One thing all aircrafts
have in common is that they all share the four main forces: Thrust,
Drag, Lift, and Weight.
All of these are very important things to think
about when dealing with planes.
Thrust is a force so we can calculate this with
Newtons Second Law (F = ma). First we find the mass of the aircraft and
multiply it by
the acceleration as it increases speed down the
runway.
To calculate Lift, we can rearrange the Coefficient
of Lift equation and solve for L. This turns out to be:
Lift = (COL)*(Dynamic Pressure)*(Area of the
Planform) or L = Cl*q*A
Weight is calculated by multiplying the Mass of the
aircraft by the acceleration due to gravity (remember to use english
units for english
measurments and metric units for metric
measurments!!!)
Drag much like lift but with the equation: D = (1/2)*(ρ)*(v^2)*(A)*(Cp)
or
Drag = (one half)*density of
air*velocity^2*Area*Coefficient of Drag Remember that the velocity is the velocity
of air over the airfoil and the area is the area of the planform (wing).
* For an aircraft to take off, the thrust and lift must be
greater than the drag and weight combined.
* Newton’s third
law states that in steady straight flight,
there can be no unbalanced forces, so, while flying at a constant
altitude the
Lift and the Thrust
must be equal to the Weight and Drag.
