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In flight a powered aircraft can be considered as being acted on by four forces: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. [1] Thrust is the force generated by the engine (whether that engine be a jet engine, a propeller, or -- in exotic cases such as the X-15-- a rocket) and acts in a forward direction for the purpose of overcoming drag. [2]
Aerodynamics work throughout the 19th century sought to achieve heavier-than-air flight. George Cayley developed the concept of the modern fixed-wing aircraft in 1799, and in doing so identified the four fundamental forces of flight - lift, thrust, drag, and weight. The development of reasonable predictions of the thrust needed to power flight ...
Forces of flight on a powered aircraft in unaccelerated level flight. Understanding the motion of air around an object (often called a flow field) enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object. In many aerodynamics problems, the forces of interest are the fundamental forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. Of ...
[4] [5] He was a pioneer of aeronautical engineering and is sometimes referred to as "the father of aviation." [3] He identified the four forces which act on a heavier-than-air flying vehicle: weight, lift, drag and thrust. [6] Modern aeroplane design is based on those discoveries and on the importance of cambered wings, also proposed by Cayley ...
[2] He was the first true scientific aerial investigator to publish his work, which included for the first time the underlying principles and forces of flight. [16] In 1809 he began the publication of a landmark three-part treatise titled "On Aerial Navigation" (1809–1810). [17]
Spacecraft flight dynamics is the application of mechanical dynamics to model how the external forces acting on a space vehicle or spacecraft determine its flight path. These forces are primarily of three types: propulsive force provided by the vehicle's engines; gravitational force exerted by the Earth and other celestial bodies; and ...
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Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight).