Lesson 2.0 - Aerodynamics and Flight Controls

Lesson 2.0 – Aerodynamics & Flight Controls (lesson overview page)

In this section we move on from what airplanes are.  We now study how they stay in the air, and how you control them.

Everything that follows in your training — takeoffs, climbs, turns, stalls, landings, and cross-country flying — rests on the principles in these lessons.

Each one builds directly on the one before it. Take your time with the diagrams and make sure you can explain the ideas in your own words before moving on. These will be asked on your written exam, and likely your practical exam.  

Work through these sub-lessons in order.

In these sub-lessons you will learn:

Lesson 2.1

The Four Forces of Flight

• The four forces that act on every airplane in flight

Lesson 2.2

Airfoils, Lift & Angle of Attack

• How a wing (airfoil) creates lift and why angle of attack is the single most important concept in aerodynamics

Lesson 2.3

Stalls, Critical Angle of Attack & Spin Awareness

• What a stall really is (and what it is not)

Lesson 2.4

Primary Flight Controls & the Three Axes

• How the ailerons, elevator, and rudder work together around the three axes of the airplane

Lesson 2.5

Stability, Controllability & Adverse Yaw

• Stability, controllability, and the secondary effects that often surprise new pilots

Master these concepts now and the rest of your training will be safer, faster, less expensive, and much more fun.