Pilot's Life Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

The wings are designed with an airfoil shape, curved on the top and flatter on the bottom, creating a pressure difference when air flows over them. Each rotor blade acts as an airfoil, and as it rotates, it moves air over its surface, generating lift. This pressure difference produces lift, allowing the aircraft to ascend.

Torque 52

Torque Lift Airplanes Stability 52

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped. Ice build-up on the airframe changes the airflow pattern around these airfoils. It can also cause control surfaces like ailerons and flaps to function improperly, making the aircraft harder to maneuver. But how dangerous is it?

Pitot Tube 52

Pitot Tube Drag Lift Airfoil 52

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

They are designed with a special shape called an airfoil, which encourages passing air to turn and deflect downward. This is why the typical airfoil shape has a curved top and a flat bottom, especially in slower-speed general aviation aircraft. They work in opposite pairs: when one aileron goes up, the other goes down.

Lift 52

Lift Thrust Torque Aileron 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

The airfoil is a Harry Riblett shape, giving modernized flow separation on the leading edge for a soft stall yet with good lift and drag performance. The wing’s dead-smooth surface plus the tight-fitting aileron and flap brackets plus aileron gap seals give the build a professional factory look (left).

Airplanes 81

Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 81