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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.
Lift and drag are the two components of the total aerodynamic force acting on an aerofoil or aircraft. In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air.
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
In aerodynamics, climb gradient is the ratio between distance travelled over the ground and altitude gained, and is expressed as a percentage. The angle of climb can be defined as the angle between a horizontal plane representing the Earth's surface, and the actual flight path followed by the aircraft during its ascent.
Dihedral effect [1] of an aircraft is a rolling moment resulting from the vehicle having a non-zero angle of sideslip. Increasing the dihedral angle of an aircraft increases the dihedral effect on it. However, many other aircraft parameters also have a strong influence on dihedral effect.
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".
= 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.
Aircraft use the wing area (or rotor-blade area) as the reference area, which makes for an easy comparison to lift. Airships and bodies of revolution use the volumetric coefficient of drag, in which the reference area is the square of the cube root of the airship's volume. Sometimes different reference areas are given for the same object in ...