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Can an unpowered aircraft advance into a head wind (as a yacht can tack into a head wind)?

Asked by: 3226 views Aerodynamics, General Aviation

I was just looking at an interesting article about dirigibles to be used as internet hubs at high altitude see http://singularityhub.com/2014/04/09/first-balloons-and-drones-now-dirigibles-the-race-for-a-truly-world-wide-web/

They plan to use solar-powered motors to drive propellers when head winds up to 90 km/hr are encountered.  Because exact positioning is not critical, and thinking of yachts (leveraging against the sea) tacking zig-zag forward, I wondered whether there was any 'clever' way of similarly using the headwind power itself to cause the aircraft to remain roughly geostationery.

I realize the aircraft has nothing to leverage against, but smart humans often achieve 'impossible' things by refusing to take no for an answer.  E.g. humans flying.   = )  Bruce Thomson in New Zealand

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2 Answers



  1. Bob Watson on Apr 11, 2014

    I would think not. A yacht is using wind to move over water. The wind is creating a force on the sail (much like an airplane wing) which moves the yacht. As long as the sail can be turned to a suitable angle of attack (to the wind), it can move the yacht through the water.

    An airship is buoyant in the air and has no other medium from which to derive a motive force besides the engines. It would be like a motorboat getting power from the water.

    That being said, I’d be happy to be proven wrong!

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  2. William Brynjo on May 07, 2014

    A glider can go against the wind using gravity, but that isn’t using the wind against itself unless you use mountain waves or ridge lift (not particularly smart to do that trying to advance against the wind)

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