"Doug" wrote in message

....If there is a wind from due west, one has to crab into
the wind. Turn around and fly due south, and with the wind still from
the due west, you have the same crab into the wind, truly creating
"headwinds both ways".

it is difficult to say just how much of a disadvantage we are at
(although it would be an interesting problem to solve

We played with this some 35 years ago when I was first working on my
commercial certificate. IIRC, in a light single with "moderate" or greater
winds, you need the wind to be 12-15 degrees aft of the wing before you
start getting any "tailwind" benefit at all.