begin quote from my:

Cessna 152 article from 2010 Cessna 152

 Keep in mind that airspeed is a completely different thing than groundspeed. Airspeed is really only useful for comparing the performance of different airplanes because it describes how fast an airplane moves through the air. Because the air is rarely still, the distance an airplane covers in an hour depends on which way the wind is going. Compared to cars on the ground, a Cessna 150 that is flying at 110 MPH may actually be going as fast as 150 MPH if a strong wind is going the same direction as the airplane ( tailwind ). On the other hand, if the Cessna is flying directly into a strong wind ( headwind ) it would only be traveling about 70 MPH compared to cars. 

end quote:

My experience with Airspeed versus ground speed can be Illustrated by the following story.

The Flight instructor who was flying in the Cessna 152 with me told me to do figure 8s in relation to the ground.

However, we were in a 10 to 20 mile per hour crosswind so doing this seemed almost impossible at the time even though I tried really hard.

Because the cross wind would hit the plane at different angles as you turned and make it almost impossible to do a good Figure 8 in relation to the ground.

This REALLY taught me Airspeed versus Ground speed.

Also, when I was 10 years old there was about a 20 mph crosswind off the ocean pushing me into San Gorgonio mountain as I flew my father's best friend's 1949 Stinson back to Los Angeles County from Yucca Valley.

He showed me how to use the rudder to push into the wind so the wind wouldn't blow us into the mountain where we would crash and die then. So, the leading edge of the plane was not the nose but the tip of the right wing doing this.

So, I had to really work the peddles on the rear rudder to make this happen and to keep away from Crashing into 11,000 foot or more San Gorgonio Mountain because we were flying at 7000 feet for safety.

Also, when there are winds often it is better to fly at 7000 feet or above because the air is thinner and will cushion your ride more too in a small plane.

This is also true of Jet Passenger planes and why they often fly at 30,000 to 40,000 feet.