ORIGINAL: MajorTomski
ORIGINAL: carl24bpool
Or is there something about momentum and mass moving in relation to the earth and gravity that comes into it somewhere?
Nope, that's why aircraft carriers sail into the wind to get more airspeed on the aircraft's wings before they take off.
To take this one step further, a loaded "Kate" torpedo bomber had a hard time launching from the aircraft carrier Kaga due to wind speed over the deck. Of all the Japanese "fleet carriers" used between Pearl Harbor and Midway, the Kaga was the only one not able to steam at 30+ knots so launching the heavy aircraft was problematic at best in no wind to light wind conditions.