Lesson 4

Principles of Flight
Introduction
The student should develop knowledge of the elements related to the principles of flight. The
student should understand why airplanes are designed in certain ways as well as the forces acting
on airplanes and the correction or use of those forces in flight.

Overview
The principles of flight introduce the physics behind how our airplane flies and how physics
affects our airplane during flight. It is important to understand the adverse and unseen effects that
can happen to our aircraft during flight.

Elements
● Four forces of flight
● Axes of flight
● Lift
● Creation of lift
● Controlling lift
● Weight
● Drag
● Induced
● Parasite
● Thrust
● Airfoil design characteristics
● Principles of a propeller
● Left turning tendencies
● Stability
● Controllability and maneuverability
● Load factors and airplane design
● Structural load limits
● Maneuvering speed
Four Forces of Flight
● Force= Mass x Acceleration

● Lift, weight, thrust, and drag are four forces that act upon an aircraft in flight
● Understanding how these forces work and knowing how to control them with the use of
power and flight controls are essential to flight
○ Lift opposes weight, and thrust opposes drag
● In steady unaccelerated flight, the sum of these opposing forces is always zero
○ Newton’s first law
○ This can mean in an unaccelerated climb or descent, and in level flight
■ Accelerate means both speeding up and slowing down
● There can be no unbalanced forces in steady, straight flight based upon Newton’s Third
Law
○ Newton’s Third Law- for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
○ It does not mean all four forces are equal. It means the opposing forces are equal
and “cancel” the effects of each other
● In steady flight-
○ The sum of all upward components of forces equals the sum of all downward
components of forces
○ The sum of all forward components of forces (not just thrust) equals the sum of
all backward components of forces (not just drag)

Center of Gravity
● (CG)- The point where an airplane would balance if it was possible to suspend it at that
point

Axes of Flight
● The axes of an aircraft are three imaginary lines that pass through an aircraft’s CG
● The plane moves around these axes
○ Longitudinal axis- nose to tail
○ Lateral axis- wingtip to wingtip
○ Vertical axis- vertical line passing straight through the CG
● Whenever an aircraft changes its flight attitude or position in flight, it rotates about one or
more of the three axes.
Lift
Creation of lift

● Airfoil- a surface designed to obtain a reaction from the air it’s moving through

● Parts of a airfoil

○ Leading edge

○ Chord line

○ Trailing edge

○ Camber

○ Mean camber line

○ Upper surface

○ Lower surface
● Bernoulli’s principle- Velocity of a fluid is inversely proportional to the pressure of the
fluid
○ The fluid is air
○ As the velocity of fluid increases, the pressure of the fluid decreases, and vice
versa
○ The Venturi effect

○
○ An airfoil is like half of a Venturi
○ Air traveling on top of the wing travels faster, creating lower pressure on top
● Newton’s third law- for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
 ○ Wing deflects air downwards, creating upwards force

○
● Continuity Equation
○ ⍴xAxV=⍴xAxV
○ A x V = Volumetric flow rate

● Lift equation:
○ L = (C ¿ ¿ L⍴ v 2 s )/2¿
○ C L = Coefficient of Lift- function of the angle of attack

○ ⍴ (rho) = air density- the thicker the air, the more you have to
push back on you
○ v = true airspeed- more speed, more air to push on because you’re moving faster
○ s = surface area of the wing- more wing for the air to push on
● Airfoil design-
○ Chord- an imaginary straight line drawn through the blade from its leading edge
to its trailing edge
■ This is what angle of attack is measured off of (chord line vs relative
wind)
○ Camber- the curvature of the airfoil
 ■ If we plot the points that lie halfway between the upper and lower
surfaces, we obtain a curve called the mean camber line
■ The maximum distance between the mean camber line and the chord line
is called the camber, which is a measure of the curvature of the airfoil
(high camber means high curvature).
○ Planform- view/shape of the wing from above
■ 5 types-
● Rectangular
○ Wing root stalls first providing more warning and control
● Tapered
● Elliptical
○ Whole wing stalls at the same time
● Sweptback
○ Wingtips stall first so you lose aileron control
○ That’s why it’s dangerous to stall an airliner
● Delta

●
■ Many factors affect shape: including purpose, load factors, speeds,
construction and maintenance costs, maneuverability/stability, stall/spin
characteristics, fuel tanks, high lift devices, gear, etc.
○ Dihedral-
■ Wings tilted up (upward angle of the wing)
○ Taper-
■ The ratio of the root chord to the tip chord
■ Rectangular wings have a taper ratio of 1

○ Aspect Ratio
■ Divide the wingspan by the average chord
■ The greater the aspect ratio, the less induced drag (more lift). More
efficient this way
 ■ Increasing wingspan with the same area (long skinny wing) results in
smaller wingtips, generating smaller vortices (gliders
■ Planes requiring extreme maneuverability and strength have much lower
aspect ratios (fighter jets)

Controlling Lift

● Angle of attack- changing the coefficient of lift by changing the angle of attack
● Airspeed- changing the airspeed which causes the amount of air molecules impacting the
wing to increase or decrease

● Center of pressure

● As center of pressure increases, stall speed increases

○ Center of pressure moves forward as angle of attack increases

● What is a aerodynamic stall?

○ Your wing exceeds the critical angle of attack

Weight
● Weight = Mass x Gravity

● Weight always points towards the earth

● Counteracts lift
● Need weight to be less than lift to fly

Thrust
The Propeller

● Forward force produced by the power plant that counteracts drag

● Think of the propeller is big spinning wing in front of aircraft
○ It is generating lift the same way our wings are but in a forward motion
○ Pushes air backwards
● For an aircraft to start moving (acceleration), thrust must be exerted and be greater than
drag. The aircraft continues to move and gain speed until thrust and drag are equal
○ In accelerated flight-
■ The thrust vector is greater than the drag vector if the plane is speeding up
 ■ The thrust vector is smaller than the drag vector if the plane is slowing
down
● Prop twist-
○ If you look at a propeller, you will notice a twist. This twist helps produce
uniform lift across the entire blade (same amount of lift across the entire blade)
○ Blade has a high angle of attack near the hub. This is because the inside of the
prop spins slower than the outside.
○ Blade has a low angle of attack at the tips. This is because the outside of the blade
spins faster than the inside.
○ You need a higher angle of attack at lower speeds to produce the same amount of
lift at a higher speed with a low angle of attack

Drag
● Drag is the rearward force acting on an airplane, and resists movement of the aircraft
through the air
● Total drag

Types of Drag

● Induced- byproduct of the production of lift

○ Whenever there is lift, there is induced drag
○ More lift = more drag
○ Strongest at high angles of attack and low airspeeds
○ Inversely proportional to airspeed- as airspeed increases, induced drag decreases
○ Proportional to angle of attack- as angle of attack increases, induced drag
increases
■ As mentioned earlier, increasing angle of attack increases lift, and more
lift equals more drag
● Parasite- comprised of all the forces that work to slow an aircraft’s movement
○ Not associated with lift
○ Parasite drag 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
○ Increases with airspeed
○ Three types of parasite drag-
■ Form Drag- drag from the shape of the aircraft
● Something like a landing gear causes a lot of this
● Anything sticking out on the aircraft
■ Interference drag- drag from the intersections of airstreams around the
airframe
 ● Where the airflow around the fuselage and the airflow over the
wing roots meet
■ Skin friction drag - Aerodynamic resistance due to the contact of air
moving on the surface of the aircraft
● Caused by the friction of air moving over the airframe’s surface
● Can be caused by rough surfaces such as frost (icing), rivets, and
even bug guts

● Viscous drag

● Wing tip vortices

○ Winglets

● Parasitic/ induced drag chart

Relationship of Lift and Drag

● Lift/drag ratio (L/D)
● Can be combined for total drag, creates a “U” shaped curve
● This point where the two curves cross is called L/D MAX
○ Most amount of lift for the least amount of drag
○ This is your Vg (best glide speed)

○
● A ratio of L/D indicates airfoil efficiency. Aircraft with higher L/D ratios are more
efficient than those with lower L/D ratios.

Left Turning Tendencies

● The forces that “pull” the airplane to the left
● Torque-
○ Has to do with Newton’s 3rd Law
 ○ The prop is spinning clockwise (to the right), so the airplane wants to roll to the
left
○ The left turn is the opposite reaction from the prop spinning to the right
○ Corrected by using more right aileron (doesn’t take a lot)
● Corkscrew/Slipstream Effect-
○ The high speed rotation makes a spiraling slipstream around the fuselage. This
stream impacts the vertical stabilizer on the left side which pushes the tail to the
right and the nose to the left
○ In other words, it causes a yaw to the left
○ Most effect at high prop speeds and low forward speeds (takeoff)
○ The slipstream can also cause a slight roll to the right which somewhat
counteracts the roll to the left from torque

● Asymmetric loading of the propeller (P-factor)-

○ When an aircraft is flying with a high AOA, the AOA of the downward moving
blade the blade on the right,is greater than the AOA of the upward moving blade
○ The descending blade on the right produces more thrust than the ascending blade
on the left which pushes the nose to the left
○ Counteracted with right rudder
● Gyroscopic action (this is more of a right turning tendency for us, but a left turning
tendency in tailwheel airplanes)-
○ A gyroscope is a spinning disk that maintains it’s plane of motion unless
subjected to external torque
■ Think of a gyro like a bicycle- the wheels of the bike are the gyros
● It’s hard to balance on a bike when you’re not moving
● It’s easy to balance a bike when you’re going fast because the
wheels are maintaining the same plane of motion with very little
forces acting on them to try to push them over
 ○ Gyroscopes work based off of two principles-
■ Precession- When a force is applied to a spinning gyro, the force is felt 90
degrees ahead of where the force was applied and in the direction of
rotation
● If you hold a spinning bike wheel in your hand and spin it to the
right, and a force is applied to the very top of the wheel, the force
will be felt 90 degrees to the right and you will feel the wheel
begin to move sideways
■ Rigidity in space- The spinning gyro wants to maintain the same plane of
motion
● Like the bike example where it’s easy to balance a bike when
you’re going fast
○ For propellers, we’re concerned about gyroscopic precession
○ The prop is acting like our gyroscope because it’s essentially a spinning disk
○ For us, in a conventional gear airplane, since the prop is spinning to the right,
when we lift off it’s like a force is being applied to the top of the spinning blade.
Based on the definition of precession, the force is felt 90 degrees ahead of the
point where the force was applied which causes a slight yaw to the right (but not
enough to counteract P-Factor).
○ For a tailwheel however, when they start their takeoff roll, their first movement is
a nose down movement because the roll only on the two main gear wheels. Since
they’re pitching down, it’s like a force being applied to the bottom of the spinning
blade, which causes the force to be felt 90 degrees ahead of the point where the
force was applied which causes a yaw to the left
○ Any yawing around the vertical axis results in a pitching moment
○ Any pitching around the lateral axis results in a yawing moment
○ Correction is made with necessary elevator and rudder pressures

Aircraft Stability
● Stability is an aircraft's ability to maintain/return to original flight path
● Allows aircraft to maintain uniform flight conditions and recover from disturbances like
deflection of the flight controls
● Two types of stability along each axis
○ Static stability- initial tendency of the aircraft; tendency to return to the original
position
■ Positive static stability - tendency to return to original position
● Nose pushed down; the nose will return back to level
■ Neutral static stability- tendency to continue away from the original
position
● Nose pitched down; nose stays where it is
 ■ Negative static stability- tendency to continue away from the original
position
● Nose pushed down; nose continuously goes down

■
○ Dynamic stability- tendency of the aircraft over time
■ Positive dynamic stability
● Nose pushed down; nose will dampen towards original position
over time with oscillations
■ Neutral dynamic stability
● Nose pushed down; nose will continue oscillations
■ Negative dynamic stability
● Nose pushed down; nose oscillations will continue to get worse

Load Factors and Airplane Design

● Load Factor= lift/weight

● Bank creates loss of vertical component= need to increase lift to compensate for loss
 ● Load factor- force applied to an airplane to deflect its flight from equilibrium produces a
stress on its structure
○ Load factor is the ratio of the total load acting on the airplane to the gross weight
of the airplane
○ Ex- a load factor of 3 means that total load on the structure is 3x its gross weight,
expressed as 3 G’s
○ Subjecting a plane to 3 G’s will result in being pressed into the seat by 3x weight
● Load factor is important to the pilot for two distinct reasons-
○ Possible for a pilot to impose a dangerous overload on the aircraft structure and
cause structural damage or failure
○ Increased load factor increases the stall speed and makes stalls possible at
seemingly safe speeds
● Airplane category limit load factors-
○ Normal: -1.52Gs - 3.8Gs
○ Utility: -1.76Gs - 4.4Gs
○ Acrobatic: -3Gs - 6Gs
○ Transport: -1G - 2.5Gs
● Design Maneuvering Speed
○ Design maneuvering speed (Va) is the speed at which the airplane will stall before
exceeding its design limit-load factor in turbulent conditions or when the flight
controls are suddenly and fully deflected in flight
○ - Speed below which you can move a single flight control, one time, to its full
deflection, for one axis of airplane rotation only (pitch, roll or yaw), in smooth air,
without risk of damage to the airplane
○ Varies with weight, lighter the aircraft the lower the Va, heavier the higher the Va
■ Airplanes flown at weights below their gross weight require less lift for
straight and level flight
■ Lower weight = lower maneuvering speed because you can hit your G
limit before you reach your critical angle of attack
■ DA40 maneuvering speed- 94-108

Controllability vs Maneuverability
● Controllability
○ Capability to respond to the pilot’s control especially regarding flight path and
attitude
○ Quality of response to control application when maneuvering regardless of
stability characteristics
● Maneuverability
○ Quality that permits a plane to be maneuvered easily and withstand stresses
imposed upon it
 ○ Governed by the weight, inertia, size/location of flight controls, structural strength
and power-plant
○ It is a design characteristic

● Angle of attack- angle between chord line and relative wind

● Critical angle of attack, and coefficient of lift max/CL max

● FAA doesn’t require GA to have critical angle of attack

○ FAA does require manufactures to publish v speeds for specific aircraft

○ V speeds tested on max weight

● Memorize both weight category v speeds

Factors that Affect Stall Speed

 Weight
 Power
 Center of gravity location
o Forward cg increases stall speed
o Aft stall speed decrease/ cruise performance increases
 Load factor
Factors that affect maneuvering speed the speed at which the airplane will stall before exceeding
its design limit load factor in turbulent conditions or when the flights controls are fully deflected
in flight

Da-40 Limit load factor=3.8g’s.

-1.52

Utility category= 4.4g’s

-1.76

Aerobatic= 6.0

-3.0

Transport=2.5

-1

-load factors for a above load factors