Airplanes achieve flight through the interplay of four fundamental forces: lift, thrust, drag, and gravity. Wings generate lift due to air pressure differences, while engines provide thrust to ...

While the engineering behind modern aircraft is incredibly complicated, the basic concepts behind getting airborne is simpler than you might think. “So the fundamentals, the physics of flight, deal ...

Without the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag, aircraft would be unable to fly, wind turbines would not spin, and countless other machines that we depend on every day would not work. What, exactly, ...

When the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made their historic first flight in 1903, they revolutionized how humans would traverse the world. Their biplane, "The Flyer," stayed in the air for only ...

Even in 1800, it was understood—by at least one person, a certain George Cayley—that two forces, weight and drag, were antagonistic to flight and that there must be two corresponding forces to ...

The Wright brothers' success stemmed from their innovative three-axis flight control system (roll, pitch, yaw), which they patented, not just the application of existing aerodynamic principles. While ...

Who hasn't looked at an 800,000-pound passenger jet soaring through the sky and wondered how it could possibly stay up there? Ten-year-old Lucas took a break from munching his nachos at Schaumburg's ...

On today’s episode of “For Science!” we explore the concepts of Thrust, Lift, and Drag by conducting the ring airplane experiment. Cut the paper into 1 inch strips. Using two strips, tape them ...

Uplifting structures: the denticles are inspired by the shortfin mako shark. (Courtesy: James Weaver/Harvard University) A shark skin-inspired design can dramatically improve the lift of an aerofoil, ...