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Angle of Attack

 

angle of attack

angle of attack

The angle of attack is the angle at which an airfoil passes through the air. This angle is measured between the chord of the airfoil and the relative wind direction.
The chord is an imaginary line from the leading edge to the trailing edge of an airfoil. Increasing the angle of attack deflects the airstream and causes an upward (or downward pressure, depend of position of the longer surface of an aerofoil) pressure on the underside or upper side of the airfoil. This in turn increases the speed of the airflow over the longer side of the airfoil. As air-flow-speed increases, pressure on the foil's top side is further reduced. The upward pressure on the foil's underside and pressure reduction on the top side combine to furnish lift or downforce.
Angle of incidence (fixed-wing aircraft or car) is the angle between the airfoil chord line and the longitudinal axis or other selected reference plane of the aircraft or car.
The angle of attack and angle of incidence are measured in angle degrees.

Lift and Drag Coefficient


The Coefficient of Lift and the Coefficient of Drag represent the changes in lift and drag as the angle of attack changes. CL and CD are not expressed by any physical unit, they are rather absolute numbers obtained from either wind tunnel tests or derived mathematically.
Initially both CL and CD increase as the angle of attack increases. At a certain point, the lift (or downforce) begins to drop while the drag increases sharply. This point is defined as the Critical Angle of Attack. If the angle of attack increases passed the Critical Angle of Attack, at one point all lift will be lost while the drag continues to increase. This event is called wing stall.


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Technical
- f1technical.net, a great site with a lot of technical information’s and explanations. Site is updated daily with news from F1 word.

Autosport
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Formula 1 Results
- Check the latest Formula 1 race results here. Follow Formula 1 live results, final race results, practice, warm-up and qualifying times on Flashscore!

Joe Saward blog
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Planet F1
 - planetf1, another site with many different articles, news and statistics. Biased toward British teams, but anyway good read.

Gurney flap
 - gurneyflap.com, Great history site. You can learn a lot from this site. Pictures, cars and many many more. Great.

4mula1
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4ormula1 is a database of Formula 1 history and statistics of drivers, teams, grand prix, and all results since 1950.

Missed Apex Podcast
Enjoy range of Podcasts and Articles on Motorsport. Every week a Formula one chat on Missed Apex F1 Podcast with F1 journalist Joe Saward and tech Analyst Matthew Somerfield as guests. Also the exciting all electric racing series formula E on eRadio Show and Bike Show Lean Angle Podcast.

Racecar engineering
-Racecar Engineering, an online magazine with a lot to learn from, a lot of technical information’s and explanations

FIA
 - fia.com, La Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, representing the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. Head organisation and ruler in auto sport.

Wikipedia
 - wikipedia.org, I don’t believe that I have to tell you anything about this site. It’s not about Formula 1 technology, but you can learn a lot about that too.

Sutton Images

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Vehicle freak
Another site for us normal people. Lots of tips, tricks and "What Happens if" related to the maintenance of all types of vehicles and its components. It's worth a visit.

Dare To Be Different
- Daretobedifferent.org Susie Wolff and UK governing body of UK motorsport have joined forces to launch Dare To Be Different, a high-profile new initiative which is about increasing female participation, not just on the track but in all aspects of the sport.

Giorgio Piola web site