Forces That Impact An Airplane In Flight

One of my favorite things to do is fly on airplanes. My mother on the other hand, not so much. When you travel in an airplane, you will experience forces that effect the aircraft from take off to landing. It is truly an amazing event when you feel the airplane’s nose lift up in the air and the wheels leave the runway.

There are four forces that are involved with flight. And no, they do not involve Jedi or Sith Lords… They are Lift, Gravity, Drag, and Thrust.

Lift - The upward acting force

Gravity - The downward acting force

Thrust - The forward acting force

Drag - the backward acting force (also called wind resistance.

Lift opposes Gravity and Thrust opposes Drag