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The air also has mass and thus inertia and will resist being pushed aside by the passage of an aeroplane. That resistance will be felt as
pressure changes on the aircraft surfaces.
Airspeed depends on Inertia
An aircraft in flight
is 'airborne' and
its velocity is
relative to the
surrounding air,
not the Earth's
surface.
Lift C L 1 v 2 A
2
The lift equation
Lift C L 1 v 2 A
2
• lift = weight
• = 1.0 kg/m³ (the approximate density
of air at 6500 feet altitude)
The Drag Equation
The drag equation is
Drag C D 1 v A
2
similar to the lift
2 equation with
the exception that we
have a DRAG
COEFFICIENT
rather than a LIFT
COEFFICIENT. As CL
depending on
“aoa”, the CD depends
on the SQUARE of the
“aoa”. We can make
this assumption based
on graphical data.
What effect does decreasing
speed have?
So the result of decreasing airspeed, while maintaining
straight and level flight, is an increase in the lift
coefficient; and that has two contributors – the shape
of the wing and the angle of attack
As the pilot can't change the wing shape (unless she/he extends
flaps) the angle of attack must have changed. How? By the pilot
adjusting control pressure to apply an aerodynamic force to the
aircraft's tailplane ( or some other control surface) which has the
effect of rotating the aircraft a degree or so about its lateral axis.
Drag