FutureLearn

ABC of Flight Mechanics: How Do Planes Fly? (FutureLearn)

Offered by ISAE-SUPAERO,

Discover how airplanes work and explore simple flight mechanics: from take off and landing, to the physics of flight. How does do planes take off? How do they fly? How do pilots maintain control of them? And how high do planes fly? Get answer to all these questions and more with this course exploring the basics of flying and flight mechanics.

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You will learn how the laws of physics apply to airplanes and discover important concepts in flight including: lift, drag and propulsion, and longitudinal stability. You will also learn how to calculate a climb gradient or take-off distances.
You will leave the course with a better understanding of how planes work, and the basics of flights mechanics.

What topics will you cover?
The course goes through the following topics:

General description of an airplane
Atmosphere physics and Newton’s laws applied to the airplane
Lift, stall and ceiling
Drag and propulsion forces
Longitudinal stability
Take off and landing basics

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