Angle of Attack - Relation Between Angle of Attack and Lift

Relation Between Angle of Attack and Lift

The lift coefficient of a fixed-wing aircraft varies uniquely with angle of attack. Increasing angle of attack is associated with increasing lift coefficient up to the maximum lift coefficient, after which lift coefficient decreases.

As the angle of attack of a fixed-wing aircraft increases, separation of the airflow from the upper surface of the wing becomes more pronounced, leading to a reduction in the rate of increase of the lift coefficient. The figure shows a typical curve for a cambered straight wing. A symmetrical wing has zero lift at 0 degrees angle of attack. The lift curve is also influenced by wing planform. A swept wing has a lower flatter curve with a higher critical angle.

Read more about this topic:  Angle Of Attack

Famous quotes containing the words relation between, relation, angle, attack and/or lift:

    You know there are no secrets in America. It’s quite different in England, where people think of a secret as a shared relation between two people.
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)

    Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of generations, peoples, of entire planets, has no importance in relation to the general development.
    Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)

    From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment.
    Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)

    And whether it is Thursday, or the day is stormy,
    With thunder and rain, or the birds attack each other,
    We have rolled into another dream.
    John Ashbery (b. 1927)

    Oh, lift me from the grass!
    I die! I faint! I fail!
    Let thy love in kisses rain
    On my lips and eyelids pale.
    Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)