Given a distance of 200 NM, a true course of 320°, wind at 215° at 25 kts, and true airspeed of 116 kts, what would be the approximate groundspeed?

To determine the approximate groundspeed in this scenario, we need to consider the effect of wind on the aircraft's true airspeed. The true airspeed is the speed of the aircraft in still air, while the groundspeed is the speed of the aircraft over the ground, which is influenced by wind.

First, we have the aircraft's true course of 320°. The wind direction of 215° means the wind is coming from that direction (towards 35°). To calculate the crosswind and headwind components, we need to resolve the wind vector relative to the aircraft's true course.

• The headwind component would be calculated using trigonometry: We can find the angle between the true course and the wind direction by subtracting the course from the direction of the wind.

• The wind is at 215° and the aircraft is heading at 320°, so the angle difference is 320° - 215° = 105°.

Using this angle, we can determine the headwind and crosswind components:

1. The headwind component is calculated as:

• ( V_{headwind} = V_{wind} \times \cos(angle))

• ( 25 \times \cos(105°)