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Animation - comparing two aircraft flying through clouds which show
 the wind speed and past buildings and mountains which shows the ground speed

Button to Display Equal Airspeed Button to Display Equal Ground Speed Button to Display Equal Wind Speed Button to Display Take Off Button to Stop


Here's a page for you to explore the relative velocity between an aircraft in flight, the ground, and the air through which the airplane moves. In this animation, the white clouds move relative to the ground at the wind speed, the airplane moves relative to the ground at the ground speed, and the airplane moves relative to the air at the airspeed. Airspeed is the important velocity for the generation of lift and drag. More information about these velocities is given on the Relative Velocity Slide.



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Editor: Nancy Hall
NASA Official: Nancy Hall
Last Updated: May 13 2021

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