First Steps in Flight Physics

Name: First Steps in Flight Physics
Rating: 5.0 (1 reviews)

Aeronautical engineering, flight physics, aircraft in flight, aerodynamics.

Created byLuís Filipe de Almeida e Silva

Last updated 10/2025

English

What you'll learn

Learn some important fundamentals of aerodynamics, such as pressure exerted by a fluid and the source of aerodynamic forces on a solid body.
Revise Newton's laws of motion and how they are applicable to an airplane in flight.
Understand how the aerodynamic forces make an airplane to fly and how these forces induce the maneuvers in flight.
Learn some important non-dimensional variables in aeronautics, such as force coefficients and load factors.

Course content

8 sections • 36 lectures • 2h 13m total length

Welcome to this course!1:56
Explore the fundamentals of flight physics and how airworthiness requirements from government authorities shape commercial aircraft design, operation, and safety in takeoffs and landings.
A brief introduction about airworthiness requirements1:18

How a fluid exert pressure on a solid body3:37
In this video the definition of pressure exerted by a fluid is presented, including a microscopic interpretation.
For further information: Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, by John Anderson, 6th edition.
Aerodynamic resultant force4:43
In this video you will learn the source of the aerodynamic forces in a solid body.
For further information: Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, by John Anderson, 6th edition.
Further topics in aerodynamics2:01
Further information about aerodynamics are presented in this lecture.
For further information: Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, by John Anderson, 6th edition.

Vector definition and representation5:52
In this section the definition of vector is presented. You will learn how to represent a vector in space using its components in axes x, y and z.
Vector operations5:57
Vector sum, vector scaling, vector magnitude, dot product and cross product are presented in this video. The right-hand rule for cross product is also presented.
Newton's laws of motion6:55
In this video the three Newton's laws of motion are succinctly presented.
For further information: Physics Volume 1 by Halliday, Resnick and Krane.
Some considerations about Newton's laws - 1st part2:25
For a better comprehension, some considerations about Newton's laws are presented in this video.
For further information: Physics Volume 1 by Halliday, Resnick and Krane.
Some considerations about Newton's laws - 2nd part0:16
Moment of a force3:15
In this video you will learn the definition of moment of a force or torque.
For further information: Physics Volume 1 by Halliday, Resnick and Krane.

Lift and drag forces5:18
In this lecture you learn the definitions of an airfoil, lift force and drag force.
For further information:
Introduction to Flight, 7th Edition, John D. Anderson.
Airplane Aerodynamics and Performance, by Jan Roskam and Chuan-Tau Edward Lan, 1997.
Lift coefficient4:10
In this video you will learn the definition of dynamic pressure and lift coefficient.
For further information:
Introduction to Flight, 7th Edition, John D. Anderson.
Airplane Aerodynamics and Performance, by Jan Roskam and Chuan-Tau Edward Lan, 1997.
Airplane lift and drag coefficients2:38
The definition of lift and drag coefficients of an airplane are presented in this lecture.
CL vs alpha curve3:02
In this video you will learn the relation between the lift coefficient and the angle of attack.
Longitudinal and vertical aerodynamic components2:57
In this video you will learn that the aerodynamic resultant may be split into x and z axes of the airplane reference system.
Load factors5:19
In this video you will learn the definition of load factor and the formula of the vertical load factor for level flight conditions.
For further information: Structural Loads Analysis for Commercial Transport Aircraft: Theory and Practice, by Ted L. Lomax, AIAA Educational Series.
Further explanation about Nz4:44
Further explanation about the vertical load factor is provided in this video.
Nz in different scenarios4:29
In this video you will learn how to calculate Nz when the pitch angle is not null and when Fza is not the only force in z direction.
Load Factors in the Airworthiness Requirements2:38
Aerodynamic moment4:30
The definition of aerodynamic moment is presented in this video.
The usual approach of the four basic forces3:05
It is presented in this lecture the usual approach of the four forces: lift, weight, thrust and drag.
Mean aerodynamic chord
Longitudinal and vertical load factors

Stall6:03
In this lecture you will learn that the lift coefficient does not increase indefinitely with the angle of attack.
For further information:
Aerodynamics for Engineering Students, 7th Edition, by Steven H. Collicott, Daniel T. Valentine, E. L. Houghton, P. W. Carpenter.
Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, 6th Edition, by John Anderson
Airworthiness Requirements Related to Stall1:12
Movable surfaces3:06
How to change the lift coefficient by changing the airfoil geometry is explained in this lecture.
Horizontal tail2:53
In this lecture it is explained why the horizontal tail is necessary in an airplane.
Rudder and ailerons4:54
What the rudder and the ailerons are designed for is explained in this lecture.
Equivalent airspeed (EAS)3:41
The definition of equivalent airspeed is presented in this lecture.
Flap, slat and spoilers4:10
In this lecture you will learn about flap, slat and spoiler.
Equivalent airspeed and true airspeed

Requirements

You must know basic mathematics and be familiar with functions and graphs.

Description

The fundamentals of flight physics are presented in this course. You will:

Know the mechanism of the air pressure that enables an airplane to fly, including a microscopic point of view.
Identify the main aerodynamic forces to which an airplane is subjected during flight, and how to calculate them.
Notice how the proper definition of systems of axes is crucial for a good comprehension of the physics in flight.
Know the three basic maneuvers of an airplane, their names, and the devices that are used for their execution.
Learn some important non-dimensional quantities for an airplane's aerodynamic characteristics.
Apply Newton’s laws of motion to an airplane in flight.
Learn the mechanism of thrust production by the propeller and by the jet engine. You will also learn the two main variations of the jet engine: turboprop and turbofan.
Be introduced to the airworthiness requirements and learn where they are available.

If you are not an aeronautical engineer, but you intend to work in the aeronautical industry, this course is perfect to help you start your journey! If you intend to become an airplane pilot, this course will be highly beneficial to your future career. For aeronautical engineering students, this course may be helpful in developing study routines and providing further bibliography.

Who this course is for:

This course is indicated for engineers, engineering students, pilots and future pilots.

First Steps in Flight Physics

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 3min

Source of aerodynamic forces3 lectures • 10min

Systems of axes3 lectures • 14min

Fundamentals of vector algebra and newtonian mechanics6 lectures • 25min

Basic forces and moments on aircraft11 lectures • 43min

Mass and center of gravity3 lectures • 6min

Basic airplane aerodynamics7 lectures • 26min

Airplane thrust1 lecture • 6min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: