The 4 Forces of Flight
By: James Fowler
Force 1:Thrust
Thrust is a Reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's Second and third laws. When a system expels acceleration mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system.
Force 2: Drag
Examples of drag include the component of the net aerodynamic or hydrodynamic force acting opposite to the direction of movement of the solid object relative to the Earth as for cars, aircraft.
Force 3: Lift
Lift is most commonly associated with the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft, although lift is also generated by propellers,kites,helicopters,rotors,rudders,sails and keels on sailboats,hydrofoils,wings on auto racing cars,wind turbines, and other streamlined objects.
Force 4: Weight
The weight of an object is usually taken to be the force due to gravity, The unit of measurement for weight is that of force. An object with a mass of one kilogram has a weight of about 9.8 newtons on the surface of the Earth, and about one-sixth as much on the moon. In this sense of weight, a body can be weightless only if it is far away.