Pilot's Life Blog

MARCH 15, 2024

Below are other critical pieces of the wings that help give the plane additional lift, reduce drag, or achieve lower speeds in preparation for landing: Ailerons: A French word meaning “fin” or “little wing,” the aileron helps control the airplane’s roll. What are the basic parts of this section?

Horizontal Stabilizer

Flying Magazine

APRIL 26, 2024

The small aileron “tabs” were not doing a great job in crosswind ability. As is often the case with swept-wing jets, sometimes extra drag is required beyond gear and flaps. Hand flying the circuit, I blasted through the shear with ease, but the big wings made it even more noticeable in rolling motions and aileron slop.

Crosswind

Northstar VFR

JULY 21, 2024

The rudder is a movable flight control which is mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer on the back of the airplane. Some new student pilots think the rudder and vertical stabilizer are the same thing. The vertical stabilizer is a vertical fixed part of the plane’s empennage. Why is the rudder so important?

Rudder

Pilot Institute

MARCH 29, 2024

Drag : The aerodynamic force opposing the aircraft’s forward motion. This increases lift but comes at the cost of increased induced drag. Pilots must counteract the additional drag with more thrust to maintain altitude. Trim for level flight once you’re stabilized at your target speed.

Lift

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

And ice doesn’t just make things slippery, it messes with the airflow over the wings, cuts down on lift, and ramps up drag. This leads to a serious loss of lift and an increase in drag. This roughness adds to friction drag, which can reduce lift and increase drag by as much as 50% on a wing’s leading edge and upper surface.

Pitot Tube

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

The easiest way to achieve this is by flying a stabilized approach. So, what is a stabilized approach? A stabilized approach requires the pilot to establish and maintain a constant angle glidepath towards an aiming point. Add any more pressure, and the wheel will stop rotating and drag along the runway instead.

Descent

Pilot Institute

MAY 4, 2024

This gives you a safe buffer on the stall speed and plenty of time to stabilize. Full flaps are generally used since they lower approach speed and increase drag. The drag allows for a steeper descent, which is particularly helpful when avoiding obstacles. With a short field landing, we aim to be at 1.3

Weight-Shift-Control

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

How an aircraft handles Dutch roll depends on its dynamic stability. The aircraft’s design influences its dynamic stability. Increased lift on the raised wing immediately creates more induced drag. What’s induced drag? The higher drag on the raised wing reduces its speed relative to the lower wing.

Stability

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 12, 2024

The turbulent air hits the horizontal stabilizer, which causes a vibration that can be felt throughout the aircraft. The lack of airflow over the ailerons results in a loss of control authority and mushy and ineffective controls. While takeoff flaps improve performance, they also add unwanted drag.

Stability

Flying Magazine

MAY 6, 2025

That required the creation of a redesigned, shorter span aileron that resulted in a markedly increased roll rate. In an airplane with a great deal of adverse aileron yaw that challenges a pilot each time the airplane makes a turn? Hofeldt told us that Garmin had licked the yaw issueand we found out that he was right.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 16, 2024

Planespotters note the F2’s separate ailerons and flaps, conventional tail. But you can see the change to separate ailerons and flaps is just one part of preparing the F2 to grow into a four-place airplanebuying aerodynamic benefits now to spend later on a heavier, more powerful model. Out back, theres an entirely new tail.

Rudder

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Winging It Aside from the aforementioned desire for a greater aspect ratio for reduced drag, the one-piece Gweduck wing was developed for minimal weight, ease of construction and benign handling. Keeping drag corralled was emphasized as the Gweduck mission is foremost long-distance cruising. Maintenance room is generally very good.

Airplanes