Upside Down Plane - Can it Fly?

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In summary, airplanes can fly upside down for a limited period of time as long as the structural integrity allows for a roll-over and the carburetor can still feed the engine. This is because flight does not solely rely on Bernoulli's principle, but also on the redirection of airflow. Planes designed for extended inverted flight have differently shaped wings, and in the right hands, can perform amazing aerobatics. While Bernoulli's principle is a factor in lift, it is not the only factor and does not fully explain how lift is generated. Flying upside down does create more drag, but the lift is still produced by a combination of wing size, shape, speed, and angle of attack. Ultimately, Bernoulli's principle
  • #1
glueball8
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Just out of curiosity, can a plane fly upside down? (it can, right?) then how?
 
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  • #2
All can for a limited period (as long as the structural integrity allows a roll-over and the carb will still feed the engine). That is because flight does not rely upon Bornoulli's (sp?) formula to the extent that most people think. A large part of lift is simply airflow being directed downward. Even an upside-down wing will do that. Those designed for extended inverted flight have differently shaped wings.
 
  • #3
Danger said:
Those designed for extended inverted flight have differently shaped wings.
Or REALLY powerful engines, like the Pitt Special. Those rascals can do vertical prop-hangs..
 
  • #4
Oh, my... yes! My buddy was an aerobatics instructor, and had one of those. Sweet ride!
 
  • #5
Danger said:
Oh, my... yes! My buddy was an aerobatics instructor, and had one of those. Sweet ride!
A long time ago (probably 31 years or so, when my wife and I were first married) I took my wife to an air show. An aerobatics specialist (who moonlighted as a dentist, IIR) named Chuck Caruthers had navigated from the mid-west to Maine in his Pitt Special by following interstates, etc, and he put on a fantastic show. In the right hands, those little biplane monsters are freaking amazing.
 
  • #6
Yeah. Anyone who has trouble envisioning aerobatics should watch 'The Great Waldo Pepper'. There's a lot of crap involved, but the aerial sequences are stunning. Those old stagger-wings beat the hell out of Top Gun Tomcats any day for thrills.
 
  • #7
More to the point, airplanes designed to fly upside down have symmetrical cross section wings: they perform identically upside-down as right side up.
 
  • #8
russ_watters said:
More to the point, airplanes designed to fly upside down have symmetrical cross section wings: they perform identically upside-down as right side up.

So, it really isn't Bernoulli that keeps an airplane up.
 
  • #9
ruko said:
So, it really isn't Bernoulli that keeps an airplane up.
Angle of attack, power, etc...
 
  • #10
ruko said:
So, it really isn't Bernoulli that keeps an airplane up.
Bernoulli approximates how the air behaves in response to pressure differentials away from the interaction between wing and air that creates those pressure differentials. It doesn't explain how those pressure differentials are created, but it does correlate by how much the air will be accelerated by those pressure differentials once they are created, so in that sense, Bernoulli is a factor in how much acceleration of air occurs, which corresponds to how much lift (and drag) a wing produces.

As far as flying upside down goes, it just creates more drag to generate the same amount of lift if the wings use a cambered airfoil. The lift itself is the result of a wing with a certain size and shape, it's forward speed, and it's angle of attack, which diverts the relative flow to produce a component perpendicular to the direction of travel, which creates the pressure differentials and corresponding acceleration of air.
 
  • #11
ruko said:
So, it really isn't Bernoulli that keeps an airplane up.
No, it still is Bernoulli. It just has to be applied right. The "equal transit time" myth does not follow from Bernoulli's principle.
 

1. Can an upside down plane actually fly?

Yes, it is possible for an upside down plane to fly under certain conditions. However, it is not recommended or safe for pilots to intentionally fly a plane in this position.

2. How does an upside down plane stay in the air?

An upside down plane stays in the air due to the principles of aerodynamics. The shape and design of the wings create lift, which allows the plane to stay airborne.

3. Is it difficult to control an upside down plane?

Yes, it is extremely difficult and dangerous to control an upside down plane. The controls and instruments are designed for a plane to fly in an upright position, making it challenging for a pilot to maneuver an upside down plane.

4. Have there been any successful flights of upside down planes?

Yes, there have been instances where planes have accidentally ended up in an upside down position due to severe turbulence or pilot error. However, these situations are rare and not intentional flights.

5. What would happen if a pilot intentionally flew a plane upside down?

If a pilot intentionally flew a plane upside down, it could lead to loss of control and potentially result in a crash. The plane would also experience increased drag and reduced lift, making it difficult to maintain altitude and speed.

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