Took a flight recently and thought my body would feel like it’s being flung around when the aircraft was taking a sharp turn at an angle but surprisingly didn’t feel anything.
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Consider how you make a curve on a bike: You have to lean inwards to stay balanced.
The airplane does the same thing. It needs to push you around the curve it flies, and the most gentle way is by leaning inwards. It’s also the most efficient way to fly for the aircraft, because the wings provide lift in the same direction as your seat holds you up.
Consider how you make a curve on a bike: You have to lean inwards to stay balanced.
The airplane does the same thing. It needs to push you around the curve it flies, and the most gentle way is by leaning inwards. It’s also the most efficient way to fly for the aircraft, because the wings provide lift in the same direction as your seat holds you up.
Gravity and acceleration feel the same.
Acceleration is any change in velocity, so either a change in speed or a change in direction.
When the plane is turning, it has an acceleration toward the center of the turn. You, being inside the plane, feel it as though the plane is still and you’re being accelerated *away* from the center of the turn.
You also experience the Earth’s gravity, which is from outside the plane, as being an acceleration toward the Earth.
Adding the two acceleration vectors from gravity and the turning gives you a total acceleration, which feels like gravity, at about the same angle as the plane is banked at. So it feels like your weight is into your seat like it would be if the plane was sitting on the ground. It’s a stronger force than usual, but in the same direction so it’s not that noticeable.
Gravity and acceleration feel the same.
Acceleration is any change in velocity, so either a change in speed or a change in direction.
When the plane is turning, it has an acceleration toward the center of the turn. You, being inside the plane, feel it as though the plane is still and you’re being accelerated *away* from the center of the turn.
You also experience the Earth’s gravity, which is from outside the plane, as being an acceleration toward the Earth.
Adding the two acceleration vectors from gravity and the turning gives you a total acceleration, which feels like gravity, at about the same angle as the plane is banked at. So it feels like your weight is into your seat like it would be if the plane was sitting on the ground. It’s a stronger force than usual, but in the same direction so it’s not that noticeable.
Gravity and acceleration feel the same.
Acceleration is any change in velocity, so either a change in speed or a change in direction.
When the plane is turning, it has an acceleration toward the center of the turn. You, being inside the plane, feel it as though the plane is still and you’re being accelerated *away* from the center of the turn.
You also experience the Earth’s gravity, which is from outside the plane, as being an acceleration toward the Earth.
Adding the two acceleration vectors from gravity and the turning gives you a total acceleration, which feels like gravity, at about the same angle as the plane is banked at. So it feels like your weight is into your seat like it would be if the plane was sitting on the ground. It’s a stronger force than usual, but in the same direction so it’s not that noticeable.
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