Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

Why is it called “angle of attack?”

Asked by: 8914 views , ,
General Aviation

I know what it MEANS...but can anyone hazard a guess as to why "angle of attack" is called "angle of attack?"

Could it be because one is "attacking" the wind at specific angle?

Just have always been curious...odd term.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Wesley Beard on Jan 06, 2011

    There are no books that I have read recently that explain why it is called “Angle of Attack”.  In my best educated guess, we know the airfoil pierces or penetrates the air and it separates around the air at the leading edge.  So the engineers decided to say it was attacking the wind.  Like I said, this is only my guess.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. MaggotCFII on Jan 08, 2011

    This is from Wikipedia for “Angle of Attack”:
    “Angle of attack (AOA, α, Greek letter alpha) is a term used in fluid dynamics to describe the angle between a reference line on a lifting body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the lifting body and the fluid through which it is moving. Angle of attack is the angle between the lifting body’s reference line and the oncoming flow. This article focuses on the most common application, the angle of attack of a wing or airfoil moving through air.”
    Looking around Fluid Dynamics, where term seems to have origination, found the “KUTTA Condition”.  A bit lengthy to copy to here, interesting read.  Again Wikipedia has an easy to read article.  And lots of links to further information.
    Learned some – good question!
     
     
     
     

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Curtis Ide on Jan 10, 2011

    I don’t have any concrete answers but found something interesting and then used my imagination a little. 
    Most works leading into the early discovery of aerodynamics involved the study of birds.  Sir George Cayley is considered one of the first scientist to recognize the idea of angle of attack by recognizing the angle of the wing opposed the “horizontal current of air.”  He also looked at the ability of the bird to change the position of their wings to increase the angle between the wind and their wings. 
    Using my imagination – I wonder if the name angle of attack has to do with the birds and the changing angles and speeds prior to an attack.
    Thats as much as I could find but seems liked enought to share.
    Nice topic!
    Curtis 

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. SkyBoy98046 on Jan 15, 2011

    A bird attacks the prey head-on. Like the first response (wesley’s), the leading edge of the wing is attacking the wind forward at relative level. As the angle changes against this attack, you become less head-on increasing to a stall. I think your answer lies in defining the words used to describe the idea.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.