Is it possible for a "full size" airplane to take-off flying backwards?
Like as in a Piper Cub J3 at the end of the run way into a (hypothetical) 75 MPH headwind. I fly "RC" planes and in a strong wind "20 MPH", I got one that handles the same as on a calm day, only thing is my plane doesn't move forward, I cut back on the throttle and it flies backwards, still has pitch and yaw control. Yes I know a 175 MPH headwind would be hard to find to try this with a 747, but small planes?
Best answer:
Answer by MrAUDU
An airplane can not "fly backwards". It flies forward, but the ambient wind may cause the planes' ground track to move in reverse. If the wind stopped, the plane would track across the ground in a forward motion.
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I landed a J3 at Santa Paula in a wind that was strong enough to reduce the landing roll to zero.
A head wind only needs to be faster than the stall speed to move backwards over the ground, so a 40 mph wind is enough. A wheel landing is accomplished above the stalling speed that you would reach during a full stall 3 point landing.
Can you have a backward ground speed at take off? With enough headwind, certainly! The trick would be taxing out to the active in those conditions.
I learned to fly in mid winter in the upper midwest. Most days my training had to contended with very gusty winds. One day,with the plane facing into 35 knot wind gusts, before engine start my instructor said “watch this!” He pulled back on the yoke the little 150 got about a foot off the ground and came to rest about 2 feet back from where it started from. It was not sustained flight, but we were flying backward.
Haven’t taken off, but I have landed going backwards, I was bored and it was blowing 54 knots. Was fairly tricky, we just unloaded and reloaded on the runway instead of trying to taxi across in conditions like that. I figure the only reason I didn’t take off backwards was 54 knots was right on the cusp of the stall speed and I was really holding it off to go backwards, but on takeoff after I added the power we were going forwards. This was in a 207.
It would take a lot of finesse to be able to do that, but it is possible. Back in the ’40s and early ’50s when slow low flying was in vogue all the old timers with their Cubs and Stinsons would take off from Gainesvile, TX in wind greater than 35 mph and fly backward to Ardmore downtown. I guess that was before skipper747s time.
I might add that getting the aircraft out and lined up with the wind would be the main problem.