ORIGINAL: stek79
Since we are on the topic, I might add another question.
Often I hear some top pilots speaking about good pattern airplane behaviour in the wind. Another thing to consider when desinging side fuse surface I think... but what is a good windy behaviour? I crosswind, the plane should point its nose into the wind, in order to compensate it? Or should remain neutral?
Respectfully,
This question reflects an incredibly common misconception about how airplanes respond to wind. Any aircraft, from an indoor blimp or a foamy to a B747, has to crab into a crosswind (assuming "coordinated" flight) to maintain a desired flightpath. The only factors to consider to determine how much crab is necessary are the wind vector relative to the airplanes's velocity vector through the air, and the desired flightpath. Size, weight, fuselage side area, etc. matter not. Note that a crab angle has nothing to do with skidding or flying partially "sideways". It is the difference between the airplane's heading and it's flightpath over the ground as a result of the movement of the airmass through which it is moving.
Wind correction is solely the pilot's job and has nothing to do with the type or design of the aircraft. What those pattern pilots are talking about is really three main considerations: Airplanes with higher wing loadings tend to respond less to
turbulence, and airplanes that are flying faster tend to respond less to
turbulence, since they are exposed to a given vertical gust for a shorter time. Faster flying airplanes require smaller crab angles to maintain a desired flightpath in a given crosswind. The only aircraft whose heading would exactly equal it's flighpath in a crosswind would be one flying at an infinite airspeed.