In the 1100 NM flight calculation, what is the tailwind value?

• A. 30 kts
• B. 50 kts
• C. 40 kts
• D. 60 kts

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that the tailwind value is the component of the wind that actually acts along your flight path. It’s not the full wind speed; you must project the wind onto the direction you’re flying. The tailwind component equals the wind speed times the cosine of the angle between the wind direction and your course, with a positive value indicating a wind pushing you from behind.

In this scenario, after performing that projection with the given wind data and course, the component along the route comes out to 50 knots. That 50 kts is the tailwind you use to adjust ground speed, time, and fuel calculations.

The other numbers would come from projecting the wind at different angles; they don’t match the actual projection for this problem, so 50 knots is the correct tailwind value for the flight as given.