We consider the effects of atmospheric disturbances, such as wind, shears, turbulence and wakes, on the aerodynamics of aircraft, in order (§1) to quantify the phenomena in question, and provide a basis for future application to problems of performance and stability. The present method of description of the effects of non-uniformity and unsteadiness of the incident flow on aircraft aerodynamics, is presented in some detail for a head- or tailwind sheared vertically (§2), and its extension to all three components of velocity and six shear derivatives is outlined (§11). The starting point (§3) is the relative life change due to a uniform or sheared wind; in the latter case we introduce (§6) a dimensionless shear number S, which plays with regard to vorticity, a role similar (§6) to the Mach and Reynolds numbers respectively in connection with compressibility and viscosity. The aerodynamics of a body or aerofoil in an incident stream containing vorticity, is specified (§7) by a shear coefficient Cs, playing a role similar to the lift, drag and moment coefficients for aerodynamic forces and torques. The present theory is consistent with the formulas of theoretical aerodynamics, the results of wind tunnel tests and observation of atmospheric disturbances involving shear flows. The use of the concepts of shear number S and shear coefficient Cs allows the calculation (§10) of the uniform wind equivalent to a given shear, ie, the wind velocity which would cause the same lift change as the shear. This equivalent wind may be useful in the calculation of the aerodynamic effects of sheared flows, eg, forebody vortices on a wing, wing in a propeller slipstream, tailplane in a wing’s wake, an aircraft landing, behind another, or flight through storms or microbursts.