What does windshear mean when talking about planes. Is it something to do with turbulance?

Question

What does windshear mean when talking about planes. Is it something to do with turbulance?

Answer 1

Windshear is any sudden change in wind direction and/or speed. It CAN happen anywhere and at any time. However, it is more likely and more severe around thunderstorms or fronts, for example. It can be dangerous for aircraft, especially when they are close to the ground such as during takeoff or landing. A significant enough change in wind will require a significant power and control change. If the pilot cannot make the changes quickly enough, an accident may occur.

You can download the FAA wind shear guide here:

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidan...

You can also read more about wind shear on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_shear

Answer 2

Imagine turbulence as a boat riding on waves bouncing up and down.

Now imagine that same boat riding under a waterfall...That is what windshear is like...It's a downward  (or sideways) force all in one direction.

Answer 3

It is the wind movements that follow an aircraft.

Answer 4

It is where the wind picks up speed and becomes veriable.  It needs to be heavaley looked into when landing

Answer 5

wind shear has nothing to do with turbulance,,   turbulance is simply the mothion of hot currents or warmer air rising above due to its lower density, and vice versa the cooler air above moving downwards due to its more density,,  this up and down movement of air you feel it as bumps,,   just imagine something pushing you upwards then downwards...  thats  turbulance,,,    as for wind shear   it is simply   eather the sudden change in wind direction,,  or the sudden change in wind speed,,,   wind shear is only a critical phase for a pilot eather on take off or on landing,,    since the pilot is flying at a low speed at these times,  so when he encounter a wind shear it will afeect the airplanes speed in the same amount of intensity of the wind shear thus the pilot will loose indicated airspeed as as i mentioned since the plane is already flying at a low speed further loss of speed due to windshear could decrease the amount of air flow over the wings and the plane will loose its lift,,   thats a stall in aviation term,,,   but when hes flying enroute wind shear has no effect since the pilot is already flying at a high speed so wind shear will effect the speed indicator of the pilot but it want loose its lift since its already flying fast,,,   most accidents on takeoff and landings are due to windshear   abd theyre moreprevailing when flying in a low pressure area, or in a gusty wind conditions

Answer 6

Wind shear is the change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere. Wind shear is important for the formation of tornadoes and hail. Some amount of wind shear is common in the atmosphere. Larger values of wind shear exist near fronts, cyclones, and the jet stream. Wind shear in an atmospheric layer that is unstable can result in clear air turbulence.

In the context of aviation, wind shear refers to the change in wind with distance along a plane's flight path. If an aircraft experiences a sudden decrease in wind speed, it can reduce the lift on its wings to dangerously low values

Answer 7

Wind shear refers to the variation of wind over either horizontal or vertical distances. Airplane pilots generally regard significant windshear to be a horizontal change in airspeed of 30 knots (15 m/s) for light aircraft, and near 45 knots (22 m/s) for airliners. Vertical speed changes greater than 4.9 knots (2.5 m/s) also qualify as significant wind shear for aircraft. Low level wind shear can affect aircraft airspeed during take off and landing in disastrous ways. It is also a key factor in the creation of severe thunderstorms. The additional hazard of turbulence is often associated with wind shear.

Answer 8

Wind shear is a sudden and drastic change in wind direction and speed, generally encountered in the vicinity of storms.  In the context of aviation, it can be very dangerous indeed, especially during the take-off and approach phases, because if the wind suddenly changes direction and speed when the aircraft is so close to the ground, it may seriously affect the aircraft's heading and attitude, and at such a low altitude this may have catastrophic results.  One example is the case of Delta 191, which crashed on final approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 1985 as a direct result of wind shear (caused by a nearby storm system).

Answer 9

Wind shear is a change in direction of wind at a particular altitude.  For instance the wind is from the east at 3000' but at 3100' the wind is from the south...this is wind shear in a very basic form.  And yes this would cause some turbulence.

The water fall analogy is referring to a micro burst, which is a burst of air going straight down and when the column of air hits the ground it "mushrooms" out...this is bad because if an airplane is flying into it at the beginning the airplane will have an increase in airspeed which the pilots will correct by pitching up and/or reducing power...as they fly through it the headwind immediately changes into a tail wind causing a decrease in airspeed which they will correct by pitching down and/or an increase of power...this situation can go bad quickly if the column of air is going down at, lets say, 60 knots when it hits the ground the air in the "mushroom" is moving at 60 knots in all directions so an airplane with an approach speed of 130 knots hits the first part they airspeed can increase up to 190 knots so the pilots will correct the airspeed back to 130 knots...once on the other side the air is still rushing out at 60 knots resulting in an immediate loss of 60 knots of indicated airspeed resulting in an indicated airspeed on 70 knots which is far too slow for a transport category airplane which can result in an accident.

Luckily modern airplanes have wind shear detection equipment and would recognize the above situation quickly and alert the pilots of the  situation and they would perform a go around.

Here is a link to a micro burst diagram...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Micro...