Prof. Dr. Mustafa Cavcar, 2004.

1
Forces Acting on an Airplane in Flight

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Cavcar
Anadolu University, School of Civil Aviation
Eskisehir, Turkey



There are four forces acting on an airplane in flight. These are thrust, drag lift, and
weight.

a) Thrust is the force generated by the engine(s) directly, or through the
propeller.
b) Drag is the aerodynamic resistance force.
c) Lift is the aerodynamic force generated by the wings moving through the air,
which sustains the airplane in flight.
d) Weight is the force due to the mass of the airplane and gravitational
acceleration, which acts towards the center of earth.

All of these forces and the moments generated by the forces are in equilibrium
around the center of the gravity of the aircraft during an un-accelerated flight, thus

0 =

F
r
and 0 =

M
r


Newtons first law of motion states, if the net force acting on an object is zero,
then the object experiences no velocity change. Thus, velocity of the aircraft
does not change in any direction during an un-accelerated flight.