What keeps a plane aloft?

[offgriddle]

boeing effect, with this one you can make an iron fly and fully approved by FAA

Egads ...

Boeing 737 Max Major Design Flaws, Not a Software Failure

The 737 Max crashes stem from severe design issues and flagrant cost-cutting efforts, not software issues.

moneymaven.io

 

[offgriddle]

So, back to the question... what keeps a plane aloft? In my experience it must be turbulence. It's always there when I'm flying so I suppose it's a necessary component.

Wings are useless in space, so I gather. The Oith's atmosphere has weight and mass, so when objects move through this medium, there is resistance. The resistance cannot be totally overcome of course but resistance can be used to do work like creating lift. When sticking your arm out of the window of a speeding car, you can change the shape of your to create lift.

 

[JeepHammer]

So, back to the question... what keeps a plane aloft? In my experience it must be turbulence. It's always there when I'm flying so I suppose it's a necessary component.

I thought it was my pocket knife and nail clippers at the TSA check point...
Being a farm kid and Marine, I feel naked without something to clean my fingernails/open letters with, so I've donated about 40 pocket knives to TSA.

I think a guy could make a pretty good living buying up the 'Donated' clippers & pen knives sold at auction and reselling them to people landing at the airport!

I snack on planes,
Why my chocolate chip cookies and jerky got confiscated probably has something to do with the 350 pound TSA 'Agents' rather than passenger security.

 

[offgriddle]

I thought it was my pocket knife and nail clippers at the TSA check point...
Being a farm kid and Marine, I feel naked without something to clean my fingernails/open letters with, so I've donated about 40 pocket knives to TSA.

I think a guy could make a pretty good living buying up the 'Donated' clippers & pen knives sold at auction and reselling them to people landing at the airport!

I snack on planes,
Why my chocolate chip cookies and jerky got confiscated probably has something to do with the 350 pound TSA 'Agents' rather than passenger security.

I miss the peanuts.
TSA:
During the Donald's government shut down-standoff last winter, I flew to Charlotte and other places. I thanked the TSA agents for working without a paycheck.
One time whilst passing through a TSA check, a young, *black, female TSA agent came out of nowhere and jumped directly in front of me staring me right in the eyes. She was so beautiful I guess I couldn't hide it, maybe it was my desperate look of, "frisk me, oh please dear God frisk me", but sadly she jumped out of my way just as quickly.
Recently I had to get me some extra special super secret squirrel TSA clearance so I went to their small, local office. The man and woman that worked there were quirky, kinda odd, nice but in a red flag sort of way and they absolutely detested one another. It was entertaining.
I love my TSA people and they are essential in keeping us all safe in a human culture of eternally heck bound violent pshcopaths. With that being said, I think they need way more vacation time and a weekly session with Bob Newhart.
*Note: Predjudicial Disclaimer: I come from a galaxy far away when it was okay to peacefully acknowledge our color and ethnic diversity without being persecuted by easily offended libtardia. They even used to do it on TV, constantly in fact.
Oohrah.

 

[Supervstech]

I don’t understand why there is controversy about lift...

fluids having objects move through them, tilt of the surface, puts pressure below, causing a force that both pulls up, and pushes up from below... thrust keeps the object moving, seems logical to my caveman brain...

 

[JeepHammer]

My niece went through collage for Homeland Security and had to work without a paycheck.
She's currently guarding nuclear waste at a power plant.

You got an unusual TSA 'Agent', I always seem to get the ones that are 350 pounds (male & female), and since I set the metal detector off every time (artificial knees, hip, metal in my back & neck) always wind up in my underwear on the (Alice's Restaurant) 'Group W' bench while they decide what to do with me...
You would *Think* the letter from the VA, my VA card, my TWIC biometric card, and the surgical SCARS, in my underwear would be enough... But I always have to wait for some 'Supervisor' to get off their fat butt and waddle down to clear me...

The TWIC card alone gets me into customs secured facilities, military bases, etc.
But then again, customs agents and military know what they are doing...
I missed my flight and got thrown out of an airport because I couldn't understand the 'Agent', the 'Urban Accent' was too thick for me to understand and when I asked for the third time what she said she had me escorted out of the airport...
By two guys I could understand.
Why couldn't one of them translate 'Urban' to English?
She lost her temper and it took me two extra days to get home... (MY TIME out the window)
The petty tyrant comes out in people when you give them a little power...

Anyway, I learned to fly a long time ago, but it's planes that you can smell the glue drying and have to wind up the rubber band...
(Plastic skin always smells like glue drying in the summer)
With engines as small as 40 HP, I'd have to say lift comes from Bernoulli's Principal since top air speed isn't as fast as interstate speed limits, and a stiff breeze over the wings will lift them.

I can't say about jets that take 75,000 pounds of fuel alone, or a jumbo that weighs a million pounds, never flew one... My single engine/prop IFR/VFR rating was as far as I got.
I know the three things that do you no good at all,
1. Altitude above you
2. Runway behind you
3. Fuel left in the tanker

And tend to believe it's true humans have a 100% track record in airplanes, we have never left one stuck in the air, 100% of planes have returned to earth, although I can't prove it to the conspiracy theory bunch...

I don't much worry about crazy, there is a lifetime supply right around here, I don't have to import any from the internet!
The 30 minute dissertation from a bystander on how a 2 cycle engine can't run while I was cutting up a tree with a 2 cycle chain saw that fell across our county road a few years back was enough crazy to last me quite a while...
I can't 'Fix' stupid or crazy, I stopped trying a long time ago...
You can't teach a pig to sing, wastes your time and annoys the pig.
You can lead a horse to water, but the horse will still shit on his heels...

 

[offgriddle]

I don’t understand why there is controversy about lift...

fluids having objects move through them, tilt of the surface, puts pressure below, causing a force that both pulls up, and pushes up from below... thrust keeps the object moving, seems logical to my caveman brain...

Mine too and being in a moving river or a moving car or flying a kite in a moving wind, the principal of force and lift and the effect on objects, (like our very own persons), is abundantly clear.

 

[offgriddle]

My niece went through collage for Homeland Security and had to work without a paycheck.
She's currently guarding nuclear waste at a power plant.

You got an unusual TSA 'Agent', I always seem to get the ones that are 350 pounds (male & female), and since I set the metal detector off every time (artificial knees, hip, metal in my back & neck) always wind up in my underwear on the (Alice's Restaurant) 'Group W' bench while they decide what to do with me...
You would *Think* the letter from the VA, my VA card, my TWIC biometric card, and the surgical SCARS, in my underwear would be enough... But I always have to wait for some 'Supervisor' to get off their fat butt and waddle down to clear me...

The TWIC card alone gets me into customs secured facilities, military bases, etc.
But then again, customs agents and military know what they are doing...
I missed my flight and got thrown out of an airport because I couldn't understand the 'Agent', the 'Urban Accent' was too thick for me to understand and when I asked for the third time what she said she had me escorted out of the airport...
By two guys I could understand.
Why couldn't one of them translate 'Urban' to English?
She lost her temper and it took me two extra days to get home... (MY TIME out the window)
The petty tyrant comes out in people when you give them a little power...

Anyway, I learned to fly a long time ago, but it's planes that you can smell the glue drying and have to wind up the rubber band...
(Plastic skin always smells like glue drying in the summer)
With engines as small as 40 HP, I'd have to say lift comes from Bernoulli's Principal since top air speed isn't as fast as interstate speed limits, and a stiff breeze over the wings will lift them.

I can't say about jets that take 75,000 pounds of fuel alone, or a jumbo that weighs a million pounds, never flew one... My single engine/prop IFR/VFR rating was as far as I got.
I know the three things that do you no good at all,
1. Altitude above you
2. Runway behind you
3. Fuel left in the tanker

And tend to believe it's true humans have a 100% track record in airplanes, we have never left one stuck in the air, 100% of planes have returned to earth, although I can't prove it to the conspiracy theory bunch...

I don't much worry about crazy, there is a lifetime supply right around here, I don't have to import any from the internet!
The 30 minute dissertation from a bystander on how a 2 cycle engine can't run while I was cutting up a tree with a 2 cycle chain saw that fell across our county road a few years back was enough crazy to last me quite a while...
I can't 'Fix' stupid or crazy, I stopped trying a long time ago...
You can't teach a pig to sing, wastes your time and annoys the pig.
You can lead a horse to water, but the horse will still shit on his heels...

I admire those who take to the air, sure I've taken over the controls of a couple of Cessna 172's while the real pilot worked the navigational charts, but I never caught the fly bug.
Guarding spent nuclear is not a riveting job description, I hope they get to target practice every day and pursue some kind of hobby and activity while watching the monitors and doing rounds.
Yes, wee minded power tripping chimpanzees can be found pretty much anyplace and I also noticed that the airports have a high concentration of them. Don't feel alone about not understanding the plethora of languages that are gathered under the one umbrella called American English. Was she speaking Jive or?

 

[davidkajohn]

Air pressure and attractive forces between molecules pull air along the surface of the wing, sometimes called the Coanda effect, and because of the angle of attack, that direction is downward. The curved shape of the wing helps the airflow hug the surface.

 

[svetz]

...fluids having objects move through them, tilt of the surface, puts pressure below, causing a force that both pulls up, and pushes up from below... thrust keeps the object moving...

You're such a Newtonianist!

When sailing downwind I'm a Newtonianist. But anything from a broad to close reach I become a Bernoullist. I'm pretty sure I'm always a Coandăist. I don't think I've been a Magnusist, but it's not for lack of trying.

Update: Oops, yeah, I'm a Magnusist too, forgot about my cars tires. Well, no air flow under them most of the time. Perhaps that doesn't count?

 

[Steve_S]

What keeps a Plane aloft ?
With regards to Airlines: Prayer, Hope & Luck
With regards to Aircraft Makers: As above + wishful thinking and crossed fingers (think Boeing).

 

[Batvette]

In one sentance:
Lift overcomes weight and thrust overcomes drag.
At least thats what they told us in Navy AFUN/P school.

 

[NwCali]

"Theory of Flight "

https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-04-203.pdf

That is the first chapter in the Governments "Fundamental of flight"...

If you remember, theories are things not proven yet...

So, unless your smarter than the Government and can prove it, no one really knows.

 

[Skid]

What keeps a Plane aloft ?

A Wing And A Prayer.

 

[svetz]

Not that I'm a Bernoulli-ist, but @MarkV did these really nice drawings, and the upper-right drawing shows the apparent wind moving parallel to the sail (e.g., boat's moving faster than the wind on a broad-reach). I've copied and modified it a bit:

​

As the forces on a sail are only from the apparent wind (and parallel in this case), and knowing a broad reach is typically a fast vector for a sailboat, the drawing is a really great example for Newtonians to ponder where the lift came from.