Flight Basics
This imaginary line runs from the leading edge to the trailing edge of a wing.
What is the chord line?
These are the four forces of flight.
What are lift, weight, thrust, and drag?
Drag caused by the roughness of a surface, like sandpaper.
What is friction drag?
The resistance of a fluid to flow — sometimes called its “stickiness.”
What is viscosity?
Small vertical surfaces at the wingtips that reduce drag and vortices.
What are winglets?
The curve of the upper and lower surfaces of a wing is called this.
What is camber?
This force opposes weight and allows an aircraft to rise.
What is lift?
Drag that results from lift being created, especially near wingtips.
What is induced drag?
As altitude increases, air pressure and density do this.
What is decrease?
Small horizontal surfaces found forward of the main wings.
What are canards?
The angle between the chord line and the oncoming relative wind.
What is the angle of attack?
According to Bernoulli’s Principle, as airspeed increases, pressure does what?
What is decreases?
This smooth type of airflow passes evenly over a surface.
What is laminar flow?
At 59°F, the speed of sound is approximately this many miles per hour.
What is 761 mph?
Control surfaces on the trailing edge of the wings used to roll the airplane.
What are ailerons?
When the angle of attack becomes too high, this loss of lift occurs.
What is a stall?
The backward-acting force that resists forward motion through the air.
What is drag?
The opposite of laminar flow — irregular, bumpy airflow.
What is turbulent flow?
The ratio of an aircraft’s speed to the speed of sound.
What is Mach number?
The shock wave at the front of a supersonic aircraft is called this.
What is the compression wave?
This edge of the airfoil meets the relative wind first.
What is the leading edge?
The person who first broke the sound barrier was this U.S. Air Force pilot.
Who is Chuck Yeager?
The drag that forms when an aircraft nears the speed of sound.
What is wave drag?
The atmosphere extends roughly this many miles above the Earth.
What is 100 miles?
The first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling.
What is Voyager?