My best friend is a pilot and I have no idea what he’s talking about. I understand other aspects of physics but this really is hard for me to wrap my head around.
In: Physics
When you’re in a car driving fast, stick your arm out the window, and tilt your hand at various angles. (With someone else driving.)
You’ll feel the wind pressure on your hand, which can be thought of as a horizontal push backward and a vertical push up or down. The push backward is called “drag”, and the vertical push is called “lift”.
The same thing happens on a much bigger scale with the wings of an airplane. In steady flight, the thrust of the engine is sufficient to balance the drag, and the lift is sufficient to balance the weight of the plane.
Latest Answers