Aerodynamics and the Four Forces

Part 1
 The Four Forces of Flight
• The four forces of flight are:
• Lift
• Weight
• Thrust
• Drag
• In straight and level, unaccelerated flight, lift = weight and thrust = drag
 Forces and Acceleration
• When the forces are added up in a particular direction, and there is a
resultant net force that ≠ 0, acceleration occurs in that direction
• This is because of Newton’s 2nd Law: Force = Mass x Acceleration
 Forces and Acceleration

• In this case, weight (which acts straight down towards earth)

contributes to the thrust vector
• If:
WeightForward+Thrust = Drag

No acceleration will occur towards the ground

• The plane will be in a stabilized, unaccelerated path in the

downwards direction
 Forces and Acceleration

Example: Plane starting takeoff roll Example: Plane just before takeoff climb
L = 2400 lbs
L = 0 lbs

D = 0 lbs D = 180 lbs

T = 350 lbs T = 240 lbs

W = 2400 lbs W = 2400 lbs

• Net forces keep the plane on the ground and force • Net forces are not enough to accelerate the plane
the plane to accelerate forward upward off the ground.
• Thrust has reduced (due to prop efficiency; more on
this later).
• Drag has increased
• T > D so the plane is still accelerating forward, though
at a slower rate
Aerodynamics and Lift
The Four Forces of Flight
 What Creates Lift?

Newtonian Lift Bernoulli’s Principle

• Force of air pushing on the object • Change in air pressure over an object due to the
air’s local accelerations and decelerations
• Newton’s 3rd law

Note: These are the two primary contributors to generation of basic lift over a wing. They
do not take in to account viscosity effects or conservation of mass. This class will not focus
on these effects as they add unnecessary complexity to fundamental concepts.
 Newtonian Lift
• Newtonian lift is lift created from the air particles “pushing” on the object.
• This is due to Newton’s 3 law: Every action has an equal and opposite
rd

reaction
• Each particle essentially imparts its momentum on the object.
 Bernoulli’s Principle
• Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist
known primarily for his work in Fluid Dynamics
• As it relates to aircraft wings, his findings show that as the velocity of a fluid
increase, the pressure decreases

The majority of the lift on an airfoil is generated due to

Bernoulli’s Principle
 Why does air speed up through the tube?
• Mass flow must be conserved at all cross sections
• Air particles upstream force a constant rate of molecules everywhere in the
closed tube
• If the area of the cross section decreases, the only way to keep the rate of
molecules constant is to speed up the fluid (air)
 Types of Pressure

Static Pressure: Dynamic Pressure:

• Air pressure of a fluid when it is at rest • The pressure component of a fluid due to the kinetic
motion of the fluid
• Due to: Atmospheric pressure – the air above
weighing down on everything below • Represented by:

Pdyn = ½ ρ V2
 Types of Pressure
• Total Pressure: Sum of Static and Dynamic Pressure
• It is the force per unit area of a moving fluid when it is brought to rest

• Total Pressure remains constant along a streamline

PT=Pstatic+Pdynamic
PT=PS+ ½ ρV2

1 2

Total Pressure at “1” = Total Pressure at “2”

 Airfoils
How Shape Affects Pressure
 The Airfoil
• How do the above Bernoulli concepts relate to wings?
• The shape of the wing cross section (side view), known as the airfoil,
changes the velocity of the air as it passes around the body
• As velocity changes, static pressure changes
 Airfoils Change Airflow Velocity
• When an airfoil is placed in moving airflow, the air is forced around the
object
• The airflow is constricted as it travels over the upper surface
of the wing – bounded by the airfoil below and the weight
of the atmosphere above.
• Because the air above is exerting pressure downward on the
wing (due to its weight) this airflow behaves similarly to the
converging wind tunnel discussed earlier

• The airflow on the bottom of the airfoil is not “bent” as

much and does not have to speed up
 Increasing Lift
• There are two ways the airfoil increases lift
• Shape
• Angle of attack
 Airfoil Shape
• The bigger the velocity difference between the air velocity on the top of the
airfoil and velocity on the bottom of the airfoil, the more the pressure
difference between the top and the bottom surface will be

By increasing the curvature of the upper

surface, the air is compressed between the
airfoil and the weight of the atmosphere more
than in the case of the thin airfoil
• Results in a larger velocity difference
between the top and bottom airflow and
thus pressure difference
 Airfoil Shape
• Similarly to the top surface, the bottom surface shape can be changed as well

• The airflow is forced to expand, rather than compress, so it slows down

• Slower velocity means higher pressure
• Higher pressure on the bottom surface, combined with the already low pressure on the
top means more lift!
 Airfoil Shape
• Camber: the amount of curvature of an airfoil
• Symmetrical Airfoils: do not have any curvature. The top and bottom
surface are mirror images.
Positive vs Negative Camber
 Airfoil Angle of Attack
• Besides airfoil shape, the angle of attack will also affect the lift generated.
• Angle of Attack: Angle between the relative wind and the wing chord line
• Relative Wind: The wind direction the airfoil “sees”
• Chord Line: Connects the leading edge of the airfoil to the trailing edge
 Airfoil Angle of Attack
• Relative wind is always parallel and directly opposite the flight path of the
aircraft
 Airfoil Angle of Attack
• Increasing Angle of Attack increases the amount of streamline compression
on the top surface of the airfoil
• The forces the air to speed up even more of the top surface, further
reducing the pressure and increasing lift
 Airfoil Angle of Attack
• Changing the angle of attack changes the pressure distribution over the
airfoil

Arrows pointing AWAY from the airfoil surface

indicate LOWER pressure than the surrounding
air AT THAT POINT (negative pressure or a
“pulling away” from the surface).
 Zero Lift Condition
• A zero lift condition is when the airfoil does not create any net lift
• Differs from a “zero angle of attack” condition!

• The sum of all the pressure forces pulling upwards equals the sum of all the
forces pulling downward

An airfoil that has more upper surface camber

requires a negative angle of attack for there to
be a zero lift condition.
 Center of Pressure
• Also sometimes called the Center of Lift
• The location along the airfoil’s chord line where the sum of all the pressure
forces is centered C.P. vs AOA

As AOA increases, CP moves forward until

the critical AOA is reached
The Lift Equation
Factors Affecting Lift
 The Lift Equation
• The following equation, known as the lift equation, calculates the lift (force
units) under a given set of conditions

Dependant on airfoil
shape and angle of
attack

Wing surface area

Density of air
decreases as altitude
increases

Can be changed by
adding power,
climbing, or
descending
 Velocity and Density
• Velocity
• Velocity can be increased by increasing thrust (power)
• Lift changes by the square of the velocity
• This means that if airspeed is doubled, lift increases by a factor of 4.

• Density
• The density of air decreases with an increase in altitude gain
• At high altitude, to produce the same amount of lift as sea level, one or more of the other
variable will need to increase (velocity? Wing surface area? Lift coefficient?)
• Air density increases for a given altitude with a decrease in temperature
• On cold days, the wings will produce lift “easier” than on warm days
 Surface Area
• Surface area, S, refers to wing surface area
• More wing surface area = more lift
• In some cases, this can be increased by extending flaps (depends on flap
design – more on this later)
 Coefficient of Lift
• The coefficient of lift is a dimensionless number that describes the
contribution to lift as a result of airfoil shape and angle of attack
• Changing the “shape” of the airfoil can be accomplished by moving control
surfaces, adding flaps/slots/slats or spoilers
• Once the “shape” of the airfoil is set, the pilot can change coefficient of lift
only by changing angle of attack
 Critical Angle of Attack
• As angle of attack increases, coefficient of lift will increase until the Critical
Angle of Attack
• The Critical Angle of Attack is the angle of attack that if exceeded, will result
in an immediate stall
Stalls
 Stalls
• A stall occurs when the wings do not produce enough lift in the vertical
direction to support all the down forces on the aircraft (weight, tail down
force, etc)
• As angle of attack increases, the airflow will begin to separate from the wing
surface (detached airflow) and will become turbulent rather than laminar
• Once enough separation occurs, the the streamlines traveling over the top
of the wing do not reduce the air pressure enough to support the weight of
the aircraft
 Click icon to add picture

• Airflow separation moves forward as angle of attack

increases
 Stalls
• For a specific airplane a stall will always occur at the same critical angle of
attack. The critical angle of attack will not change regardless of airspeed,
flight attitude and weight.

• Prior warning indications of an approaching stall for the pilot:

• Stall warning horn
Stall Warning
• Buffeting of the aircraft
• Control flutter
 Controlling Stalls
• When designing aircraft, an important thing to manage is the stall characteristics.
• Stall characteristics refer to where the wing stalls first, and how controllable the
plane will be during the stall recovery
• Different planes have different stall characteristics based on the types of
operations the plane was designed for
• Main ways to control stalls:
• Angle of Incidence
• Wing Planform
• Washout
 Controlling Stalls
Angle of Incidence
• Angle of incidence can be thought of as how
the wing is mounted to the aircraft body
• Defined, Angle of Incidence is the angle
between the wing chord line and the
longitudinal axis of the airplane
• With a positive angle of incidence, the wing
has a “built in” positive angle of attack
Washout
• Some wings are designed to vary the angle of
incidence along the span of the wing
• This forces a stall to occur at a certain portion of
the wing (usually the root near the fuselage)
before another area (usually the outboard
portion where control surfaces are)
 Wing Planform
• Different wing planforms result in different stall characteristics for the
aircraft
• Wing planform is the shape of the airplane’s wing when view from overhead
 Wing Planform
• Rectangular
• Advantage:
• Simple to make; Cheap
• Stalls at the root first
• Disadvantage:
• Lots of drag & therefore slow
 Wing Planform
• Elliptical
• Advantage:
• Even lift distribution
• Low drag
• Disadvantage:
• Difficult to manufacture ($$)
• Stall characteristics not as good as rectangular
 Wing Planform
• Rectangular Tapered
• Advantage:
• Compromise between rectangular and elliptical
– easier to manufacture than elliptical
• Less drag than rectangular
• Disadvantage:
• Stall characteristics similar to elliptical
 Wing Planform
• Sweptback
• Advantage:
• Great for fast speeds below the speed of sound (reduced drag at high speeds)
• Disadvantage:
• Stalls at wing tip first (control surfaces)
 Wing Planform
• Delta
• Advantage:
• Low drag in all flight regimes (subsonic, transonic, supersonic)
• Because of surface area, very strong structurally; Can handle high wing loaded (e.g. high speed
maneuvers)
• Disadvantage:
• Stall characteristics similar to sweptback (wingtip first)
• Requires high AOA at low speeds
 Stall Recovery
• Recovery from a stall is only possible if the angle of attack is lowered below the critical
angle of attack
• This is the first step to stall recovery
• All other recovery steps are aimed at minimizing altitude loss

• Stall recovery procedure

1. Lower the angle of attack (pitch down)
2. Add full power and raise the nose after the stall is “broken”
3. Establish a full power climb
4. Flaps up incrementally (if applicable)
 Wing Contamination
• One thing that may affect the stall speed of the
aircraft is wing contamination
• Wings need smooth airflow over the wing to
prevent airflow separation from the wing
surface
• Anything that disrupts the smooth airflow over
the wing, will reduce the coefficient of lift of the
wing. Assuming surface area and air density do
not change, the only way to produce enough lift
to equal weight is to increase airspeed
 Wing Contamination
• Snow, ice and even frost can “contaminate” the wings and must be
removed completely before flight
• Wing contamination will require faster airspeed to produce enough lift to fly
(“stall speed” increases)
• This can make it impossible for an aircraft to produce enough lift to takeoff
in the given amount of runway available
• Performance charts for takeoff and landing distance, as well as stall speeds do not have
a way to account for the unpredictable manner that airflow will be altered on a given
contaminated wing (it would be a very dangerous guessing game)
Ice removal
Other Wing Variations
 Wing Dihedral
• Dihedral
• The term given when the wing is attached to the fuselage at an upward angle with
respect to the horizontal plane
• Contributes to lateral stability (more on this later)
 Aspect Ratio
• Aspect ratio relates how “skinny” the wing is as viewed from the top relative to the surface
area of the wing
• It is defined as:
Aspect Ratio (AR) = b2/S
Where b = wing span
S = surface area of the wing
• The higher the aspect ratio, the lower the drag (better glide ratio)
Spins
 Spins
• A spin occurs when the aircraft is stalled while “uncoordinated”
• This means that one wing is at a higher angle of attack than the other

• Both wings are stalled, one has simply exceeded the critical angle of attack
more than the other
• The aircraft will be in a very nose low “diving” attitude while rotating
 Spins

Recovery Steps: Remember “P.A.R.E.”

P A E R
Power Idle Ailerons Neutral Elevator up Rudder Opposite
• Recover from the dive
• Slows the rate of descent • Use of ailerons to level the • Stops the spin
• **May have to break the
wings can make the spin
stall first
tighter due to adverse yaw
Lift Altering Devices
 Flaps, Slots/Slats, Spoilers
• There are a number of lift altering devices that are used to increase or
decrease lift on a particular wing
• Some of these include: Flaps, Slots/Slats, Spoilers
 Flaps
• Flaps change (increase) the wing’s coefficient of lift at all angles of attack

As the pilot slows down the airplane, the addition of flaps

allows him/her to create the same amount of lift at a slower
airspeed

• Stall speed is lowered with flaps (useful for landing)

 Flaps
• Flaps also increase drag
• This allows the pilot to make a landing approach to a runway at a steeper
angle, without increasing the airspeed
• This is the main purpose of flaps!
 Flaps
• Flaps extend on the inboard portion of the • They are lowered using a handle or lever in the
wing cockpit
 Flaps
• There are 4 main types of flaps: Plain, Split, Slotted, and
Fowler
• Plain: Simply deflects downwards, essentially increasing the
camber of the wing
• Split: Surface drops down from the lower edge of the wing
creating a wake behind the trailing edge increasing drag
• Slotted: creates a “slot” for airflow to join the airflow on the
upper surface when it tried to separate from the wing at high
angles of attack. Re-energizes the airflow – delaying separation
• Fowler: Can have multiple extension pieces. Increases surface
area as well as increases camber. Found on large aircraft
(airliners)
 Slats
• Slats are found on the leading edges of aircraft wings.
• In principle, they work the same as a flap, but on the leading edge of the
wing instead of the trailing edge. Their job is to increase the lift on the wing
 Slats
• Slats extend from the wing and in some cases can allow air to pass behind
the slat (similar to a slotted-style flap system). This is called a ventilated
slat.
• This increases camber and in the case of a ventilated slat, adds energy to the
airflow on the upper surface of the wing, delaying separation at high angles
of attack.
 Slots
• Slots are essentially holes that allow air to flow from the lower surface of the
wing to the upper surface at high angles of attack. The upper surface airflow
is
• Unlike slats, the main wing shape is not changed (no change in camber) and
no parts are extended manually or electronically.
 Spoilers
• Spoilers are lift destroyers
• They promote separation on the upper surface, increasing the “wake” of
turbulent airflow behind the wing which increases drag.
• They act as brakes while in the air Spoilers
Control Surfaces
 Airplane Control Surfaces
• Control surfaces are the movable parts of the airplane that allow the pilot to
control the aircraft’s motion in all 3 axis
• Primary control surfaces:
• Ailerons
• Elevator
• Rudder

• Secondary control surfaces:

• Flaps
• Trim
 Ailerons
• Ailerons control the “roll” or banking motion of the aircraft about the
longitudinal axis
• They are located on the outboard portion of the wings, away from the
longitudinal axis so they can apply the greatest moment about the axis
possible.
 Ailerons

• When the pilot moves the yoke or stick left or right, the ailerons deflect
opposite each other
• If the pilot wants to bank to the left for example, the left aileron will deflect up, and the
right aileron will deflect down.

• An “up” aileron essentially decreases the

overall camber of the wing in the area of the
aileron, causing the wing on the side of the up-
aileron to lose lift and drop
• A “down” aileron increases the camber of the
wing, causing the wing on the side of the
down-aileron to increase lift and raise
 Once the plane is banked, the lift
direction has a horizontal component to
it, which pulls the plane sideways in the
direction of the bank
 Elevator
• Similar to ailerons, an aircraft’s elevator changes camber.
• For example, deflecting the elevator “up” by pulling aft on the control yoke
creates negative camber on the horizontal stabilizer, resulting in downforce
(only on the horizontal stabilizer)
• Downforce on the tail of the plane causes the nose of the aircraft to pitch up.
 Rudder
• The rudder is deflected by pressing on the rudder
pedals.
• The rudder, located on the trailing edge of the vertical
stabilizer, changes the camber of the vertical
stabilizer.
• For example, if the pilot presses the right rudder
pedal, the rudder deflects to the right. This causes lift
on the vertical stabilizer to act to the left due to the
direction of the camber. When the vertical stabilizer
moves left, the nose yaws to the right.
 Trim Tabs
• The purpose of a trim device (often
referred to as a “tab”) is to minimize the
pilot’s effort when moving a control
surface or maintaining the surface in a
desired position
• It lessens the aerodynamic resistance felt by
the pilot on the flight controls

• They can be placed on elevators,

ailerons, and/or rudders
 Trim Tabs
• Most small aircraft only have a controllable trim tab on the elevator
• This is moved using a “trim wheel” located in the cockpit
 Trim Tabs
• Trim tabs essentially change the
camber on a control surface
• The changes the lift on the control
surface (e.g. elevator). This
aerodynamic force helps the pilot
hold the control surface in its position.
• If the aircraft has a trim tab on the
elevator, pilot can trim the airplane to
climb, descend or fly straight and level
Drag
 Drag
Drag is the force that opposes thrust. There are two types:
Parasite Drag Induced Drag
• Caused by the aircraft moving through the air • Caused as a result of creating lift
(wind resistance)
 Parasite Drag
• Parasite drag has three sources:
• Form drag
• Skin friction
• Interference drag

• Form drag is caused by a combination of the “frontal area” (front view

silhouette) and the “stream lining” shape of the object.
 Parasite Drag
• Parasite drag has three sources:
• Form drag
• Skin friction
• Interference drag

• Skin friction is caused by the tangential forces of the air molecules rubbing
against rough surfaces. No matter how rough the surface feels or appears,
there is always going to be skin friction at the molecular level.
 Parasite Drag
• Parasite drag has three sources:
• Form drag
• Skin friction
• Interference drag

• Interference drag is caused by sharp angles where airflow mixes, causing a

“wake” downstream of these angles. It can be minimized by creating a
smooth transition between joining surfaces using aerodynamic
covers/fairings.
 Parasite Drag

• Parasite drag increases with the square of the airspeed

If airspeed is tripled, parasite

drag increases by a factor of 9.
 Induced Drag
• Induced drag is created as a byproduct of lift.
• Induced drag is due to 2 effects:
• Rearward component of lift caused by downwash
• Wing tip vortices
 Induced Drag

• Rearward component of lift

• Lift “acts” perpendicular to the relative wind
(not the chord line!)
• Due to the downwash angle as the air leaves
the trailing edge of the wing, the overall
effective relative wind has a different angle
than the true relative wind
• This tilts the lift vector aft, contributing to the
drag direction. This is induced drag.
 Wing Tip Vortices

• Wing tip vortices

• Wing tip vortices are created because at the
wingtip, the high pressure air tries to “cheat”
around the wingtip to equalize with the low
pressure air on top of the wing.
• This increases the downwash even more at the
wing tips which tilts the lift vector aft further
due to the change in average relative wind.
 Ground Effect
• As previously discussed, downwash and wingtip vortices increase induced
drag and decrease lift.
• Near the ground (within half a wingspan), the earth’s surface interferes with
the formation of wingtip vortices and downwash angle
• This results in more lift and less drag production near the ground (i.e. increased
performance)
 Ground Effect
• While the ground may increase lift production and decrease drag, the pilot
has to be careful due to the following consequences:
• On takeoff: The airplane may become airborne prior to reaching a safe takeoff speed.
If a climb is initiated away from the ground too soon, the aircraft could suddenly lose
lift and stall.
• On landing: The airplane will gain lift close to the ground, so as the pilot tries to land,
the aircraft could “float” down the runway longer than desired, especially if approach
speed is slightly too high.
 Induced Drag
• Induced drag decreases with the square of the airspeed (inversely
proportional to the square of the airspeed)

If airspeed is doubled, induced drag is

reduced by a factor of 4
 Total Drag
• Parasite drag and induced drag can be combined (summed) in to one curve;
The total drag curve
• The airspeed where total drag is minimized is known as the point of
minimum drag or (L/D)max. At (L/D)max, the aircraft has the best amount of lift
produced with the least drag penalty. This is also known as “best glide”
airspeed – the airspeed a pilot would use in the event of an engine failure to
maximize gliding distance.
Weight
 Weight
• Weight is the downward force due to gravity acting on the aircraft and its
contents.
• Weight decreases during the flight as fuel is burned (fuel weights
approximately 6 lbs per gallon)
• This could change the aircraft’s center of gravity to an undesirable location
Thrust
 Thrust
• Thrust is created by the powerplant (engine) to move the aircraft forward
and overcome drag
• For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton’s 3 rd
law)
• Accelerating air in one direction creates a useful reaction force in the other direction
 Propellers
• The Wright Brothers were the first to recognize that a propeller is
“essentially a small wing rotated in a plane perpendicular to the path of
flight, and develops thrust in the same way that a wing develops lift”.
 Propellers
• Why the “twist” along the length of the propeller?
• The propeller tip (outboard portion) will be traveling a further distance in the
same amount of time as the portion near the hub and thus has a faster
velocity
• Due to the faster velocity, the angle of attack is reduced at the propeller tip
so that approximately uniform lift is made along the length of the propeller
blade (better efficiency)
 Fixed vs Constant Speed Propellers

Fixed Pitch Constant Speed Pitch

• At a given point along the length of the • The pilot can adjust the blade angle for the
propeller, the angle of attack of the propeller most efficient operation. A propeller governor
cannot be changed by the pilot can also change the pitch of the blades
automatically (to an extent)
 Propellers: Left Turning Tendancies
• There are 4 turning effects due to propellers
• Slipstream effect
• Propeller Torque effect
• Gyroscopic effect
• P-factor/Asymmetric Thrust
 Propeller Slipstream
• As the propeller rotates clockwise (as viewed from the cockpit), the air
behind it spirals around the fuselage of the aircraft, eventually hitting the
left side of the vertical stabilizer
• This yaws the plane to the left.
 Torque
• As the propeller rotates clockwise (as viewed from the cockpit), the rest of
the aircraft rolls counter clockwise (to the left) due to Newton’s 3rd Law:
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction
 Gyroscopic Effect
• A gyroscope is a spinning disc. One of the properties of gyroscopes is the
property of precession: a force applied to a spinning disc is “felt” 90° further
in the direction of rotation.
• A spinning propeller is simply a gyroscope and will respond to applied forces
as such.
 Gyroscopic Effect (continued)
• A pilot that changes pitch will experience a resultant yaw as a result of
gyroscopic precession.
• If the pilot:
• Pitches down (initiates descent): The effective force will push on the top of the propeller disc,
causing a resultant force to push on the right side of the propeller, yawing the plane to the left
• Pitches up (initiates a climb): The effective force will push on the bottom of the propeller disc,
causing a resultant force to push on the left side of the propeller, yawing the plane to the right
 P-Factor (Asymmetric Thrust)
• Occurs only at high angles of attack
• Due to the relative wind that the propeller “sees”, the descending propeller
blade is at a higher angle of attack than the ascending propeller blade.
• This results in greater thrust on the right side of the propeller disc, yawing
the plane to the left.