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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.
The wind frame is a convenient frame to express the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on an aircraft. In particular, the net aerodynamic force can be divided into components along the wind frame axes, with the drag force in the −x w direction and the lift force in the −z w direction. Mnemonics to remember angle names
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 ...
For steady, level flight, the integrated force due to the pressure differences is equal to the total aerodynamic lift of the airplane and to the airplane's weight. According to Newton's third law, this pressure force exerted on the ground by the air is matched by an equal-and-opposite upward force exerted on the air by the ground, which offsets ...
The flight dynamics of spacecraft differ from those of aircraft in that the aerodynamic forces are of very small, or vanishingly small effect for most of the vehicle's flight, and cannot be used for attitude control during that time. Also, most of a spacecraft's flight time is usually unpowered, leaving gravity as the dominant force.
= where is the aircraft lift coefficient. The lift and drag forces can be applied at a single point, the center of pressure. However, the location of the center of pressure moves significantly with a change in angle of attack and is thus impractical for aerodynamic analysis.
The aerodynamic forces are generated with respect to body axes, which is not an inertial frame. In order to calculate the motion, the forces must be referred to inertial axes. This requires the body components of velocity to be resolved through the heading angle () into inertial axes. Resolving into fixed (inertial) axes:
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".