Wind triangle: find the wind
The wind aloft from your heading, true airspeed, track, and groundspeed.
Planning and education aid. Not for primary navigation. Full disclaimer
Experimental: not yet fully verified. How results are checked
The wind is from 30° at 20 kt.
- Wind speed
Provenance
- Computed by
- aviation.wind.find-wind 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
- Model
- Wind vector = ground vector − air vector
- Accuracy
- Exact for steady wind. Planning aid, not certified for navigation.
- Notes
- 1 shown with the answer
- Cites
- Federal Aviation Administration, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C
Something look off?
How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof
Model: Wind vector = ground vector − air vector
Accuracy: Exact for steady wind. Planning aid, not certified for navigation.
Worked example: Heading 081.7°, 120 kt, track 090°, groundspeed 108.7 kt. Source: add-aviation-suite wind scenario: wind about 030° at 20 kt.
You enter
- Groundspeed
- 108.7 kt
- Heading
- 81.7 deg
- True airspeed
- 120 kt
- Track
- 90 deg
You get
- Wind direction
- 30°
- Wind speed
- 20 kt
Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a flight instructor (CFI).
Last verified: 2026-09-19, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.
Status: version 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.
Checked against: 5 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.
Sources
- Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA-H-8083-25C. Aircraft Performance and Navigation chapters (pressure and density altitude, wind triangle).
Experimental means this tool has not yet met the stable bar: at least 20 golden vectors, differential tests, and an independent worked example.
Learn the concept: The wind triangle explained