minimise the horizontal groundspeed of an air-dropped container on landing, what
should the aircraft’s direction be, relative to the wind?
5 If several air-drops are carried out from the same altitude with different wind speeds, how
will higher wind speeds affect the groundspeed of the container on landing?

6a In pairs, discuss which of the following options you think is
preferable and why.
1 a low-level drop with low vertical speed and high horizontal
speed
2 a high-level drop with high vertical speed and low horizontal
speed

b In pairs, discuss how the design of the container used for dropping
cargo would be different for each of the two options in Exercise 6a. For
each situation, consider how the container could be built to cushion the
type of impact. In particular, think about the shape of the container and
the protective structure around it.

III Comparing results with expectations

7a In pairs, discuss the difference between expectations and results.
Give an example relating to research and development (R&D) in
engineering.

86