How do Aeroplanes fly?

[cgksheff]

If it was true then you wouldn't be able to fly upside down.

 

Inverted flight depends upon the angle of attack for the lift more than the aerofoil.

Aerobatic planes have very different shaped and angled wings compared to 747's!

 

With regard to alternative theories, have a read of this ... if you can get past the first page!!!

[crookes]

...with regard to alternative theories, have a read of this ... if you can get past the first page!!!

 

I went straight to page seven and it was so enlightening ...NOT

[KenH]

Inverted flight depends upon the angle of attack for the lift more than the aerofoil.

 

Most aircraft are not used to attack anything so they don't have an angle to atack with. Since they don't have an attack angle then, according to your rather bizzarre theory, they couldn't have lift. I know of several non-attack aircraft that can fly upside down, most of which could not even be fitted with guns because of the weight.

[peterw]

The upward force of buoyancy is equal to the weight of the water displaced. Does that help?

[Cyclone]

That would mean that you couldn't get a paper aeroplane to climb, but you can if you throw it fast enough.

 

gliders can climb, as can paper aeroplanes, infact in a quick experiment i've just determined that my colleagues can also briefly gain altitude if I throw them hard enough. The ability to gain altitude does not have to be anything to do with the ability to generate lift.

[evildrneil]

All the above is rubish! Aircraft just flap their wings really really quickly (they have to cos they are so big) - it's how everything else does it so why should it be different for aircraft!

[KenH]

I have searched the internet for a solution to this problem as it may bother me all day otherwise. This explanation is really related to helicopters but I think it explains the fixed wing angle of attack scenario quite well:-

 

Air flowing over the rear portion of the main rotor disc is accelerated downward by the main rotor which causes the rear portion to have a smaller angle of attack. This results in less lift to the rear portion but because of Gyroscopic Precession, the result is felt 90 degrees later.

[cgksheff]

The last time I was in a precession it was in the middle of summer and so hot that it felt 90 degrees.So you may well be onto something there.

[KenH]

The last time I was in a precession it was in the middle of summer and so hot that it felt 90 degrees.So you may well be onto something there.

 

That would have been a summer non-gyroscopic precession. When dealing with aircraft it is important to use standard temperatures and pressures (STP) and, as such, the temperature is always 15 degrees centigrade which is the average earth temperature. The pressure is always taken as 1013 Mb or 29.92 inches of mercury for the yanks. This means that you should have taken part in a gyroscopic precession during the Spring on a high pressure day at about 10am.

[crookes]

Most aircraft are not used to attack anything so they don't have an angle to atack with. Since they don't have an attack angle then, according to your rather bizzarre theory, they couldn't have lift. I know of several non-attack aircraft that can fly upside down, most of which could not even be fitted with guns because of the weight.

 

The angle of attack is nothing to do with fighter planes, it's a technical term for the tilt of the wing.