G'day Ian,
Yep! You are correct! The RATE of climb will differ in a turn from that of S&L.....due to all of those other factors...Angle of bank, increased angle of attack to maintain the same vert. component of lift, increased power to overcome the increased drag due to.....etc etc and to provide the climbing power - power available above the best lift/drag ratio etc....and so it goes...... beyond what we were discussing here.
However, the point I was trying to make is, that, once established in a climbing turn,
then the W/V has NIL effect on your RATE of climb.
(I didn't mention S&L...only about putting the acft into the climbing turn)
The original query was that the acft would climb at differing rates in a headwind v tailwind......(hence my suggestion about the climbing turn where one is changing 'head/cross/ tail' wind constantly....sort of....)
NYET!
Once we are airborne, then we are simply flying in a body of air, which in itself may or may not be moving - CALM v BREEZE v cyclone - this movement is measured by us OVER the ground, relative to the ground, as a Northerly, or whatever - strong, medium, gentle or whatever - but does our aeroplane care??
NYET!
It is simply behaving as to the aerodynamic principles of flight...it may be 'bumpy' - turbulence due to W/V over terrain (mechanical turb) or due to convection currents on a hot day - but the airflow relative to the aeroplane, and hence its IAS, RATE of climb (NOT 'APPARENT' ANGLE) will be the same as always......
e.g. If my aeroplane, at a certain weight/load, with a certain power setting at an attitude which gives me a certain angle of attack - we see this as IAS - everything else being 'constant', will give me a RATE of climb of say, 500ft a minute, then it will do regardless of the W/V, and regardless of the acft heading. (into wind v downwind).
Don't even mention summer v winter yet....we are considering a specific day and point in time. Temps DO make a difference, and for a whole variety of reasons.
Thanks for your patience;)