SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-four-forces-level-flight

In straight, level, unaccelerated flight, lift is equal to which force?

Weight, while thrust balances drag.

  1. Weight ✔
  2. Thrust
  3. Drag

Why: In steady level flight the up and down forces balance, so lift equals weight. Thrust and drag balance each other too. Change one and the airplane climbs, descends, speeds up or slows down.

Huh, didn't know that: In a climb, part of the thrust acts upward like lift, and part of the weight acts backward like drag.

The dad joke
Why is lift so fair? It always meets weight halfway.
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Sources

  1. FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C), Chapter 5 https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/faa-h-8083-25c.pdf

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