How do planes fly upside-down?

Question

I understand that the wing of the plane creates downforce, lifting the plane into the air, so how do planes fly upside-down? Wouldn’t the wings start pushing the plane down into the ground once flipped?

In: 373

Answer 1

The amount of lift generated by the airfoil (wing) can be regulated. The various control surfaces, ailerons and horizontal stabilizers can be finely adjusted to maintain level flight. This is called ‘trimming’ the plane. Once a plane is trimmed it can maintain level flight whether it is upright or inverted. This can also be accomplished, more temporarily, by the pilot adjusting the plane’s trajectory/speed/angle of attack with the plane’s controls.