Forces Acting on Airplane

The four forces acting on airplane at any given time are Lift, Weight, Drag, and Thrust. In straight and level un-accelerated flight, lift equals weight and thrust equals drag.

What makes Airplane Fly?

In order to understand what makes airplane fly, we need to understand a simple scientific principle. Don't be too intimidated, this principle is fairly simple.

Bernoulli's principle states that "as the velocity of fluid increases, its internal pressure decreases." Surface of wing when interacts with the airstream, it generates lift.

The air moves a lot faster from the upper surface of the airfoil, which causes lower air pressure on top, whereas, low-velocity air flow through the bottom of the airfoil causes high pressure at the bottom of the airfoil. This difference in pressure is what causes the force of lift - that's how airplanes fly.

Aircraft Axes of Flight

There are three axes of flight: Longitudinal, lateral, and vertical axes. These three axes have a common reference point known as the center of gravity.

When the aileron's move, they cause rolling movement along the longitudinal axis of airplane. When the elevator's move, they cause pitch up or pitch down movement along the lateral axis of airplane.


Article Source:EzineArticles