Principles of Flight
Lift and the four forces
Understand the four forces and their balance in straight and level flight. Learn the production of lift: angle of attack, circulation, pressure distribution, and the effect of camber, area, speed and density. Know the lift formula and how lift varies with the square of speed. Understand induced drag, parasite drag, and the total drag curve, including the speed for minimum drag and the speed for maximum endurance and range.
Stability and control
Study static and dynamic stability in all three axes, the effect of CG position, and the role of the tailplane and fin. Learn the meaning of dihedral effect, sweep, and the conditions for spiral divergence, Dutch roll and phugoid. Understand the stall: the critical angle of attack, the effect of weight, load factor, and the difference between a stall and a spin. Know the meaning of the buffet margin and the stick shaker.
Performance in flight
Learn how load factor increases in turns, the relationship between bank angle and stall speed, and the effect of flaps and slats. Understand the meaning of V1, VR, V2, VNE, VNO and VFE and how they are protected.
Traps
Questions often test that a stall depends on angle of attack, not speed, and that weight increases stall speed by the square root of the load factor. Another trap is confusing the speed for minimum drag with the speed for minimum power.
Worked example
Aircraft stalls at 50 kt in 1 g. In a 60° bank, load factor is 2 g, so stall speed rises to 50 × √2 ≈ 71 kt. Rule of thumb: load factor = 1 / cos(bank), and stall speed scales with the square root of load factor.