The Lift Equation | Aerodynamics in X-Plane 11 (1/4)

X-Plane 11 has an awesome UI which allows you make graphs in real time. Using the Zibo 737 in X-Plane, this allows for some really interesting demonstrations of flight dynamics. Here we take a look at one of the most important equations which describe how aircraft work.

Add-ons:
Enhanced Skyscapes
Q4XP
Inibuilds A300
Zibo 737
Orbx TrueEarth GB
Toliss A319
Sparky 744

My system specs:
RTX3070
32GB RAM
AMD Ryzen 9 3900
X-Plane 11.55 (Vulkan!)

[dean]

For someone who's now studying ATPL and about to do my CAA exams, It made me happy seeing this and see how aviation impacts people's lives in different ways! keep the good work and hope to see more!

[minater]

These are amazing! High-quality work, I actually felt like I understood the concepts you put out relatively well in less than 10 minutes. So glad I found this channel, thank you for all your awesome work here!

[triangleenjoyer]

This is the best explanation of this I've seen. I've studied this and struggled with how to put all the factors together in an intuitive way. I finally see it now!

[flyingfs]

Really awesome that you use Xplane to explain those things. Really interessting! :)

[olafzijnbuis]

Nice video!
I learned the lift equation for my PPL
In fact it is very related with the kinetic energy equation: E = 1/2 m. v2
What you do is convert the kinetic energy of the air passing over the wing in a force.
If you fill in all the SI units you end up with kg.m/s2 (Newton).
S is m2
Rho is kg/m3
V is m/s
Cl is a unitless factor

[simonniewind]

I think there is a small mistake at 6:04. The aoa relevant to the lift of an airplane is the one between the the flow of air and the chord line of the wing and not the angle between the airflow and the fuselage. Great work though, please keep on doing so.

[bsswandgaming]

I think another interesting thing to note (and maybe you cover it in later videos) is you can see when you have the lift vectors on (at least I assume that is what the green lines are) that the force distribution across the wing is some what **elliptic**, and this goes into why wings have twists, and sweep, etc to try to mimic the most efficient lift distribution. Great video!

edited: corrected parabolic to elliptic

[julians]

If i understand the question correctly, the "right" AOA is being held by the aircrafts design. The horizontal stabilizer counter acts any disturbances along the longitudinal axis and creates an equilibrium of forces. Given the pilot trimmed the aircraft for level flight and holds a constant airspeed, this will allow the wing to hold the correct Angle of Attack, needed to create the required amount of lift. This will only apply on aircraft with some sort of positive stability and these properties are being manipulated by stabilizer size, shape, positioning, incidence etc. This however comes to the prize of manouverbility. A Cessna for example is a perfect example for a stable aircraft whilst modern FBW assisted fighter jets are so unstable, they wouldnt even be controlable without computer assistance. I always found this concept of balancing out forces and finding compromises striking and very interesting, shows how much engineers got to weigh out facts to each other and compare in order to find the best compromise.
Happy Landings to you guys!

[isaiah]

i love planes and i was trying to figer this out thanks for teaching me and keep up the good work

[xforcepc]

Just found your channel. Subscribed. Thanks for your enthusiasm.

[thecometcuber]

Very informative thank you… earned my subscribe 🤩🤩

[fitme]

Awesome video bro! keep it going! greetings from germany

[chillegaming]

Hey mate ! How did you plot the graph on a separate window ?

[lucasd]

Really interesting video! How would you describe how MSFS2020 physics work then?

[davidrose]

I agree with other commentators that you are really good at explaining things. I thank you and also encourage you to keep going with this work.

You mentioned elsewhere that Xplane's virtual flight dynamics are superior to those of MSFS 2020. I was wondering if it might be possible to create a superior flight dynamic engine for MSFS 2020 as a plugin? I don't expect you to be as brainy at programming as you are at physics, but you never know ;-) Obviously it would be preferable for the creators to make it better over time.

I haven't even virtually flown yet. I bought Xplane 11, yoke, quadrants & rudder pedals only to discover that my 2012 iMac running Ubuntu can't power a flight sim. (I don't mind if you chuckle.) I have to wait a little longer to get a new machine so I have spent the last few months watching hundred of aviation and flight sim videos on YouTube. MSFS 2020 looks mightily impressive and fun, especially for a beginner.

Maybe the add-on jets that I need to buy (when I graduate to that level) will have better flight dynamics.

My point is that it would be nice not to have to have 2 flight simulators. I am starting to understand that I am getting into quite an expensive hobby ;-)

[treynolds]

You will not get realistic physics in a simulator. You don't get gforce and input is all based off what controls and sensitivity your using.

[TamilFlightSimmer]

Worth a watch doing good keep on going with lots of videos want to learn more. @FlyByMax