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An aircraft in cruise flight is typically speed stable. If speed increases, drag increases, which will reduce the speed back to equilibrium for its configuration and thrust setting. If speed decreases, drag decreases, and the aircraft will accelerate back to its equilibrium speed where thrust equals drag.
Airplane Flight Dynamics and Automated Flight Controls I-II (1995) Airplane Aerodynamics and Performance with Dr. Chuan-Tau Edward Lan (1997) Roskam's Airplane War Stories: An Account of the Professional Life and Work of Dr. Jan Roskam, Airplane Designer and Teacher (2002) Lessons Learned in Aircraft Design (2007)
Aerodynamics – Branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air; Aircraft flight control system – How aircraft are controlled; Fixed-wing aircraft – Heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings generating aerodynamic lift; Flight control surfaces – Surface that allows a pilot to adjust and control an aircraft's flight attitude
Aircraft designed according to Whitcomb's area rule (such as the F-102 Delta Dagger and the Northrop F-5) looked odd when they first appeared and were sometimes dubbed "flying Coke bottles", but this became an expected part of the appearance of some transonic aircraft.
In these transonic speed ranges, compressibility causes a change in the density of the air around an airplane. During flight, a wing produces lift by accelerating the airflow over the upper surface. This accelerated air can, and does, reach supersonic speeds, even though the airplane itself may be flying at a subsonic airspeed (Mach number < 1.0
Aircraft flight mechanics are relevant to fixed wing (gliders, aeroplanes) and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. An aeroplane ( airplane in US usage), is defined in ICAO Document 9110 as, "a power-driven heavier than air aircraft, deriving its lift chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surface which remain fixed under given conditions of flight".
The aerodynamic force on a powered airplane is commonly represented by three vectors: thrust, lift and drag. [3]: 151 [1]: § 14.2 The other force acting on an aircraft during flight is its weight, which is a body force and not an aerodynamic force.
Designing an aircraft that operates across a wide range of speeds, like a modern airliner, requires these competing needs to be carefully balanced for every aircraft design. Swept wings are a practical outcome of the desire to have a low thickness-to-chord ratio at high speeds and a lower one at lower speeds during takeoff and landing .