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Mach Number Explained: What It Is and Why Pilots Use It

Pilot Institute

Why don’t they use Indicated Airspeed just like the pilots who fly slower aircraft? Key Takeaways Mach number is a dimensionless ratio of true airspeed to local speed of sound. That’s the speed your airspeed indicator shows based on ram air pressure in the pitot tube. Here’s why. roughly) up to about Mach 5.0.

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Classic Theory Meets Digital Computer; Status Quo Emerges Unscathed

Flying Magazine

Naval Academy, approached the problem by setting lift-drag ratio, L/D, as his metric of efficiency. These are indicated, not true, airspeeds.) I believe the reason is that flight testing reveals that with the added drag of a windmilling propeller, which my simulation ignores, a lower gliding speed is better.

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Airspeed and Altitude Control Simplified: Tips for Stable Flying

Pilot Institute

If you’re aiming to get comfortable with managing both airspeed and altitude in flight, you’ll need to understand the difference between indicated airspeed (IAS) and true airspeed (TAS). Key Takeaways Airspeed and altitude are directly linked to each other throughout different phases of your flight. Why is that?

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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.

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Bankstown Belly Landing Follow-Up

Fear of Landing

airspeed 85 [kt indicated airspeed] KIAS fuel quantity check fuel selector valve fuller tank mixture rich auxiliary fuel pump on for 3-5 seconds with throttle open; then off ignition switch both (or start if propeller is stopped) throttle: advance slowly. The pilot declared an emergency with a MAYDAY call.

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We Fly: CubCrafters NXCub

Flying Magazine

Ailerons are actuated by pushrods that run through the wing struts, reducing aerodynamic drag and giving the responsive ailerons a solid feel. On takeoff, the NX fuselage is already level rather than in the high-drag, nose high position. The manual flaps have four positions, up, 16 degrees, 33 degrees, and 46 degrees.

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Boom: Is This the Resurrection of Supersonic Travel?

Flying Magazine

Approaching and passing through Mach 1, however, an airplane acquires, in addition to the drag it already has, a new kind of drag, called wave drag. READ MORE: Boom Goes Supersonic, Makes Civil Aviation History Wave drag is part of what made the speed of sound a barrier in the 1950s.