Understanding flight

David F. Anderson, Scott Eberhardt. Includes Index. Annotation Get to the heart of how planes fly Never before has it been so easy to grasp how planes fly! Of keen importance to pilots, essential to engineers, and intriguing even to the earthbound, the principles of flight are often parroted but widely misunderstood. Now you can be among those who truly get it. The simplest way to master an understanding of the science of flight. This enlightening book helps you bypass common distortions, misconceptions, and half-truths and genuinely understand how aeronautics works. This book gives you brain- and gut-level understanding of what gets you up there and keeps you up there! *Explains flight in simple, intuitive terms *Spares you misinformation and confusion--this book gets it right and tells it right *100 high-impact illustrations show you lift, propulsion, and design at work *Provides practical insights pilots can use for improved performance and safety *Demonstrates the why's and how's of wing shape, plane construction, flight testing, and high-speed flight *Written by pilots (one a physicist and the other a professor of aeronautics) *Perfect for beginning pilots Discover how planes get--and stay--airborneNow you can truly master an understanding of the phenomenon of flight. This practical guide is the most intuitive introduction to basic flight mechanics available. Understanding Flight, Second Edition, explains the principles of aeronautics in terms, descriptions, and illustrations that make sense--without complicated mathematics. Updated to include helicopter flight fundamentals and aircraft structures, this aviation classic is required reading for new pilots, students, engineers, and anyone fascinated with flight.Understanding Flight, Second Edition, covers:Physics of flightWing design and configurationStability and controlPropulsionHigh-speed flightPerformance and safetyAerodynamic testingHelicopters and autogyrosAircraft structures and materials The simplest, most intuitive book on the toughest lessons of flight--addresses the science of flying in terms, explanations, and illustrations that make sense to those who most need to understand: those who fly. Debunks long-rooted misconceptions and offers a clear, minimal-math presentation that starts with how airplanes fly and goes on to clarify a diverse range of topics, such as design, propulsion, performance, high-speed flight, and flight testing. Not-to-be missed insights for pilots, instructors, flight students, aeronautical engineering students, and flight enthusiasts. A serious discussion of aeronautics requires a basic set of concepts and terminology.