ORIGINAL: Roy Dale
ORIGINAL: hugger-4641
However, if you could remove lift and gravity, drag would still slow the plane down by directly opposing its foward motion.
<div style=''margin: 0in 0in 0pt''><span style=''font-size: 9pt''>This reminds me of an aircraft that has circumnavigated the earth using drag exclusively as a means of horizontal acceleration. The faster it goes the less drag it generates until it reaches top speed, which can be as much as 250mph where drag is zero. This aircraft generates no aerodynamic lift and its weight is opposed by aerostatic lift. One of the last great accomplishments it aviation was the round the world flight of a balloon, the first aircraft to fly. </span></div><div style=''margin: 0in 0in 0pt''> </div><div style=''margin: 0in 0in 0pt''><span style=''font-size: 9pt''>Propeller driven airplane use propeller lift as a means of thrust so if you remove lift you will remove thrust so it will pretty much have the same flight dynamic as a balloon. </span></div>
Good example, but again I must point out that this "drag" that propels the balloon is caused by wind moving past the balloon at a speed faster than the balloon itself is moving. Thus the relationship is still the same, the "drag" on the balloon is still oposing the "relative" direction of the balloon and the air.