Four Principles of Flight and How They Apply to Drones
1. Lift
What it is: Lift is the force that helps an aircraft rise into the air. For birds, it's their flapping wings. For planes, it's their wings cutting through the air. For drones, it's their spinning propellers.
How drones use it: Drones create lift with their propellers. When the propellers spin, they push the air down, and because of Newton's third law (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), the drone is pushed up.
2. Weight (or Gravity)
What it is: This is the force pulling everything towards the center of the Earth. It's why things fall when you drop them!
How drones use it: Drones have to overcome their own weight to rise into the air. The faster the propellers spin, the more lift they generate. If the lift is greater than the drone's weight, the drone goes up. If the lift is less, it descends.
3. Thrust
What it is: Thrust is the force that propels an aircraft forward. For jet planes, engines create this thrust.
How drones use it: Drones don't move forward like planes with engines, but they use their propellers to create thrust in any direction. By spinning certain propellers faster than others, a drone can move forward, backward, left, or right. Think of it like paddling a boat; if you paddle more on one side, the boat turns.
4. Drag
What it is: Drag is the resistance that an object feels when moving through the air (or any fluid). It's like when you try to run in a swimming pool; the water slows you down.
How drones use it: Drones are designed to minimize drag. Their smooth and often rounded shapes help reduce air resistance. However, drones still have to fight against drag, especially when they move fast. Their onboard computer will adjust the propellers' speed to ensure they move smoothly despite this resistance.