Ok, I have not researched this next question yet. How does dihedral work into flight and lift, etc. I understand that within reason the more dihedral the "stable" a plan is and wants to fly level, why?

Thanks

P.S. I have "mastered" the ability to fly inverted, just not mastered flying inverted or even close. I need a LOT more pratice to say that I can fly inverted well.

Jon

At a Zero AOA a truely symetrical airfoil creates Zero lift. Simple aerodynamic physics. A symetrical airfoil MUST have a Positive AOA (relative to gravity) to create lift. Will a plane with a symetrical airfoil climb without a positive AOA? Sure, if you have enough power/thrust. But the wing still won't be generating lift.

As for Hossfly's comments on "what a pilot can control". He can also, in some cases, control the airfoil shape to change the amount of lift/drag generated. This could be done with leading edge devices(slats,etc) or trailing edge devices (flaps).

Dihedral tends to stabilize the plane about its roll axis. A wing must be looked at in 2 pieces, right and left. Each side generates LIFT perpendicular to its surface at all times. When a plane turns/banks one wing lowers and the other rises. The upper wing generates less lift "UP" in defiance of gravity than the low wing. This state of imbalance is not tolerated by the wing and it corrects itself until the "up" forces are again equal. An over-simplification but I hope you get the idea.

What Bruce said. Someone will come back and give the Vectored Egregious Ritculated Bournulli Aggregate General Equation answer (VERBAGE), but Bruce's is simple and elegant.

I think Minn has a pretty good drawing of this. Maybe he or Ken can post it. Shows the different vectors involved, also explains (partly) how a plane turns and why you need a touch of elevator and rudder for proper coordinated turns.