Airfoil Lift True Airspeed 
Pilot Institute
JULY 11, 2025
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.
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.
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. In other words, the lift change that results from deflecting the aileron is not confined to the aileron itself.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
Let's personalize your content