If we look at the wing of a typical small plane, which has a top surface that is 1.5 - 2.5% longer than the bottom, we discover that a Cessna 172 would have to fly at over 400 mph to generate enough lift. Clearly, something in this description of lift is flawed. But, who says t...
Actually, you can get a flat wing to fly if you have enough thrust or if the plane is very light, (a high power to weight ratio) as long as you have an angle of attack. The toy balsa wood planes I had as a kid flew with flat wings. But a flat wing doesn’t do a very ...
Let's break down the physics of how planes fly, starting with how a wing works. Fasten your seatbelt, and prepare to learn all about lift.
Airplanes fly when the movement of air across their wings creates an upward force on the wings (and thus the rest of the plane) that is greater than the force of gravity pulling the plane toward the earth. The physics behind this phenomenon was first described by Daniel Bernoulli, an 18th...
Although the true physics of flying airplanes are quite complex, the whole subject can be simplified a bit - enough for us to get a fundamental understanding of what makes a plane fly, at least!Aerodynamic ForcesEssentially there are 4 aerodynamic forces that act on an airplane in flight, ...
Photo Courtesy Phoenix Fly To understand wingsuit aerodynamics and how the outfit allows its wearer to really fly, you have to understand the basic physics of flight. The first principle to keep in mind is that air is a fluid -- much like water. Try to move your hand, palm flat, through...
“You would essentially just subtract off the free stream velocity of the plane.”If I do that, than what was 0 velocity from the air’s frame of reference becomes a negative velocity from the plane’s frame of reference. From the planes frame of refrence, the slight decrease in speed du...
Once it overcomes the downward force of gravity, the plane takes off. 02:54 Air flows smoothly around curved wings. But a wing’s curvature is not the cause of lift. In fact, a flat wing that’s tilted upwards can also create lift— as long as the air bends around it, contributing ...
"How Do Things Fly?" is an educational and fun game for learning how flying machines work: the plane, the helicopter, the drone and the hot air balloon... Pilot the different aircraft and watch the different forces interact. What makes an airplane fly? How do you turn or descend? How ...
Others provide remote control wires that let scientists actually "fly" a model plane within the test area. The University of Texas at Arlington's Aerodynamics Research Center has what's called an arc jet tunnel, which generates supersonic streams of very hot gas at temperatures up to 8,540 ...