Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 12, 2025

Understanding the Basics of Flight Principles of Flight: Lift, Weight, Thrust, and Drag Flying a plane for the first time requires a basic understanding of the forces that make flight possible. Thrust, produced by the engines, moves the plane forward, while drag, or air resistance, slows it down.

Aileron

Air Facts

MAY 14, 2025

Although he was flying at or near the proper airspeeds for an overhead pattern, he was constantly moving the throttlesfrom near idle to near full thrust within seconds. The G-loading and added drag slowed us below the gear limit speed (240 KIAS). We touched down on speed about 100150 feet down the runway. Then I shook the stick.

AGL

Professional Pilot

JULY 7, 2025

A lighting the runway with under 1000 ft to go, the pilots breathed a sigh of relief. Every pilot knows that aircraft fly because the forces of lift and thrust balance or exceed the weight and drag countering them. Conversely, lower density reduces drag, because the aircraft surface encounters fewer molecules.

Density Altitude

Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 5, 2025

This configuration provides the necessary power for both climb and cruise, while also offering valuable training for managing asymmetric thrust in the event of an engine-out situation. Throttle adjustments, trim settings, and speed control are all important in setting up for a controlled, smooth descent to the runway.

Descent

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

This principle is fundamental in generating lift, thrust, and maneuverability, allowing aircraft to fly. Thrust (how it moves forward). Thrust and Propulsion Systems A wing has to move fast enough through the air to generate lift effectively. That force is called thrust. Thrust relies on Newtons Third Law as well.

Torque

Vintage Aviation News

JUNE 17, 2025

Photo Peter Bakema Powered by two Mikulin AM-3M-500 turbojet engines embedded in the wing roots, the Tu-104 generated 21,400 pounds of thrust per engine and could reach speeds of up to 590 mph.

Drag

WayMan

MAY 25, 2025

The engine is what provides the thrust needed to move the aircraft forward. Propeller: Creating Thrust The propeller is an aerodynamic device that converts rotational motion into linear thrust. The angle and speed of the blades determine how much thrust is produced. Interested in Becoming a Pilot?

Lift

Flying Magazine

JULY 22, 2025

Taxiing requires forays into Beta as there is so much thrust at idle that the Epic will rapidly accelerate beyond taxi speed. When that big Hartzell prop flattens out, it produces a lot of drag that lets one nicely fine-tune speed and rate of descent. Once we canceled IFR, we spent some time hand-flying the AX.

Rudder

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 15, 2025

The jet slammed into the ground six thousand feet short of the runway, taking the lives of 134 people. If you dont act immediately, you could be forced into an uncontrollable descent before you even reach the runway. Unable to recover, the jet struck approach lights short of the runway and then towers 8 and 9. What do you do?

Wind Shear

Flying Magazine

JUNE 2, 2025

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.

Drag

Aerotime

DECEMBER 28, 2024

at sea level and reach high speeds even with full armament, which does not cause additional drag due to being stored in internal weapons bays. Known as the Flogger, the MiG-23s variable wing sweep makes it capable of taking off from short, remote runways, as well as optimizing its aerodynamic profile for supersonic or cruise flight.

Jet

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

Whether it’s due to runway obstacles, unstable approaches, or weather changes, the aircraft go-around is a pilot’s best tool to avoid accidents and ensure a smooth, safe flight every time. This ensures the aircraft gains enough thrust to climb away from the runway safely.

Air Traffic Control

Air Facts

JULY 30, 2025

However, we didn’t have to hook up a long hose, drag a bucket of soapy water, sponges, and a chamois cloth out on the ramp, then sweat under the Florida sun to complete the task. Note the picture showing where the birdbath (green box) is situated relative to MacDill’s single runway (04/22). We worked to keep those effects to a minimum.

Runway

Flight Training Central

MAY 6, 2024

Those struts and wires create a lot of parasite drag, an anathema for aircraft whose design and mission is speed. Short field landings can be shorter because the drag robbing ground effect is lessened by the greater distance between the wing and ground. The bi-wing design has one serious flaw.

Drag

Northstar VFR

JANUARY 8, 2024

As the airplane is rolling down the runway, air is passing over and under the wings. Among other critical problems, this can lead to the airplane not being able to take off or land with the amount of runway available. Thrust Thrust is our forward motion. Drag opposes lift. The more lift, the more induced drag.

Drag

Vintage Aviation News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

However, there was still a gap in urban travel since airplanes needed long runways, and helicopters, while versatile, were slow and limited in range. They saw potential in the Rotodyne to transport troops and supplies quickly without needing runways in war zones. This design reduced drag and increased efficiency during forward flight.

Runway

Northstar VFR

JULY 21, 2024

The pilot controls the throttle to create thrust. TAKEOFF We’ve been cleared for takeoff, and now you’re lined up on the centerline of the runway. Correct rudder use here is evident, because if you don’t apply right rudder you’ll see how quickly your plane wants to travel left and off the runway. This is called adverse yaw.

Rudder

AeroSavvy

OCTOBER 26, 2020

When an aircraft exceeds M MO , a shock wave forms over the wing causing increased drag, buffeting, and possible loss of control. The autopilot/autothrottle system will use pitch and/or thrust to maintain the speed commanded by the Command Bug. The speeds are based on aircraft weight and performance (affected by runway and weather).

Pitot Tube

Jetwhine

JANUARY 17, 2024

” The 3,800-pound-thrust Ukrainian-built AI25-TL engine needs an air-assisted start provided by the onboard Sapphire APU. Once it spins up the engine we begin taxi practice to the runway, something a bit akin to learning to steer my old taildragger. Steering is quite easy as we shoot down the runway.

Knot

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon Turbojet 301R engines, mounted in a staggered arrangement, the Lightnings engines produced 32,720 pounds of thrust with full reheat, roughly equivalent to 80,000 horsepower. This arrangement also reduced drag by 25% compared to a conventional engine setup.

Jet

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 9, 2024

We learn all about aerodynamics, thrust, drag, lift, and gravity, study flight manuals, emergency procedures, and FARs, take oral exams and check rides, and constantly review everything we can find about flying. It was one of the few in the area that had a rotating beacon and runway lights.

Runway

Aerotime

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

As the Boeing 707 made its way down the runway, though, FBI agents and police officers shot out the tires, forcing the jet to stop and leaving the father and son team to face jail time. Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 – November 24, 1971 FBI Mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of plane hijacker D.B.

Cockpit

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 7, 2025

Imagine rolling down the runway, feeling like youre in a rocket ship, only to feel a metaphorical afterburner kick in that catapults you towards the sky. A big four-cylinder Lycoming swings a fat-blade Hartzell composite prop, making all sorts of thrust at near-zero airspeedthink of a mild, civilian version of a carrier launch.

Airplanes