Remove Airfoil Remove Drag Remove True Airspeed
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Mach Number Explained: What It Is and Why Pilots Use It

Pilot Institute

Key Takeaways Mach number is a dimensionless ratio of true airspeed to local speed of sound. Mach number is simply a ratio of your true airspeed to the local speed of sound. That’s the speed your airspeed indicator shows based on ram air pressure in the pitot tube. Here’s why. It varies with temperature.

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Air pressure and density

Professional Pilot

Every pilot knows that aircraft fly because the forces of lift and thrust balance or exceed the weight and drag countering them. Aeronautical engineers improve continually on that imbalance with better airfoils and powerplants along with aircraft designs and materials to reduce weight and drag.