Newton’s 1st Law of Motion (Inertia)

Posted By on Mar 30, 2016

In 1687 a very smart dude called Isaac Newton came up with 3 “Laws of Motion” that describe how things start moving, keep moving, and eventually stop. Since this is completely important to how an aircraft flies it makes sense for us to have a look at it. Don’t worry… this science won’t hurt a bit! Newton’s 1st Law The Law of Inertia 1. Without an external force, an object is either at rest or moves...

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The Science of Supersonic Freefall

Posted By on Oct 31, 2011

As a follow-up to our article on Joe Kittinger: Supersonic Parachutist, holder of the parachuting altitude record for over 50 years, we present this video explaining some of the problems encountered by people attempting to break this record.  Felix Baumgartner, who plans on making the attempt, is being assisted by Joe Kittinger (who also appears in this...

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Design Your Own Aircraft

Posted By on Aug 8, 2011

Aviation company GE Aviation has added a simple and yet fun “Design Your Own Plane” game to their website.  In this game you can experiment with different wing, engine and fuselage options to try to build an optimum airplane.  Then, when you think you’ve come up with the perfect plane, click a button and watch it fly.  Or not.  (My first one did...

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Air Pressure

Posted By on Apr 26, 2011

The atmosphere is what we call the whole bunch of air which surrounds the Earth. A basic problem with understanding aeroplanes and flying is understanding that air is real stuff! It is invisible, so it looks like a plane is flying though nothing. This is not true! Air is just as real as metal, wood and concrete! In aviation we rely on air being real to fly. The wings push the air downwards giving the LIFT that holds the plane up....

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Feel The Lift

Posted By on Apr 24, 2011

Warning This experiment involves sticking your hand out the window of a moving car. This may be ILLEGAL in some countries, and should only ever be done where safe and with the permission of the driver of the car. Experiment 1: Feel the Lift A very simple experiment next time you are in a car allows you to feel the power of lift, and understand hour the ANGLE that a wing meets the air determines the amount of LIFT, and DRAG, produced....

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