How Do Airplanes Fly?

Contrary to popular belief, airplanes do not fly because of Bernoulli's Principle. It's actually much simpler than that.
________________________________
VIDEO ANNOTATIONS

Humans Have Trouble With Time:
________________________________
HUGE THANK YOU TO THESE PATRONS:

** Randy Hukle **
________________________________
SCIENCE ASYLUM STUFF

Support us on Patreon:

Advanced Theoretical Physics (eBook):

Merchandise:

More videos at:

________________________________
EXTRA INFO LINKS

MinutePhysics on Airplanes:

SciShow on Winglets:

Airplanes:

Momentum:

Bernoulli:

Chemistry:

Earth:

Etymology of "Biscuit":
________________________________
LINKS TO COMMENTS

Roman Biscuits - portantwas:

Non-Physics Topics - Apurba Biswas:

Running YouTube Ads - Amit Patel:

Wikipedia - David Ndiulor:

Dora Reference - Ramiro Rivera:
________________________________
IMAGE CREDITS

Logo designed by: Ben Sharef

Stock Photos and Clipart
- or I made them myself...

Upside Down Plane:

Examples of Airfoils:

Screenshot from The Office:

[daffidavit]

The fixed wing on the plane tilted slightly up is called "angle of incidence" not the angle of attack. An angle of attack is the relationship of the oncoming air direction with respect to the flight path of the wing. They are usually parallel. But I still love your channel. I've learned more here than almost any other science channal.

[pilotandy_com]

2:23 No. The relationship between the wing and the fuselage is called angle of incidence. The relationship of the chord line of the airfoil to the relative wind is called angle of attack.

[apurbabiswas]

Once again, great video. The ninja attack was really unexpected. I nearly spilled my coffee.

[valiantmaroon]

First off, I love the energy you brought to the video! You also did a great job refuting some of the most common misconceptions of lift. I think my favorite part of the video was the vectors you used to help visualize how lift and drag are a reaction to the pressure force applied to the wing, very straightforward and easy to understand. The fact you managed to also touch on how attack angle, airfoil shape, and flow speed all help increase lift in such a short video is super impressive. Well done!

[gaurav]

What the crap they teach us in school... I am an engineer and seeing your videos I am contemplating burning my degree... As it is okay to be little crazy

[Slash]

Glad you covered this, I always thought that thing about the air molecules having to go faster over the top to meet up again at the back made no sense, it really is all about the Angle of Attack

[Rathtrainer]

Nick: "It's called Angle of Attack"
Me, an aviation enthusiast: *Dies a little inside*

[mga]

Thanks a lot for your video ! I am a pilot and believe me you explained far better than some of my instructors in time ... and yes most of people (even some pilots) still think that all is about suction via Bernouilli law ... Love your Chanel !
Keep posting new amazing videos ! Cheerio

[elzilchoco]

Oh my god thank you! I had always assumed that aeroplanes must fly because of the conservation of momentum thing (although I wouldn't know how to put it) but then lots and lots of people on youtube would say it was because of Bernoulli's principle (even scishow!). When I found out this was a misconception I was very annoyed that they had all confused me and I was right all along.
Thank you for spreading the knowledge! :)

[Bnder]

2:24 - I was a pilot. I don't longer fly but just to clarify (It's just a definition thing really). That angle, the angle between the wing and the longitudinal axis of the airplane is actually called "angle of incidence" (It is a fiexd angle). The angle of attack (AoA) is really the angle between the wing and the RELATIVE WIND, wich can be changed to increase or decrease the lift coefficient. So basicaly If you pull the stick back the entire airplane rotates and the AoA increases thus increasing the lift coefficient (and drag).

PD1: Its amazes me how pilots are taught the "Myth explanation" on why airplanes actualy fly, myself included. I don't know if its just in Chile or a global thing... maybe it doesnt really matter as long as we push the right buttons, but i dont know...

PD2: Like i said, I'm Chilean (main language = spanish), so don't crucify me if there's a misspelling or something like that :P. Peace!

[scottperry]

I've been watching your videos in random order as they appear in my recommended list. I see that you do not wear pants when you record. This explains so much! Thanks for taking the time to makes these videos. I have learned a lot.

[randall.chamberlain]

My favourite video of yours so far. Nicely done.

[BaldAndroid]

I've never believed that. I always explain it by pointing out what happens when you stick your hand out of a moving car; how it's pushed up or down depending on the angle, which seems to be your explanation.

[puletshehla]

You had me on that "let's break it down" bit.😂😂😂

[Oderis]

I spit my coffee out when the ninja attacked

[-bitnicolai]

That makes SOOO much more sense than Venuli's principle. From now on whenever people tell me this, I'm gonna debate it. How else would paper airplanes work?

[taloskriti]

At last a self-consistent explanation! Keep up the good work!

[the_reality_of_the_virtual]

Hey Nick can you please do a video on gyroscopic motion?why are spinning tops stable ?
I have tried but couldn't find a satisfactory explanation.

[xDRTeK]

Nick, your physics is strong! I'm deeply touched.

[majestickarthick]

3:27 assume that the density of air decreases(very low but still present in a small amount)will the force still be upwards? If no how can the force point downwards? What happens in this case?