Contents
What is nose attitude?
Pitch (nose-up) attitude. To make an aircraft climb, i.e. gain altitude, the pilot will raise the nose higher than it is in the cruise attitude. For many light aircraft, this will correspond to a sight picture where the aircraft nose appears to be on or just slightly above the horizon.
Why do planes have a sharp nose?
If an airplane flies faster than the speed of sound, it’s given a rounded nose. To minimize resistance associated with this shock, hypersonic-speed airplanes are given a pointed nose. The pointed nose allows for a weaker shock so that it doesn’t cause an excessive amount of resistance.
Which is the best attitude for a plane?
Generally, a slight nose-up attitude gives the best performance. This allows the fuselage to create some lift without producing too much drag, thus filling the drop in the spanwise lift distribution created by the interruption of the wing by the fuselage.
Why is the rudder ineffective on a plane?
Rudder effectiveness is decreased because some portion of the rudder is blanked out by the wake from the stabilizer/elevator/fuselage combo. This effect can be annoying or deadly, depending on the configuration of the aircraft. In some cases, the effect is strong enough to render the rudder ineffective at stopping a developed spin.
What happens to the zero lift angle of attack when flaps are deflected?
When flaps are deflected, the zero-lift angle of attack is reduced, so a smaller angle of attack will again be possible. The precise attitude is a side effect of speed, air density and flap settings, and is not deliberately controlled when flying a holding pattern.
Why does the B-52 fly with the nose down?
At max speed the B-52 flies with the nose markedly down, which can be seen when it flies in formation with faster aircraft. It must be noted that long-range aircraft normally set the wing’s angle of incidence close to their optimum cruise speed angle of attack, which is very low compared to their max lift angle of attack.