Parasitic drag (also called parasite drag) is drag caused by moving a solid object through a fluid. Parasitic drag is made up of many components, the most prominent being form drag. Skin friction and interference drag are also major components of parasitic drag. Better version of Image:Drag Curve. ... An object falling through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...

In aviation, induced drag tends to be greater at lower speeds because a high angle of attack is required to maintain lift. However, as speed increases the induced drag becomes much less, but parasitic drag necessarily increases because the fluid is flowing faster. At even higher speeds in the transonic, wave drag enters the picture. Each of these forms of drag changes in proportion to the others based on speed. The combined overall drag curve therefore shows a minimum at some airspeed - an aircraft flying at this speed will be at or close to its optimal efficiency. Pilots will use this speed to maximize endurance (minimum fuel consumption), or maximise gliding range in the event of an engine failure. In aerodynamics, lift-induced drag, or more simply, induced drag, is a drag force arising from the generation of lift by wings or a lifting body during flight. ... In this diagram, the black arrow represents the direction of the wind. ... Transonic is an aeronautics term referring to a range of velocities just below and above the speed of sound. ... Wave drag is an aerodynamics term that refers to a sudden and very powerful form of drag that appears on aircraft flying at high-subsonic speeds. ... Glide ratio is an aviation term that refers to the distance an aircraft will move forward for any given amount of lost altitude (the cotangent of the downward angle). ...

Form drag

Form drag, profile drag, or pressure drag, arises because of the form of the object. The general size and shape of the body is the most important factor in form drag - bodies with a larger apparent cross-section will have a higher drag than thinner bodies. Sleek designs, or designs that are streamlined and change cross-sectional area gradually are also critical for achieving minimum form drag. In some cases, cooling systems can be a serious source of drag, and Evaporative cooling was developed to remedy that. Form drag follows the drag equation, meaning that it rises with the square of speed, and thus becomes more important for high speed aircraft. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... In fluid dynamics, a streamline is the path that an imaginary massless particle would make if it followed the flow of a fluid in which it was embedded. ... Evaporative cooling is a system in which latent heat of evaporation is used to carry heat away from an object to cool it. ... In physics, the drag equation gives the drag experienced by an object moving through a fluid. ...

Profile Drag (Pxp): depends on the longitudinal section of the body. A diligent choice of body profile is more than essential for low drag coefficient. Streamlines should be continuous and separation of the boundary layer with its attendant vortices should be avoided. The drag coefficient (Cd, Cx or Cw, depending on the country) is a dimensionless quantity that describes a characteristic amount of aerodynamic drag caused by fluid flow, used in the drag equation. ... Solid blue lines and broken grey lines represent the streamlines. ... Airflow separating from a wing which is at a high angle of attack All solid objects travelling through a fluid (or alternatively a stationary object exposed to a moving fluid) acquire a boundary layer of fluid around them where friction between the fluid molecules and the objects rough surface... Vortex created by the passage of an aircraft wing, revealed by coloured smoke A vortex (pl. ...

Interference drag

Interference drag arises from vortices. Whenever two surfaces meet at a sharp angle on an airplane, the airflow has a tendency to form a vortex. Accelerating the air into this vortex causes drag on the plane, and the resulting low pressure area behind the plane also contributes. Thus, the primary method of reducing interference drag is eliminating sharp angles by adding fairings which smooth out any sharp angles on the aircraft by forming fillets. Interference drag is also created by closly spaced parallel surfaces such as the wings of a biplane or triplane, or the facing surfaces of an external load (such as an external fuel tank or weapon) and the fuselage or wing. As with other components of parasitic drag, interference drag follows the drag equation and rises with the square of the velocity. Vortex created by the passage of an aircraft wing, revealed by coloured smoke A vortex (pl. ... The wing root of a simple aircraft, an American Aviation AA-1 Yankee, showing a wing root fairing A fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and to reduce drag. ... Example of non-filleted and filleted poles It is common to find a fillet where two parts are welded together In mechanical engineering, a fillet (pronounced “fill-it”) is a concave easing of an interior corner of a part used to reduce stress concentration. ... A Laughing Gull with its wings extended in a gull wing profile Aircraft wing planform shapes: a swept wing KC-10 Extender (top) refuels a trapezoid-wing F/A-22 Raptor A wing is a surface used to produce lift and therefore flight, for travel in the air or another... Hs123 biplane. ... A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three sets of wings, each roughly the same size and mounted one above the other. ... The fuselage can be short, and seemingly unaerodynamic, as in this Christen Eagle 2 The fuselage (from the French fuselé spindle-shaped) is an aircrafts main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ... In physics, the drag equation gives the drag experienced by an object moving through a fluid. ... The velocity of an object is its speed in a particular direction. ...

Skin friction

Skin friction arises from the friction of the fluid against the "skin" of the object that is moving through it. Skin friction is a function of the interaction between the fluid and the skin of the body, as well as the wetted surface, or the area of the surface of the body that would become wet if sprayed with water flowing in the wind. As with other components of parasitic drag, skin friction follows the drag equation and rises with the square of the velocity. Wetting of different fluids. ... In physics, the drag equation gives the drag experienced by an object moving through a fluid. ... The velocity of an object is its speed in a particular direction. ...