Why doesn't a plane plummet out of the sky when it flies upside-down as the wing would be like a car spoiler?
Answers:
Most planes do plummet out of the sky when they fly upside down. That's why you don't see commercial jets flying upside down. You're absolutely correct in assuming that the airfoil of a wing would be like a car spoiler when inverted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/airfoil. has some good diagrams of the evolution of airfoils, and even mentions car spoilers. You'll find the article interesting.
Now back to your question. I live outside of a Marine Corps Air Station, and get to see jets practicing maneuvers all the time. Most of them don't fly upside down, so the question is, why can some of them maintain horizontal inverted flight, whereas most of them can't?
I know of three ways that lift can be maintained in an aircraft flying inverted:
1) Mass and construction. Some fighter jets (like the F-15 and F-16), have the power to mass ratio to maintain inverted or vertical speeds capable of flight. There is, of course, a time limit on these acrobatic maneuvers. The airfoils on fighter jets are more specialized for dog-fighting capabilities. Angles of attack and thrusters are primarily responsible for reducing downward thrust.
2) Angle. Some aircraft are actually not flying completely upside-down, they are slightly tilted "upwards" so as to create an airfoil with the inverted wing. These are normally smaller models.
3) Not relating to the airfoil, but another problem that aircraft encounter in inverted flight is fuel pressure. Many of the older or simpler models rely on gravity to aide in the pressure. Obviously flipping the carb upside down would cause a problem. Aircraft now can have internally-pressurized or inverted fuel systems. Pretty cool, huh?
Are you thinking about a career in aviation?
flaps
in principle the air speed difference between the top and the bottom of the wing provides lift a SPOILER is a plane wing in a continuous dive IN FACT the wing still provides lift when upside down ( not as efficient ) the difference between the two is ANGLE OF ATTACK or tilt ! contrary to the answers below you do not need power ( gliders ) or flaps ( balsa toy planes ) NOTE if you tilt your spoiler right then you can get the back end to lift off the ground ( at least on FWD ) see you on Americas funniest videos or Jackass
Momentum carries it forward at a rate greater than gravity pulls it down.
The thrust from the prop/jet helps maintain the forward movement. If a plane did this indefinitely it would fall.
Not all planes can fly upside down but wings are NOT like car spoilers because they have flaps that can move up and down to direct the wind. A spoiler doesn't have these.
Spoilers suck anyway.ESPECIALLY those big ugly ones!
thing is becuse of weight
is being attracted towards earth
its all to do with " the angle of attack" this is the angle to which the wings pass thru air and "churn" it up to make the wings generate lift.
Because its being used in a different way. If it flew levelly upside down, the bernoulli effect would make it crash. But they point the front end slightly skyward and use the wings not as wings but surfaces angled upward, being driven upward by the brute force of the wind from the front.
Think of your hand out a car window on the highway. It's not a wing, but you can feel the upward force if you angle it right.
actually, without making constant adjustments. it would "fall out of the sky". if you have a flight simulator, try flying upside down and make no adjustments. see what happens
No. does a plane when flying stright go up natrually? no. the rear flaps would keep the plane from plumeting when the pilot tried to dive[ in reverse] anyway
flaps have nothing to do with it. flaps simply control speed for landing and take off. momentum is the main reason a plane can fly upside down.
i get what U mean the wing creates lift, upside down it would create weight.
in this case, the flaps on the wings are used to counter act this force, as U could imagine the ability to climb while upside down is not as good as when they are the right way up, as the flaps have to counter act the weight of the craft, and the negative lift of the wings.
only small planes can fly upside down, if a large jumbo tries it the wings would rip off the plane as they would not be able to take the shearing forces involved, is any of those film U have seen with the jumbo's rolling over in the air U now know is complete nonsense
The above folks saying flaps mean "ailerons."
This is accomplished through specially designed wings, a modified angle of attack, and the use of ailerons. Not all planes are capable of flying upside down for extended periods.
Steve is the closest.
When I fly my aircraft upside down, I have to push forward to increase the angle of attack, which is the angle the wings are hitting the wind.
It is to create the same principal as flying straight and level.
The camber is high on top of the wing, that is the normal characteristic. This provides the lift up. When you fly upside down the same principal works. If I didn't compensate then the plane would go down towards the high camber of the wing.
To change that, I must push forward to increase the angle of attack.
This lets me fly upside down, indefinitely as I have inverted fuel and oil tanks. Well, at least until I run out of fuel.
kookoonuts is a little off, well a lot.
The answers post by the user, for information only, UKQnA.com does not guarantee the right.