Professional Pilot

JULY 7, 2025

However, they underestimated their climb from the lift off point and, with the sluggish rate of climb, the saddle ridge across the departure path suddenly became a dangerous obstacle they might not clear. Every pilot knows that aircraft fly because the forces of lift and thrust balance or exceed the weight and drag countering them.

Density Altitude

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

You can lift most limitations through the completion of a prescribed training course with an FAA-certified flight instructor. A great option for that is taking an interactive ground school, such as the private airplane pilot course on Pilotinstitute.com. For instance, the airplane category includes four classes: Single-engine land.

Pilot

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Lift is the force that aircraft use to counter gravity. Newton’s Third Law is one of the key laws of physics that explains lift. Lets see what Newtons Third Law is, and why we need it to understand lift. This principle is fundamental in generating lift, thrust, and maneuverability, allowing aircraft to fly.

Torque

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 2, 2025

In 1954 this photo of two swept wing airplanes was taken on the ramp of NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. Although the B-47A appeared structurally sound upon arrival, flight testing revealed notable shortcomingsparticularly buffeting issues that limited both its top speed and achievable lift.

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

JULY 26, 2025

The FAA this month quietly published long-awaited guidance for the certification of powered-lift aircraft—the first new category of civil aircraft since helicopters were introduced in the 1940s. For lift during horizontal flight, they use rigid airfoils such as wings. b) regulations for special class aircraft.

Lift

Pilot Institute

JUNE 12, 2025

Key Takeaways Variable-sweep wings adjust in flight to balance lift and speed. A variable-sweep wing, also called a “swing wing,” is a type of airplane wing that can change its angle while flying. This is because straight wings have a higher aspect ratio, which also increases the coefficient of lift.

Weight-Shift-Control

Flight Training Central

JUNE 30, 2025

Baffled by Bernoulli A CFI applicant was asked to teach lift during their practical exam. When he created his principle of differential pressure, he had no thoughts about its future application to the development of airfoils and lift production. With some imagination this looks a bit like the top of an airfoil.

Airfoil

Flight Training Central

MAY 7, 2024

As much as it seems sometimes that airplanes fly by magic, it’s important for every pilot to understand at least the basic fundamentals of aerodynamics. The term 'angle of attack' is defined as the angle between the airplane's longitudinal axis and that of the air striking the airfoil. What force makes an airplane turn?

Longitudinal Axis

Flying Magazine

MAY 1, 2024

Otto Lilienthal did it by shifting his weight, but for the much larger Wright Flyer the solution was to make one wing produce more lift than the other by twisting them in opposite directions. Actually, a prescient Englishman, Matthew Boulton, had patented the idea in 1868, when airplanes were still a thought experiment.

Aileron

Flying Magazine

MAY 30, 2025

The Bleriot XI that was the first airplane to cross the English Channel was a monoplane, as was the first really effective fighter of World War I, the Fokker Eindecker. When engines were weak and it was hard to get into the air at all, multiple wings were an obvious way to add lift without making the airplane much bigger.

Drag

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 7, 2024

During these years, he concluded that the inner surface of the venturi tube needed an airfoil shape to achieve the greatest efficiency. The duct, as predicted by Stipa, had a profile similar to that of the airfoil, with a fairly small rudder and elevators mounted on the trailing edge of the duct. The Stipa-Caproni in flight.

Airfoil

Vintage Aviation News

SEPTEMBER 21, 2024

In 1954 this photo of two swept wing airplanes was taken on the ramp of NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. In earlier decades, the response to control-surface motions had been fairly well established for a relatively rigid airplane by flight test and theory. long and thin).

Airfoil

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Storo lifted the British fighter into the air for the first time on June 28, 2022, from Tillamook Municipal Airport near his home. It actually flew fine, and it flies like a normal airplane. At that point, you’re simply looking down the runway, and then it lifts off. 19 Squadron.

Crosswind

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 9, 2025

Airplane wings vary in shape and size, but all have standard features like the chord line. Wing Control: Flaps, slats, and ailerons change the chord line, impacting lift and control. In general, the chord line is used as an easy-to-understand reference when referring to the properties of a wing or airfoil. Heres a quick recap.

Center of Gravity

Pilot's Life Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Aerodynamic Differences Fixed-Wing Aircraft (Airplanes) Airplanes , or fixed-wing aircraft, generate lift through their stationary wings as they move forward. The wings are designed with an airfoil shape, curved on the top and flatter on the bottom, creating a pressure difference when air flows over them.

Torque

Learn to Fly

JULY 11, 2024

An airplane will, however, always stall at the same angle of attack, called the critical angle of attack. An angle of attack (AOA) indicator can determine the aerodynamic health of the airfoil (wing). Additionally, these devices can give a visual rendering of the energy management state of the airplane.

Airfoil

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Ice can affect everything from how the airplane flies to the engines staying functional. And ice doesn’t just make things slippery, it messes with the airflow over the wings, cuts down on lift, and ramps up drag. Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped.

Pitot Tube

Air Facts

JULY 22, 2024

One was at the controls of an airplane alongside a CFI, and was preceded by flight planning and a preflight inspection. The Four Forces of Flight (Lift, Thrust, Drag & Gravity) obey Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. The kids learned that the precision required to fabricate airplane parts was on par with knee surgery.

Lift

Flying Magazine

MAY 6, 2025

Confirm the gauges reflect full power and feel the airplane quiver in anticipation. Can an airplane feel excitement? FLYING Magazine flew the Aviat Husky thanks to one mans desire to build and sell a serious utility backcountry airplane. He wanted to expand his companys offerings by selling a backcountry airplane.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Since then, the team has advanced the airplane into a kit, one made out of carbon fiber and incorporating more than 1400 hours of the prototype’s operation. But now they are, and as no other Experimental—or certified airplane for that matter—can do what the Gweduck can, it’s time to take a good look at the program.

Airplanes