| Pitch and Angle of Attack |
In simple terms: Pitch is the angle the wing appears to make with the ground and Angle of Attack (AoA) is the angle the wing makes to the airflow. The following diagrams illustrate pitch and AoA, and how deceptive the pitch of an aircraft can be to an observer on the ground. Same AoA, different Pitch: Click to view figure 1.
Same Pitch, different AoA:
![]() Figure 2
Figure 2 shows that as the pilot increases the thrust, the airspeed increases. This increase in airspeed means the wing can provide more lift for a lower AoA. The pilot therefore uses forward elevator control to reduce the angle of attack. (The pitch of the aircraft remains roughly the same.)PPG climb, cruise & glide descent: Click to view figure 3. <<<<Back |
|