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This is the angle of attack or the angle at which the wing meets the airflow. As air flows over the surface of a wing, it sticks slightly to the surface it is flowing past and follows the shape. If the wing is angled correctly, the air is deflected downwards. The action of the wing on the air is to force the air downwards while the reaction is the air pushing the wing upwards. Both the upper and lower surfaces of the wing act to deflect the air.
The amount of lift depends on the speed of the air around the wing and the density of the air. Speeding up means the wings force more air downwards so lift is increased. Increasing the angle of attack means the air flowing over the top is turned downwards even more and the air meeting the lower surface is also deflected downwards more, increasing lift.
There is a limit to how large the angle of attack may be. If it is too great, the flow of air over the top of the wing will no longer be smooth and the lift suddenly decreases.
Birds and planes change their angle of attack as they slow to land. Their angle of attack is increased to ensure their lift continues to support their weight as they slow down. Wings and tails need to be movable so that their shapes can be changed to control their flight.
To understand this principle, we need to understand air pressure. Air is composed of several invisible gases that have mass. This mass is made up of molecules, moving in rapid random motion, and exerts a force called air pressure.
Lift acts perpendicular to the motion. Drag acts in the direction opposed to the motion. You can learn more about the factors that affect lift at this web site.
There are many small interactive programs here to let you explore the generation of lift. You can view a short movie of "Orville and Wilbur Wright" discussing the lift force and how it affected the flight of their aircraft. The movie file can be saved to your computer and viewed as a Podcast on your podcast player. This page is intended for college, high school, or middle school students.
For younger students, a simpler explanation of the information on this page is available on the Kid's Page. Used together, the rudder and the ailerons are used to turn the plane. The elevators which are on the tail section are used to control the pitch of the plane.
A pilot uses a control wheel to raise and lower the elevators, by moving it forward to back ward. Lowering the elevators makes the plane nose go down and allows the plane to go down. By raising the elevators the pilot can make the plane go up. The pilot of the plane pushes the top of the rudder pedals to use the brakes. The brakes are used when the plane is on the ground to slow down the plane and get ready for stopping it.
The top of the left rudder controls the left brake and the top of the right pedal controls the right brake. If you look at these motions together you can see that each type of motion helps control the direction and level of the plane when it is flying. Sound is made up of molecules of air that move.
They push together and gather together to form sound waves. Sound waves travel at the speed of about mph at sea level. When a plane travels the speed of sound the air waves gather together and compress the air in front of the plane to keep it from moving forward. This compression causes a shockwave to form in front of the plane. In order to travel faster than the speed of sound the plane needs to be able to break through the shock wave.
When the airplane moves through the waves, it is makes the sound waves spread out and this creates a loud noise or sonic boom.
The sonic boom is caused by a sudden change in the air pressure. When the plane travels faster than sound it is traveling at supersonic speed. A plane traveling at the speed of sound is traveling at Mach 1 or about MPH. Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound. Sometimes called speeds of flight , each regime is a different level of flight speed. General Aviation MPH. Most of the early planes were only able to fly at this speed level. Early engines were not as powerful as they are today. However, this regime is still used today by smaller planes.
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