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3 Answers

Coefficient of lift

Asked by: 1881 views ,
Aerodynamics, General Aviation

Can anyone explain lift coefficient in a bit more of a practical sense with laymen terms versus needing to be a NASA level engineer to understand this, when it's probably ridiculously simple?

 

Thanks. 

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3 Answers



  1. KDS on Nov 01, 2019

    Somebody probably can, but I’m not that person. However, I’ll give you some good news. I had a couple thousand hours of PIC time before I took aeronautical engineering and I was reasonably safe and proficient as a pilot. Then I took the first semester of aeronautical engineering and it was far from easy, at least for me. So, the good news is you’ll survive quite well without an engineering level understanding of it.

    If I were going to try to take a stab at putting it in pilot terms, I’d say something like this:

    The denser the air is, the more lift you’re going to get.

    The bigger the wing is (S – surface area), the more lift you’re going to get. Twice as much surface area will get twice as much lift.

    The faster you go, the more lift you’re going to get. Go twice as fast and you will get four times as much lift.

    When all else fails, just buy this tee shirt:

    https://www.amazon.com/What-part-lift-understand-T-Shirt/dp/B07PF4XV3Y

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  2. KDS on Nov 02, 2019

    To quote one of the CFI’s who answers questions here, “Google is our friend”. So, turning to Google, I found a couple links that might each explain it in different words. Here they are:

    https://www.engineeringclicks.com/lift-equation/

    https://www.engineeringclicks.com/lift-equation/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_coefficient

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  3. Craig on Nov 02, 2019

    I usually try to keep it simple and explain that the wing’s coefficient of lift is basically a property of the wing’s design (i.e. shape, camber, etc.) and the wing’s angle of attack. For example, if one keeps all other factors the same in the lift equation, at the same AOA, elliptical & tapered wings will produce different amounts of lift, therefore, the wing’s design influences how much lift it will produce (compare the wings of gliders vs. military fighters).

    Looking at just a single wing design (i.e. only a tapered wing), the amount of lift that wing produces also varies with the wing’s angle of attack. A certain type of wing will produce a certain amount of lift at a certain angle of attack. If you change either the AOA or the wing design, the coefficient of lift of that wing could change.

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