Aviation Navigation
Common Aviation Calculation Mistakes
Unit mix-ups, true versus magnetic, wind from versus to, and airspeed used as ground speed: the common errors, with the size of each shown.
Aviation Guides
Plain-language explanations of the ideas behind the calculators: what each quantity means, where its formula comes from, a worked example with real numbers, and where the simple model stops being enough.
Aerodynamics
Load Factor and Aircraft Maneuvers
Load factor is lift divided by weight. In a level turn it equals 1 รท cos(bank), and stall speed rises with its square root.
Aerodynamics
Understanding Aircraft Turn Radius
Turn radius depends only on true airspeed and bank angle. See why doubling the speed quadruples the radius and what steeper bank costs.
Aircraft Performance Concepts
Thrust-to-Weight Ratio in Aviation
Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless comparison of two forces, and it changes throughout a flight as thrust varies and fuel burns off.
Aerodynamics
Wing Loading Explained
Wing loading is aircraft weight divided by wing area. Learn how that one ratio shapes stall speed, turning ability and the ride in rough air.
Aerodynamics
Understanding Aerodynamic Drag
Parasite drag rises with the square of speed and induced drag falls with it. See how the two add up to a total drag curve with a minimum.
Aerodynamics
Basic Principles of Aircraft Lift
How a wing produces lift by turning the air and creating a pressure difference, and what each term in the lift equation does to the result.
Aircraft Performance Concepts
Climb Gradient vs Climb Rate
Climb rate is height per minute; climb gradient is height per distance over the ground. Ground speed links them, so wind changes one and not the other.
Aircraft Performance Concepts
Understanding Rate of Climb
Rate of climb is height gained per minute, and it comes from excess power. See the formula, what reduces it, and why steady wind does not change it.
Aircraft Performance Concepts
How Aircraft Range Is Estimated
Range is ground speed multiplied by endurance. See how wind changes the distance but not the time, and what a simple range estimate leaves out.
Aviation Fuel Mathematics
Fuel Endurance Mathematics Explained
Endurance is usable fuel divided by fuel flow. See the steps, how sensitive the answer is to fuel flow, and why wind changes range but not endurance.
Aviation Fuel Mathematics
Understanding Aircraft Fuel Consumption
How fuel flow is worked out from fuel used and time, why fuel per mile depends on wind, and why volume and mass of fuel are not interchangeable.