What determines the angle at which the airplane is lifted off the ground at take off?

Question

any pilots out there care to share?

I love watching airplanes take off, and have seen them do so at different angles. I know nothing about piloting, and I've been curious about what I was seeing.

Thank you.

Answer 1

elevator...the rear "wing". The farther back the yoke is pulled the greater the angle. Airspeed and critical angle of attack (stall angle) dictates for how long that angle can be maintained though.

Answer 2

The wind speed on takeoff determines how fast a plane can be lifted, but the general reason for the desired angle is obstructions and population.

If, at the end of the runway there are trees or powerlines or even a 'wind tunnel' effect, it makes sense to rise as quickly as possible to clear these obstacles.

On the other hand, if local noise ordinances dictate how long or how low an aircraft can fly over populated areas, it might be necessary to take off at a steep angle to comply with the law.

Finally, if there is other aircraft traffic, and a steep angle ascent is the only reasonable path through traffic, then a steep takeoff is the route to go.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Weight, center of gravity of the airplane. Each airplane has book that telling what the take off speed should be a different weights of the airplane. It's not an angle that they look for, it's more of a speed. Like a little cessna airplane can climb out at like 74knots, or something like that. Each airplane is tailored to how they fly, how much lift they produce, and how fast they need to go/lift produced to not stall the airplane. It's pretty much the same answer for landing as well. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Being a flight instructor i think i can handle this question fairly easily. An airplane can lift off at multiple different angels. A steeper angel is used lifting off at a lower airspeed so that the greatest altitude is achieved in the shortest distance across the ground this is called Vx or best angle of climb. Another is a less steep angle and lift off is at a higher airspeed this will give us the best rate of climb such as 600 feet per minute or more rate of climb. this is known as Vy.

Answer 5

It depends upon the thrust and take off speed for the aircraft in question. if the angle is too great for the given velocity, the wings will lose lift and go into a stall. On take-off that basically means a catastrophic crash. The faster the plane, the higher the angle it can attain for take-off. Most slower planes, like private Cessnas have relatively shallow take off angles due to slower speeds. Most commercial airliners have moderate take off angle, though it feels greater due tot he acceleration and our perspective as passengers. Some military aircraft have sick angle of attack and take off at very steep angles, especially on afterburner.

Answer 6

A headwind decreases your ground speed, so it will take you longer to get to your destination. A tailwind increases your ground speed, so it will take you less time to reach your destination.

On takeoff, a headwind will decrease the distance required to get off of the ground. That is why planes take off and land into the wind. Similarly, a tailwind will increase the distance traveled to take off.

If thrust is greater than the force of drag, the plane speeds up or accelerates. As you increase speed, the wing's angle of attack and shape cause more pressure under the wing and less pressure above the wing which increases lift. When enough air speed is attained, the nose of the plane is lifted, increasing the angle of attack and the plane eventually becomes airborne. The plane will stay in the air as long as there is sufficient pressure around the wing to maintain lift.

Answer 7

Planes that are lightly loaded (few passengers and cargo, not carrying a lot of fuel) can lift off the runway sooner and at higher angle of attack. Heavily loaded planes will need more runway to build up a higher speed for take off and will kinda creep into the sky at a lower angle of attack.

Answer 8

The weight of the Aircraft the density of the air ,the winds, and speed of the aircraft plus the built in stall speed of each type of A/C

Answer 9

being an expert i will tell u the angle is determined by the weight of the plane and the amount of thrust the engines give out

Answer 10

The flaps and the fact that the pilot doesn't want to stall.