 Relationship of forces acting on an aircraft

 All four of these forces are measured in pounds. Any time the
forces are not in balance, something about the airplane’s
condition is changing. The possibilities are as follows:

1. When an airplane is accelerating, it has more thrust than

drag.

2. When an airplane is decelerating, it has less thrust than drag.

3. When an airplane is at a constant velocity, thrust and drag

are equal.

4. When an airplane is climbing, it has more lift than weight.

5. When an airplane is descending, it has more weight than lift.

6. When an airplane is at a constant altitude, lift and weight are
equal.

Four Forces Acting on an Aircraft

 Gravity or Weight
the force that pulls the aircraft toward the earth.

• Weight is the force of gravity acting downward upon everything

that goes into the aircraft, such as the aircraft itself, crew, fuel,
and cargo.

Lift
the force that pushes the aircraft upward. Lift acts vertically
and counteracts the effects of weight.
 Thrust
 the force that moves the aircraft forward.

• Thrust is the forward force produced by the power-plant that

overcomes the force of drag.

 Drag
 the force that exerts a braking action to hold the aircraft back.

• Drag is a backward deterrent force and is caused by the

disruption of the airflow by the wings, fuselage, and protruding
objects.
 Center of gravity
 The average weight of all parts, fuel and payloads is called
the center of gravity.

• In flight the aircraft rotates about the center of gravity

 Types of Drag

 Parasite
 is comprised of all the forces that work to slow an aircraft’s
movement.

• As the term parasite implies, it is the drag that is not

associated with the production of lift.

• This includes the displacement of the air by the aircraft,

turbulence generated in the airstream, or a hindrance of air
moving over the surface of the aircraft and airfoil.

• Parasitic drag increases as the speed increases, and reduces

as the speed decreases.
 Types of Parasite Drag
 Form Drag
 is the portion of parasite drag generated by the aircraft due to
its shape and airflow around it.

• Examples include the engine cowlings, antennas, and the

aerodynamic shape of other components.

• When the air has to separate to move around a moving

aircraft and its components, it eventually rejoins after passing
the body.

• How quickly and smoothly it rejoins is representative of the

resistance that it creates which requires additional force to
overcome.
 Types of Parasite Drag

 Skin Friction Drag

 is the aerodynamic resistance due to the contact of moving
air with the surface of an aircraft.

• Every surface, no matter how apparently smooth, has a

rough, ragged surface when viewed under a microscope.

• The air molecules, which come in direct contact with the

surface of the wing, are virtually motionless.
 Types of Parasite Drag

 Interference Drag
 Interference drag comes from the intersection of airstreams
that creates eddy currents, turbulence, or restricts smooth
airflow.

• Example, the intersection of the wing and the fuselage at the

wing root has significant interference drag.

• Air flowing around the fuselage collides with air flowing over
the wing, merging into a current of air different from the two
original currents
 Induced Drag
 The product of the wingtips Vortices and increases as lift
increases.

 It also increases as the angel of attack increases (AOA) as

more lift will be generated.

 It reduces with speed as at speed you have a lower angle of

attack.

 Wingtip Vortices
 Created when a aircraft is developing lift, a
circulation of air around each wingtip
outward, upward and around each tip.
• Wingtip vortices created by large aircraft tend to sink below
the aircraft generating turbulence.

• The greatest vortex strength occurs when the generating

aircraft is heavy, clean and slow

 Turbulence.
 Turbulence Intensity
• An airfoil is something used on (propeller, rotor or turbine) to
generate lift when moving through the air.

• An aircraft wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizer are built

with airfoil shape cross sections, as are helicopter rotor
blades.
 Airflow over the airfoil
• The airfoil is designed to increase the velocity of the airflow
above its surfaces which decreases pressure above the
airfoil.

• Differences in pressure create lift.

 Parts of an airfoil

 Leading Edge
 Is the portion of the airfoil that meets the air first. The shape
of the leading edge depends on the function of the airfoil.

 Trailing edge
 Is the back of the airfoil. This is the point at which the air
meets from the top and bottom of the airfoil.

 Chord
 Is an imaginary straight line drawn through the airfoil from its
leading edge to its trailing edge it determine the camber of
the wing.
 Parts of an airfoil

 Camber
 Is the characteristics curve of its upper or lower surface.

 Angle of attack (pitch angle)

 The mechanical angle between the chord line of the airfoil
and the average relative wind

• Greater angle of attack creates more lift.

 Parts of an airfoil

 Angle of incidence
 Is the angle between the chord line and the longitudinal axis
of aircraft.

• It is the angle of wing setting

• When the leading edge of the wing is higher than the trailing
edge, the angle of incident is said to be positive. It is negative
when the leading edge is lower than the trailing edge of the
wing.
 Parts of an airfoil

 Relative wind
 Wind that acts exactly opposite to the direction of flight.
 Parts of an airfoil

 Flight Path
 Parallel and in the opposite direction to the relative wind