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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.

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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. miles per hour.

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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. Again, these are indicated airspeeds. Now, miles per gallon is a function of true airspeed, not indicated airspeed.

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Mastering Stalls: How to Recognize, Prevent, and Recover Safely

Flight Training Central

If the bank increases, the loss of vertical lift component tends to lower the nose. The main factors which determine the angle of attack of a wing are, airspeed, weight, and load factor. The indicated airspeed at which the airplane stalled is fairly consistent.

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Air pressure and density

Professional Pilot

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.

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Let’s Play it Safe

Plane and Pilot

Photo: Cayla McLeod Effects We learned in the private pilot course that increasing the density altitude reduces the effectiveness of the propeller, the lift produced by the wings, and the power output of the engine. Up in the flight levels, jets fly at relatively low indicated airspeed and still cruise at 7-8 miles per minute.

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How Hybrid Air Vehicles Is Making World’s Longest Aircraft Longer

Flying Magazine

Helium contributes only about 60 percent of the lift—the shape of the balloon forms a giant wing, providing the rest. READ MORE: Airlines and Pilots Don’t See Eye to Eye on Autonomous Flights Aerodynamic lift and vectored thrust come from two pairs of ducted propellers running on kerosene-powered engines, mounted outside the main hull.