Comments on: How Planes Fly: What They Taught You In School Was Wrong

By: Me

Me — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:06:00 +0000

The best explanation I’ve ever heard as to why a fully loaded 747 can fly is this: You get 250 tons of people, steel and fuel moving at 170 kts toward certain death off the end of the runway and the passengers will WILL the thing into the air. :)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:27:00 +0000

It get management on board and begin to address the true scope of this open ended question.

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By: Chase

Chase — Fri, 06 May 2011 21:30:00 +0000

thats cute you are so assertive when so wrong. you should close the book and try actually flying an airplane.

if you ever happen to be in IWS (west houston airport), i will be glad to point out to you the flaws.

By: Big Bob

Big Bob — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:32:00 +0000

If the air over the top speeds up to match the air flowing under, where did the energy come from to speed up the air? and how did it know how much to speed up the air? Is their a tiny microprocessor in each air molecule? If we have an answer to this, we have the energy problem solved!

By: ccc

ccc — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:01:00 +0000

"wings force air downward"

i didn't study aeronautics or even engineering but your explanation makes it sound like the downward wind created by the wing is generating thrust, which causes the plane to go up... i'd bet a dollar that isn't the case. the wind on the underside of the wing causes 'lift' and the plane to rise, given enough lift.

By: JBdoll

JBdoll — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:50:00 +0000

Is it possible for helicopters to fly upside down?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:56:00 +0000

"The airplane is not accelerating up therefore there is no air accelerating down, momentum is conserved. "

Its been years since I did F=MA etc., but surely gravity is accelerating the plane downwards, the plane is in level flight, therefore it is accelerating up?

By: Ally

Ally — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:30:00 +0000

God, there’s nothing I hate more than a cocky fresh-faced graduate bursting in and telling all the real experts (you know, the ones with 20+ years more real-life experience in the field) that they’re all wrong. It’s amusing, in a pathetic sort of way.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:27:00 +0000

Actually Chris when you look at the momentum pre and post-wing, the air has been given a downward velocity component. The default would be for the wing and the plane thereon to accelerate downward. The fact that it is remaining in the air requires something else achieve that momentum change per unit time equal to the force of gravity. That thing is the air. This is not to say the pressure isn’t different top to bottom. They are two sides of the same coin. They’re related through the Navier Stokes equations and continuity. If you’ve seen actual CFD analysis or wind tunnel tests, you’ll see the streamlines are not the same in front and in back of the wing. Look at the animation posted. It’s fairly accurate.

By: Christopher Morrison

Christopher Morrison — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Look you are completely wrong.

When an airplane is flying in Straight and level flight no air is "forced down." The airplane is not accelerating up therefore there is no air accelerating down, momentum is conserved.

The streamlines in front of the plane are the same as the streamlines in the back. The lift is generated because the pressure on the bottom of the wing or airfoil is higher than the top.

Air is NOT redirected downward. If you don't understand this read this comment again.

I'm an aerospace engineer, I study this stuff.

By: Hunter Outdoor Fans

Hunter Outdoor Fans — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:17:01 +0000

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By: durvetwormer

durvetwormer — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:05:13 +0000

The site is rich but I think some more information is required to understand it more clearly.

By: BuLLDoSer

BuLLDoSer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:24:29 +0000

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By: PaperAirplanes

PaperAirplanes — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:26:45 +0000

Thanks for clarifying that. The title grabs attention too.

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By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:07:43 +0000

Yay! At least one person has it right! This would be my comment, but “Name” beat me to it.

By: ckenterprises

ckenterprises — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:45:12 +0000

This post seems to make sense, however it does not explain the lift v/s drag curve for airfoils. If lift depended only on the angle of attack then the lift should not go down after fifteen or eighteen degrees (Angle of attack).

By: cabrinha

cabrinha — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:44:52 +0000

Its the same thing.Wings force air downward(Hence creating more pressure on the bottom), which in turn force the wing (and therefore the plane) upward.That's it so what's the big deal?

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By: Name

Name — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:02:46 +0000

The lift generation comes out from the mathematical solution of the differential equations that describe the flight phenomenon. These are the so called Navier-Stokes equations. The Bernoulli principle is an ideal subset of Navier-Stokes that cannot fully describe the actual phenomena in a lifting body or airfoil or 3D-wing. By solving the Navier-Stokes in 2D or 3D one can actual see how pressure side and suction side of a wing co-operate in order to produce lift, together with the remaining aerodynamic field (temperatures, vector velocities, entropy etc. etc.). So, in conclusion there is no straightforward explanation of “how planes fly” and no wrong or correct school explanations, but incomplete explanations. Only by solving the above mentioned differential equations in an appropriate grid and with the appropriate solid & boundary conditions will understand flight.

By: Name

Name — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:02:46 +0000