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 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

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. The drag chute was used on landings to help brake the airplane’s speed. The B-47A fuselage was 106 feet 11 inches in length.

Gross Weight

Pilot Institute

JUNE 12, 2025

Key Takeaways Variable-sweep wings adjust in flight to balance lift and speed. Straight Wings and Swept Wings At low speeds, like when you’re taking off or landing, you can extend the wings straight out to produce more lift. 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

The term 'angle of attack' is defined as the angle between the airplane's longitudinal axis and that of the air striking the airfoil. Air traveling faster over the curved upper surface of an airfoil causes lower pressure on the top surface. The horizontal component of lift. The vertical component of lift.

Longitudinal Axis

Flying Magazine

MAY 30, 2025

That combination of requirements was incompatible with very thin wings, and in the early days of aviation it was widelythough not universallybelieved that thin birdlike airfoils were best. 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

Simple Flying

JUNE 14, 2025

Hinged panels at the wing’s trailing and leading edges transform a sleek airfoil into a low-speed lift sail. Increasing camber, flaps propel an airliner to lift off at lower speeds, trading a little drag for a lot of lift. One of the most influential cockpit levers on a jet’s take-off is the flap handle.

Camber

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 7, 2024

The unique cylindrical design of the fuselage allowed for a streamlined profile and reduced drag, increasing the overall efficiency. During these years, he concluded that the inner surface of the venturi tube needed an airfoil shape to achieve the greatest efficiency. The Stipa-Caproni in flight.

Airfoil

Learn to Fly

JULY 11, 2024

An angle of attack (AOA) indicator can determine the aerodynamic health of the airfoil (wing). This flight instrument measures the angle between an aircraft’s wing and the relative wind, providing a visual representation of how much lift the wings are generating at a given airspeed or angle of bank.

Airfoil

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. Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped. Ice build-up on the airframe changes the airflow pattern around these airfoils.

Pitot Tube

Fear of Landing

MARCH 22, 2024

One of the most revolutionary was the “area rule,” a concept that helped aircraft designers avoid the disruption in airflow and resulting drag caused by the attachment of the wings to the fuselage. The resulting “supercritical airfoil” shape, when integrated with the aircraft wing, significantly improves the aircraft’s cruise efficiency.

Wind Shear

Air Facts

JULY 22, 2024

The Four Forces of Flight (Lift, Thrust, Drag & Gravity) obey Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. irplane controls work per the Lever Principle, and a wing’s airfoil shape increases lift via the Bernouilli Principle and Coanda Effect. The oldest is Archimedes’ Law. Yes, it was the same Jacques Charles.

Lift

Flying Magazine

MAY 6, 2025

It retained the classic, high-lift Clark Y airfoil, but the span of its four-position semi-Fowler flap span was extended. The tailwheel can be kept on the ground if desired for soft or rough fields, but the extra drag prolongs the takeoff roll slightly. In 2005, a new wing became standard. It is not plain vanilla.

Gross Weight

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. Overall, the controls were wonderful.

Airplanes