The Physics of Flight: A Primer

The Physics of Flight provides a comprehensive explanatory reference on the basic physics of flight with a clear presentation of the underlying mathematics. It presents a momentum-based explanation of lift making no use of Bernoulli’s theorem. Misconceptions are disproved, such as identifying centrifugal force experienced in an airplane undergoing maneuvers as a fictitious force, and not attributing weightlessness during airplane pitch over or experienced in an airplane performing a parabolic flight path to the effects of free fall. This book places particular emphasis on Newton’s second law of motion to explain the effects of forces acting on an airplane, the mechanism of lift, and the principles of propulsion. This book is intended for undergraduate aviation and aerospace students taking courses in Flight Dynamics, Introduction to Flight, and Physics of Flight.