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. Understanding these concepts will create a smoother and safer pilot. Air traveling faster over the curved upper surface of an airfoil causes lower pressure on the top surface.

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Gross Weight Longitudinal Axis Airfoil Lift 98

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 2, 2025

The drag chute was used on landings to help brake the airplane’s speed. Accommodations were for two pilots and a navigator, with the aircraft being instrumented for aeroelasticity studies. Pilots are Joe Walker on the viewer’s left and Stanley Butchart on the right. The average gross weight was 115,000 pounds.

Gross Weight 60

Gross Weight Airfoil Drag Stability 60

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. Thus, the benefits in engine efficiency were canceled out.

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Airfoil Rudder Drag Stability 98

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 64

Camber Airfoil Lift Drag 64

Learn to Fly

JULY 11, 2024

What can pilots do to prevent this? During your student pilot training you are taught to rely on speed and the 1G stall speed to avoid stalls. An angle of attack (AOA) indicator can determine the aerodynamic health of the airfoil (wing). Without an AOA indicator, the AOA is invisible to pilots.

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Airfoil Center of Gravity Density Altitude Drag 40

Fear of Landing

MARCH 22, 2024

Today, aircraft are equipped with forward-looking sensors that alert pilots to wind shear hazards. 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.

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Wind Shear Airfoil Drag Airline 52

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.

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Pitot Tube Drag Lift Airfoil 52

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Newton’s Third Law helps pilots and engineers improve flight safety and aircraft performance. They are designed with a special shape called an airfoil, which encourages passing air to turn and deflect downward. So, pilots must find the sweet spot: enough angle to generate strong lift but not so steep that airflow breaks away.

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Lift Torque Thrust Aileron 52

Pilot Institute

JUNE 12, 2025

As you reach high speeds, especially near or above the speed of sound, you can then sweep the wings back to reduce drag. They delay the formation of shock waves that cause wave drag. These movements are controlled by hydraulic or electric actuators, which are managed by onboard computers or you, the pilot.

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Weight-Shift-Control Drag Lift Payload 52

Vintage Aviation News

DECEMBER 5, 2024

Additionally, the Shiun incorporated a laminar flow airfoil to reduce drag. However, this would mean that the Shiun’s pilot would have to ditch the aircraft in the water, with the stabilizing floats deploying to add buoyancy to the aircraft. It was estimated that the aircraft would gain an extra 90 mph by doing so.

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Drag Stability Airfoil Torque 52

Air Facts

JULY 22, 2024

Passing the torch Air Facts Journal Pilots are life-long learners, and, per the Feynman Learning Technique, the best way to learn anything is to teach it to someone else. With that in mind, plus a desire to pass the torch to a new generation, some old pilots developed a week-long aviation camp for youth, ages 14-18.

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Lift Knot Airfoil Airplanes 98

Flying Magazine

MAY 6, 2025

Adventurous aerobatic pilot Frank Christensen, owner of Christen Industries, which built the Pitts Special series and the Christen Eagle II aerobatic biplane kit, watched as biplane sales fell during the early 1980s. In 1995, businessman, backcountry, and aerobatic pilot Stu Horn bought the company and changed its name to Aviat Aircraft Inc.

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Gross Weight Horizontal Stabilizer Airplanes Rudder 78

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

When spelled geoduck it represents a grotesque, oversized mollusk, or clam to we pilot simpletons. Much depends on the aircraft’s weight, pilot skill and, surprisingly, “how much abuse you want to experience. Checking the oil is the main attraction to the pilot. The airplane will handle more than you want to.”

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Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 79

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 16, 2024

While LSAs in general have been tagged for having slightly underbuilt landing gearone of the more common accident scenarios is a newly transitioned pilot not managing the slickness of this kind of airplane and wiping out the gear during a botched landingthe goal is for the F2 to be unusually robust. More lessons learned.

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Rudder Airplanes Aileron Crosswind 98