The angle of attack (“α”), often abbreviated as “AOA,” is a fundamental aerodynamic parameter that describes the orientation of an aircraft’s wing or airfoil relative to the oncoming airflow. It is defined as the angle between the chord line of the wing (an imaginary line connecting the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil) and the direction of the relative wind or airflow.
- 𝛼 is the angle of attack, which is the angle between the chord line of the wing and the oncoming airflow.
- CL is the lift coefficient, a dimensionless quantity representing the lift produced by the wing.
- “a” is the lif slope for finite wing
- 𝛼L=0 is the angle of attack at which the lift is zero (i.e., the wing is not producing any lift).