What is Flight: Definition and 363 Discussions

Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift associated with gliding or propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement.
Many things can fly, from animal aviators such as birds, bats and insects, to natural gliders/parachuters such as patagial animals, anemochorous seeds and ballistospores, to human inventions like aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, airships, balloons, etc.) and rockets which may propel spacecraft and spaceplanes.
The engineering aspects of flight are the purview of aerospace engineering which is subdivided into aeronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through the atmosphere, and astronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through space, and ballistics, the study of the flight of projectiles.

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  1. K

    Orbital period and speed of a space shuttle in flight

    Homework Statement The space shuttle is in a 290-mile-high orbit. What is the shuttles orbital speed? Homework Equations v=√GM/R+h The Attempt at a Solution Period: Me= 5.98x10^24kg Re= 6.38x10^6m H= 290miles * 1609m = 466610m v= √(6.67x10^-11 N)(5.98x10^24 kg)/ (6.38x10^6...
  2. X

    Calculating Trajectory & Time of Flight

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  3. P

    Practical Report For Investigation to flight (wind tunnel)?

    So we need to make a practical report and I'm not sure how to do it. I've learned the basics like lift equals weight and thrust equals drag.. and then the teacher made a model wind tunnel in class, we then got air speed(km/h) and its mass(g) etc. for it then we had to convert them to life and...
  4. S

    Cruise is the level portion of aircraft travel where flight

    Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_(flight ) then totally opposite statement What essentially is cruise speed
  5. rhody

    9/11 Flight 93 National Memorial

    With 9/11 fast approaching I became aware from a radio talk show that Nationally syndicated Mike Smerconish is raising money, 100% of which will go to building a Memorial in Shanksville, PA in memory of those who gave their lives trying to prevent the hijackers from reaching Washington, DC. I...
  6. D

    Medical Can a flight cause an ear infection?

    I understand how a pressure differential caused by an altitude change can cause temporary pain, but can it actually cause a lasting infection? There are two suspected cases in my entourage.
  7. B

    Altitude, gravity, and air density effects on flight

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  8. M

    Flight of rocks thrown through the air

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  9. D

    Vector calculus and flight path

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  10. S

    Creating Weightlessness in an Airplane: Calculating Flight Path Radius

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  11. K

    Why Does Low Level, High Speed Flight Decrease Aircraft Efficiency?

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  12. R

    Calculating WWI aircraft flight performance

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  13. T

    Research Proposal: Sub-Orbital Flight Path

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  14. S

    Exploring Granular Flow and Flight Control: Advice Wanted!

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  15. R

    What is the maximum glide distance for an airplane with an engine failure?

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  16. Nabeshin

    Theoretical problems with relativistic space flight

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  17. I

    How does top-spin effect a tennis ball's flight?

    As a tennis player, I'm interested in the effects of top spin in tennis. I've done some research, but find myself somewhat confused about the concepts. (my questions assume the ball has top-spin) Magnus force & separation wake: in what direction do they act? do they act straight...
  18. L

    Projectile Motion- Horizontal Range and Time of Flight

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  19. M

    Baseball Flight: Solving for Speed & Time

    Homework Statement A baseball was thrown at an angle of 45degrees above the horizonal, it traveled a horizontal distance of 296ft. and it was caught at the same level from which it was thrown. Neglect air resistance. A.) What was the ball's initial speed? B.) how long was the ball in the...
  20. C

    ECEF acceleration in straight and level flight

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  21. S

    Cannon & Cliff: Minimum Muzzle Velocity & Horizontal Flight

    a cannon located 60m from the base of a vertical 25m tall cliff, shoots a 15kg shall at 43 degrees above the horizontal toward the cliff (a) what must the minimum muzzle velocity be for the shell to clear the top of the cliff? (b) the ground at the top of the cliff is level, with a constant...
  22. W

    Calculating the Distance Traveled by a Falling Object on an Airplane

    Was given this problem as a homework assignment but I would like to solve it...just need a push in the right direction. An airliner is cruising at a ground speed of 450 knots. A flight attendant, serving drinks, accidentally knocks a bottle off her cart. The distance from the top of the...
  23. F

    Russia Launches First Flight of T-50 Stealth Fighter

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  24. F

    Amazing BO-105 Aerobatic Flight Display

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  25. A

    Learn About Airplane Flight: Get Answers Here!

    hi I wonder if anyone can help me to tell any sort of website about how a plane flies? thanks
  26. L

    Calculating a Prince's Message: Flight Time, Moat Width and Impact Velocity

    Homework Statement A prince trapped in a castle wraps a message around a rock and throws it from the top wall with an initial velocity of 12 m/s [42 deg above the horizontal] the rock lands just on the far side of the castles moat at a level 9.5m below the initial level. determine the rocks...
  27. D

    Uncovering the Mystery of Bullet Flight: Investigating the Helix Theory

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  28. 3

    Factoring drag into artillery flight, differential equation

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  29. U

    Bullets in Flight: Understanding Rifling & Velocity Loss

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  30. G

    Computing Flight Forces. Im getting so upset

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  31. S

    Calculating Time of Flight for a Golf Ball

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  32. E

    Solving for the Direction of an Airplane in a Windy Flight

    Homework Statement An airplane, whose air speed is 580 km/h, is supposed to fly in a straight path 38 degrees N of E. But a steady 72 km/h wind is blowing from the North. In what direction should the plane head? Relevant Equations Pythagorean theorem Law of sines Attempt at a...
  33. N

    Time Of Flight (TOF) calculator

    Hello guys, I have a large amount of data... and I was wondering if there is a Time Of Flight (TOF) calculator out there for particle physics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-of-flight
  34. G

    Finding block flight distance (work/energy/projectile motion)

    Homework Statement The spring in the figure has a spring constant of 1100 N/m. It is compressed 14.0 cm, then launches a 200 g block. The horizontal surface is frictionless, but the block's coefficient of kinetic friction on the incline is 0.210. What distance d does the block sail...
  35. F

    Work done climbing a flight of stairs.

    A 58 kg firefighter climbs a flight of stairs 5.3 m high. How much work is required? I know work is just force times distance, but I'm not given a force? And I can't really find a force because force is mass times acceleration and I'm not given an acceleration...help!
  36. Y

    Model Rocket Flight: Graphing Acceleration, Velocity, and Height

    A model rocket is launched with an upward acceleration, after t seconds it runs out of fuel at x height. Sketch the a vs. t, v vs. t, and position vs. t graphs for the rocket from the time of launch until the moment it reaches max height. -I know that after the rocket runs out of fuel it will...
  37. W

    Golf Ball Flight: Solving for Initial Speed & Max Height

    Homework Statement A golf ball with an initial angle of 33◦ lands ex- actly 184 m down the range on a level course. The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s2 . a) Neglecting air friction, what initial speed would achieve this result? Answer in units of m/s. 009 (part 2 of 2) 10.0 points...
  38. E

    How does mass affect the launch of a catapult and the projectile flight?

    How does mass affect the launch of a catapult and the projectile flight?? Homework Statement How does the mass of the projectile affect the projectile as it is being lauched and after it is launched? Could your catapult launch a tennis ball and a boulder equally well? Once in flight...
  39. K

    Modeling the flight of a frisbee

    Hello all, Sorry for the long post. Skip to the line for the relevant part. As a longtime ultimate frisbee player, and also a computer programmer, I'm trying to write a program to simulate the flight of a frisbee for any given real-world conditions. I've read through the 5 or so papers I...
  40. M

    Creating a Computer Flight Model: Best Starting Place for Aerodynamic Theory

    Lately I've been playing around with the idea of creating a very simple flight simulator as a hobby, just to learn the mathematics behind subsonic (think cessna) aerodynamics. I'm a computer engineer by training, so I am not afraid of mathematics but my current exposure to the dynamics portions...
  41. A

    Preventing Shockwaves from Supersonic Flight

    Oki well ill start with a little background so you know just about me :) I am studying aero engineering in Sydney Uni and second year student so i haven't really hit all the Flight Mechanics and aerodynamics yet that comes next year but i was talking in a laboratory with a 4th year student (we...
  42. E

    How can I calculate torque and RPM for a P-51 Mustang in a Blender3d simulation?

    Hello people. I've been making a sim of a P-51 Mustang in Blender3d and am working on the physics. I've got the Drag, Lift and Thrust with help from here. I need help now with: Flight Dynamics (Roll, Yaw and Pitch physics) I need to know the amount of force regarding torque on the aircraft...
  43. Loren Booda

    Who Has the Advantage: Fugitive or Pursuer in Flight Tracking?

    On average, who has the advantage - a fugitive or his pursuer?
  44. M

    Calculating Load on Pilot in Horizontal Curve Flight

    Homework Statement An airplane flies through a horizontal curve at a speed of 250km/h (69.44m/s). Radius=0.7km or 700m Find the load of the pilot on the seat if her mass is 67kg. Homework Equations centripetal acceleration=v^2/r and then the solution times the mass of the pilot, but...
  45. M

    So back to the question, what was the debris from?

    Whaaaaaat?? So what was the debris from? http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/04/plane.crash/index.html I think conspiracy theorists will have a ball with this one.
  46. H

    Derive flight path angle from orbital elements

    Hello everyone, During the last few days I've been working to solve a "small" problem I hope someone here might be better at than I am. I'm writing a function that returns the state vectors of an orbiting body of neglible mass based on the orbital elements semimajor axis, semiminor axis...
  47. O

    Building a Paper Airplane for a 9ft Drop and 8m Flight

    This is not homework, I'm just curious. Perhaps it belongs in the Engineering Forum, but the last one of these I posted there just got left in the dust. I have a rather specific question to ask those of you who are familiar with paper airplane building/structure/dynamics. How would I go about...
  48. V

    What do these terms mean in aircraft modelling?

    Hello all. I'm modelling several new aircraft as mods for a flight sim. These mods are all WW2 birds like the Kittyhawk and Ta152. The generic computer models have a series of terms I am unsure about. So far I've been using existing aircraft modelling as a guideline but as we are expanding...
  49. M

    Calculate the time of flight of the bolt from ceiling to floor

    Motion question - please help Homework Statement A lift ascends with an upward acceleration of 1.5ms^(-2). At the instant its upward speed is 2.0ms^(-1), a loose bolt drops from the ceiling of the lift 3.0m from the floor. Calculate: (a) the time of flight of the bolt from ceiling to floor...
  50. V

    Exploring Flight Dynamics: Physics & Math for a Flight Simulator

    Hello ! I'm a Computer Science student and I'm working on a flight simulator. I know that there's a Computer Science section but my question is more about flight formulas. I have good bases in mathematics but in physics, it's completely different. I would like to know what formulas affect...
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