The Physics of Flight, Sailplanes, and Energy Management

To understand how a plane flies, one must first understand the physics that causes flight: namely, the forces that act upon the plane and the surrounding air particles. The essential four forces acting upon the plane include lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Lift is a force generated by the motion of the aircraft through the air that in turn causes airflow past the wing. The top of the airplane wings are curved which causes air particles to travel further to reach the trailing end of the wings and therefore increasing velocity. The air on the underside of the wings exerts more pressure which causes the airplane to lift. Weight is the force of gravity that pulls the plane towards Earths center. In order for a plane to take flight, lift must exceed weight. Drag is a force also referred to as air resistance. Drag pulls the plane backwards. The force that opposes drag is thrust. Propulsion systems in the plane produce thrust. During constant speed flight, thrust is equal to drag.

During flight, the direction of airplanes is manipulated by control surfaces. These control surfaces include the ailerons on each wing, the rudder, and the elevator. Ailerons are located at the rear of the wings. Their purpose is to increase lift on one wing, while reducing lift on the other by raising and lowering. The effect is a rolling motion in the longitudinal axis of flight.

The rudder is located on the tail of the plane. Its function is to counteract the drag caused by the lowering of an aileron during a turn. The result is a yaw movement in the vertical axis of flight that causes the nose of the plane to point away from the direction of the turn. The rudder is also located near the tail of the plane. It serves to provide stability by producing a downward force on the tail. It also serves to direct the nose of the aircraft either up or down to make the plain either climb or descend in a pitch motion on the lateral axis of flight.

A sailplane is a light glider that has similar controlling features to a plan but does not have an engine or onboard propulsion systems. Sailplanes are adapted to making use of rising air currents because of their high lift-to-drag ratio which allows longer glides to the next source of lift. Instead of thrust from propulsion systems, sailplanes use a launch process for initial energy and gain potential energy from rising air such as thermals and ridge lifts.

Test pilot Bud Andersons statement that, flying an unpowered airplane was a lesson in energy management. means that because an unpowered airplane does not have a propulsion system to produce thrust and energy, the pilot must be adept at using the surrounding energy

around him such as thermal and ridge lifts to maintain motion of the aircraft. The pilot must be observant of the status of the aircraft in terms of direction and potential energy.
www.sciencewithmrnoon.com/.../physics1st/Physics_of_Flight.ppt http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/axes_control_surfaces_5-8.pdf http://www.aeromuseum.org/eduHowtoFly.html http://www.soaring.psu.edu/sailplane.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-wing_aircraft#Propulsion http://www.airfoils.com/contact.htm http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpowered_aircraft