MJD, nicely said. You have written what I was thinking of when I posted, but I was too lazy.

Shoe, it helps to know the difference between 'angle of climb' and 'rate of climb'. All else being equal, rate of climb will be the same regardless of wind direction or speed, but the angle of climb will be steeper into wind and shallow with the wind. Same for landing approaches. In all cases the plane will fly at the same airspeed it usually does for any combination of throttle and elevator trim or position. Ground speeds will, of course vary, so pilots shouldn't use that reference.

williesims, this thread has taken a bit of a turn from the original poser, hey what?!

Cheers from the Barfly.