Serway & Jewett — Motion in Two Dimensions: Problem 27

You are taking flying lessons from an experienced pilot. You and the pilot are up in the plane, with you in the pilot seat. The control tower radios the plane, saying that, while you have been airborne, a 25-mi/h crosswind has arisen, with the direction of the wind perpendicular to the runway on which you plan to land. The pilot tells you that your normal airspeed as you land will be 80 mi/h relative to the ground. This speed is relative to the air, in the direction in which the nose of the airplane points. He asks you to determine the angle at which the aircraft must be “crabbed,” that is, the angle between the centerline of the aircraft and the centerline of the runway that will allow the airplane’s velocity relative to the ground to be parallel to the runway.