Wednesday, March 19, 2014
aerodynamics of flight
Forces Acting on the Aircraft
Thrust, drag, lift, and
weight are forces that act upon all aircraft in flight. Understanding how these
forces work and knowing how to control them with the use of power and flight
controls are essential to flight. This chapter discusses the aerodynamics of
flight—how design, weight, load factors, and gravity affect an aircraft during
flight maneuvers.
The four forces acting on
an aircraft in straight-and-level, unaccelerated flight are thrust, drag, lift,
and weight. They
are defined as follows:
• Thrust—the forward force
produced by the powerplant/ propeller or rotor. It opposes or overcomes the
force of drag. As a general rule, it acts parallel to the longitudinal axis.
However, this is not always the case, as explained later.
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