The four main characteristics of aerodynamics in flight are weight, lift, drag and thrust. Figure 1 shows these four forces as well as their relationship to each other through the depiction of the modern-day passenger plane. Weight is the aircraft’s gross weight to include passengers and baggage. This force has to be counteracted by lift to keep the heavier than air aircraft aloft. Lift is the opposite of weight using the lift under the wing to raise and support the aircraft during flight. (NASA, 2008) When considering the correlation between lift and weight, Newton’s third law of motion, which states that for action there is an equal or opposite reaction, is taken into account. When the air moves over the wing or airfoil, the air is deflected down, resulting in the wing moving upward, thus producing lift. (NASA, 2009) Bernoulli principals or lift state that as increased air velocity moves across an airfoil this creates decreased pressures on the top of the wing and increased pressure bellow the wing producing lift. (U.S. Centernnial of Flight Commission, 2009)
In order to make the aircraft fly, lift and thrust are necessary to sustain flight. As the aircraft is aloft, drag is introduced as the aircraft is met with resistance created by the air making contact with the aircraft during flight. Drag is created by the force of a solid object moving through a fluid. There are other types of drag that affect the aircraft during flight and they are wave drag, ram drag. Wave drag is introduced when the aircraft approaches the speed of sound and creates a wave along the surfaces. Ram drag is the effect of reducing the speed of the air as it enters the aircraft engine. (NASA, 2008)
In order to make the aircraft fly, lift and thrust are necessary to sustain flight. As the aircraft is aloft, drag is introduced as the aircraft is met with resistance created by the air making contact with the aircraft during flight. Drag is created by the force of a solid object moving through a fluid. There are other types of drag that affect the aircraft during flight and they are wave drag, ram drag. Wave drag is introduced when the aircraft approaches the speed of sound and creates a wave along the surfaces. Ram drag is the effect of reducing the speed of the air as it enters the aircraft engine. (NASA, 2008)
