The editor writes… An aircraft must keep up a certain airspeed to stop it stalling. But when flying into a headwind, it can reduce its ground speed without fear of falling. These facts were stressed by Clive Teale in a correction to our question Plane Thinking on 23 March. The correspondent he was correcting, Len Winokur, had actually made the same point, but his answer was sent off course by the word-traffic controller at the Last Word. Apologies to Len for the error.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Technology
Tiny discs can levitate in the upper atmosphere using sunlight alone
51¶¯Âþ

Technology
Solar drone with wingspan wider than jumbo jet could fly for months
51¶¯Âþ

Environment
Have we found an unlikely solution to the climate impact of flying?
Comment

Technology
Why bizarre Cold War hoverboats are making a comeback
51¶¯Âþ
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
2
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
3
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
4
The mysterious reason why women get hotter from age 18 to 42
5
After news about Oliver Sacks's "lies", we revisit his best-loved book
6
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
7
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
8
Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery
9
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?
10
Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum