The earth’s gravitational attraction creates a weight force that pulls the glide

Question

The earth’s gravitational attraction creates a weight force that pulls the glider towards the middle of the earth. For the glider to remain in level, it needs to produce an equal and opposite force to counterbalance the weight force which is provided by aerodynamic force produced when air flows across a glider’s wings.

The force produced by a glider’s wings is divided into two parts: lift and drag.

Lift is known as the aerodynamic force produced by the wings perpendicular to the oncoming airflow. It is beneficial

Drag is the aerodynamic force exerted on the wings parallel with the oncoming airflow. It is undesirable

There is a mechanism in which air flowing across the top surface is accelerated and its pressure decreases and Air flowing along the bottom surface is decelerated and its pressure increases. This difference in pressure between the top and bottom surfaces results in the force we call lift. “Lift” is the wing's equal and opposite reaction to the force it is exerting to deflect the air downwards.

Any object moving through the air has to push the air in front of it out of the way. This causes a build-up of pressure in front of the object. Similarly the object will leave a low pressure void in its wake. This difference in pressure between the front and back surfaces of the object results in the force we call form drag. Because the aircraft is moving forward, the circular motion of the air around the wing tips is shed downstream as tip vortices. Energy is required to produce these vortices. Hence their generation exerts a drag force on the glider's wings which is termed as induced drag.

As the wing pushes through the air, the air on top of the wing must move a little faster than the air on the bottom. This creates slightly lower pressure on the top, which allows the greater air pressure beneath the wing to push the plane up. A glider has conventional directional controls and the pilot has complete control over the glider. If the pilot wants to go faster, the nose of the glider is lowered and the glider increases its speed. If the pilot wants to go slower, the nose of the glider is raised and the glider decreases its speed.

Explanation / Answer

Explain basic flight principles of a glider. How is thrust produced? Explain total drag of
glider and where it comes from. What creates lift? How is gliding/soaring achieved? How is
glider control achieved? How is glider launched into air (make illustrations)

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