FORCES ACTING ON AN AIRPLANE

Lift opposes gravity.

Thrust opposes drag.

THRUST DRAG

 Thrust is produced by an aircraft’s propulsion  Drag is simply resistance of the aircraft against
system or engine. The direction of the thrust the air.
dictates the direction in which the aircraft will  Drag is the force that acts opposite to the
move.
direction of motion. It tends to slow an object.
 Thrust is a force that moves an aircraft in the
direction of the motion. It is created with a An example is putting your hand out of a
propeller, jet engine, or rocket. Air is pulled in moving car window and feeling it pull back.
and then pushed out in an opposite direction.  Created by disruption of airflow
One example is a household fan.
 Created by engine; forward force WEIGHT
 More thrust than drag
 Weight is a force that is always directed toward
LIFT the center of the earth due to gravity. The
magnitude of the weight is the sum of all the
 Lift is generated by the motion of air passing
airplane parts, plus the fuel, people and cargo.
over the aircraft’s wings. The direction of lift is
While the weight is distributed throughout the
always perpendicular to the flight direction and
entire airplane, its effect is on a single point
its magnitude depends on several factors,
called the center of gravity.
including the shape, size and velocity of the
 Downward force caused by gravity
aircraft.
 Lift is the force that holds an airplane in the air.
The wings create most of the lift used by
airplanes.
 Upward force generated by wings
 More lift than weight
 THEORY OF FLIGHT MEAN LINE – A line joining the leading edges of an
airfoil equidistant from the upper and lower surface.
Types of Drag
UPPER CAMBER – Refers to the curve on the upper
1. PARASITE DRAG – All forces that work to surface of an airfoil.
slow an aircraft’s movement
LOWER CAMBER - Refers to the curve on the lower
 FORM DRAG - Portion of the parasite drag
surface.
generated by the aircraft due to its shape
and airflow around it.
 INTERFERENCE DRAG – Comes from the
intersection of airstreams that creates eddy
currents, turbulence or restricts smooth
airflow.
 SKIN FRICTION DRAG – The aerodynamic
resistance due to the contact of moving air
with the surface of an aircraft. Two Perspectives
2. INDUCED DRAG
Two explanations to help understand how lift is created

BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE

 Largely depends on the shape of the wing

 Concentrates on speeds and pressure
 Involves pressure imbalances

NEWTONIAN EXPLANATION

 Largely depends on the tilt of the wing

 Concentrates on the acceleration of the passing
airstream
AIRFOIL
 Involves deflection of the airstream
ANGLE OF ATTACK – The acute angle between a
BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE DEFINED
reference line in a body and the line of the relative wind
direction.  Daniel Bernoulli
- 18th Century Swiss Scientist
LEADING EDGE – The foremost edge of an airfoil
section.  When the speed of a moving fluid increases, the
pressure decreases
TRAILING EDGE - The aft edge of an airfoil or a wing.  When the speed of a moving fluid decreases,
the pressure increases
CHORD – A straight line directly across the airfoil from
the leading edge to the trailing edge.
SHAPE OF THE WING
The distance travelled is the same. Equal disrtances in
equal times means the air is travelling at same speed.
The curved shape is a longer distance so the air
travelling is faster. Equal distances travelled in equal
times.
The air on top is travelling faster. It exerts less force.
When 2 forces are combinedthey do not cancel each
other out. Therefore there is some net force upward.
NEWTONIAN EXPLANATION
 Newton’s Third Law states that “for every
action there is an equal but opposite reaction.”
 Newton’s Third Law, is often called the Law of
Conservation of Momentum, which states:
When an object is given a cerain momentum in
a given direction, some other body will receive
an equal momentum in the opposite direction.
 This theory predicts that as the air stream
passes by, it is deflected downward.
 Both top and bottom surfaces of wing play
important roles in deflection.
COANDA EFFECT – the tendency of a fluid to fllow the
shape of its container; curve towards a surface.
AXES OF AN AIRCRAFT
LONGITUDINAL AXIS – The imaginary straight line which
started from the nose section of an airplane that passes
thru the center of gravity and going out to the tail
section of an airplane.
LATERAL AXIS – The imaginary straight line which
started from the wingtip section of an airplane that
passes thru the center of gravity and going out to the
other wing tip section of an airplane.
VERTICAL AXIS – The imaginary straight line which
started from the upper section of the fuselage of an
airplane that passes thru the center of gravity and going
out to the lower section of the fuselage of an airplne.
STABILITY OF AN AIRCRAFT
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY (Pitching) – The quality that
makes an aircraft stable about its lateral axis.
LATERAL STABILITY (Rolling) – The aircraft’s
longitudinal axis, which extends from the nose of the
aircraft to its tail, is called lateral axis.
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY (Yawing) – Stability abou the
aircraft’s vertical axis. Yawing or directional stability is
the most easily achieved stability in aircraft design.
 FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES
PRIMARY FLIGHT CONTROLS:
AiRoLoLa EPiLaLo RuYaVeDi
AILERON – Moving the control wheel to the right causes
the right aileron to deflect upward and the left aileron
to deflect downward.
CONTROL COLUMN – The lever, or a pilar-supporting
handwheel, that operates the elevator and aileron
controls. Also called joystick or a stick.
ELEVATOR – When the control column is moved back,
the elevators, which are hinged to the rear of the spar
move up; if the control column is moved forward, the
elevators move down.
The lift produce in this process initiates a pitching
movement, which moves the aircraft nose up or down,
depending on whether the movement of the control
column is backward or forward respectively.
RUDDER – By pushing the left pedal, the rudder moves
left. This alters the airflow around the vertical
stabilizer/rudder, and creates a sideward lift that moves
the tail to the right and yaws the nose of the airplane to
the left.
SECONDARY FLIGHT CONTROLS:
Secondary flight control systems improve the
performance characteristics of the airplane, or relieve
the pilot of excessive control forces.
Secondary flight control systems may consist of the
flaps, leading edge devices, spoilers, and trim devices.
FLAPS – These surfaces, which are attached to the
trailing edge of thw wing, increases both lift and
induced drag for any given angle of attack. Flaps allow a
compromise betweenhigh cruising speed and low
landing speed, because they may be extended when
needed, and retracted into the wing’s structure when
not needed.
They are deflected down to increase the effective
curvature of the wing.
Flaps raise the Maximum Lift Coefficient of the aircraft
and therefore reduce its stalling speed.
PLAIN FLAP – the simplest; it attaches at the trailing
edge of the wing, and increases camber and lift when
deployed.
SPLIT FLAP – Hinged under the wing’s trailing edge and
rotates down to help generate lift and increase drag.
SLOTTED FLAP – Has a gap between the wing and the
leading edge of the flap. The slot allows high pressure
airflow on the wing undersurface to energize the lower
pressure over the top. Gives better takeoff and climb
performance.
FOWLER FLAP – Uses metal tracks to slide backward
and pivot down; it increases lift by greater camber and
wing area.

LEADING EDGE DEVICES – High-lift devices can also be

applied to the leading edge of the airfoil. The most
common types are fixed slots, movable slats, and
leading edge flaps.

SPOILERS – A device that projects into the airstream

about a body to break up or spoil the smoothness of the
flow, especially such a device that projects from the
upper surface of an airfoil, giving an increased drag and
decreased lift.

FIXED SLOTS – direct airflow to the upper wing surface

and delay airflow separation at higher angles of attack.
The slot does not increase the wing camber, but allows
a higher maximum coefficient of lift because the stall is
delayed until the wing reaches a greater angle of attack.

MOVABLE SLATS – A movable auxiliary and highly

cambered airfoil on the leading ede of a wing. At high
angles of attack, it prolongs the lift curve by increasing
the chord and the ca,ber, thus delaying the stall until a
higher angle of attack.

LEADING EDGE FLAPS – A portion of the leading edge of

the wing that folds downward to increase the camber of
the wing to increase both its lift and drag.