Principles of Flight

By Phillip Duke

The hows and whys of  lighter and heavier than air flight are explained in theory, and described. in practice. Theoretical subjects include the Laws of Motion and Archimedes's and Bernoulli's Principles, as they apply to atmospheric flight.

Aircraft described and discussed include everything from the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, and the Concorde,  to sporty ultralights including the man-powered Gossamer Albatross. Principles of space flight are discussed, including possible application of Relativity time contraction to deep space interstellar travel.

The text is non-technical, with numerous examples of practical applications. The 24 illustrations complement the text, and increase interest.. It is expected that flyers and non-flyers of all ages will find this book interesting, informative, and helpful.

This book is dedicated to all those fliers who making the supreme sacrifice bought the farm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phillip Duke Ph.D.
• Release date: Apr 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781498985277

Phillip Duke

Phillip Duke B.S., Ph.D. is a graduate of UCLA with the B.S. in Chemistry, and of USC with the Ph,D. in Experimental Pathology/Biochemistry.  Now retired, he writes on various aspects of life. His most popular titles:are: Jack the Ripper vs. Sherlock Holmes HEROIN God's Own Medicine Folly of the Hydrogen Bomb Starship To New Earth Now Karma GOLDEN SHOWERS Stories by Phyllis All 26 published titles are described on Philduke.weebly.com.  Any of  Dr. Phil's ebooks will be gifted to you on  request, simply email [e-mail]. All readers are invited to contact Dr. Phil Duke by email. An ancient saying- "The mills of the Gods grind very slowly, but they grind very fine." Buena suerta, y vaya con Dios!  

Book preview

By

Phillip Duke Ph.D.

10,860 words and 792 Kilobytes

With 23 Illustrations.

With hyperlinked chapters.

Copyright © 2013 Phillip Duke Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Introduction

To understand the principles of flight, it is necessary as a minimum to understand something of two subjects, because all flight is based on them. They are the Laws of Motion, formulated by Galileo Galili and Sir Isaac Newton, and Newton’s discoveries and formulations about gravity that apply to events here on Earth. Newton and Galileo lived in the 17th century, but their work has retained its great importance into modern times. Chapters 1 and 2 describe and explain the Laws of Motion and gravity  (chapter 7 discusses motion, gravity, space and time in terms of Einstein’s Relativity Theory). The succeeding chapters describe and explain applications of chapters 1 and 2 to flight. Chapter 3’s subject is Lighter than Air Flight, Chapter 4 Heavier than Air Flight, Chapter 5 Propulsion Systems, Chapter 6 Ultralights, and Chapter 7 Space Flight.

This book’s content is a general exposition of its subject, Principles of Flight. The emphasis is on principle, not practice. This book will not tell you how to construct or fly an airship or airplane, but it will tell you how and why both fly. Mathematics is at a minimum only simple algebra is used. There are numerous helpful and interesting illustrations and practical descriptions. Key words in italics are described in the back, along with the Table of Contents.

The subject of flight has become so large and complex, that no single book can hope to cover all aspects of it in detail. Those persons seeking specific information in great detail, will find it elsewhere.

It is hoped that non-flyers and flyers, of all ages, will find the material in these pages interesting to read, informative, and helpful. I always like to hear from my readers, and you are invited to contact me by email at [e-mail].

The Front Materials including the Table Of Contents have been relocated to the rear, to facilitate ebook sampling. The Introduction and Chapters are hyperlinked to the Table Of Contents, for example click on a Chapter and the ebook will open at its beginning.

This ebook is dedicated to my flying friend Jack Fluhr, and to all those flyers who making the ultimate sacrifice bought the farm.

Chapter1

The Laws of Motion

Flight requires the controlled application of force.

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists who ever lived. His most important discoveries relate to the motions of objects. He refined the important pioneering work of Galileo Galili on moving bodies, and published the three Laws of Motion, followed by his Law of Universal Gravitation. The Laws of Motion relate to all bodies, and although Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation relates primarily to heavenly bodies, due to gravity’s great importance regarding flight, chapter 2.discusses it.

The Three Laws of Motion

Each Law of Motion is stated, and then explained.

Law 1: An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion, unless a Force acts upon it. This law like the others was derived by observation, and proven by experiment, that is by testing, but it is easy to understand. Why should an inanimate object be able to move on its own, without a force being applied to it? There is no reason for this to occur, and