“lift” refers to the force that counteracts the weight of an aircraft and allows it to maintain level flight. Level flight occurs when an aircraft is flying horizontally at a constant altitude, neither climbing nor descending.
- (rho) represents the air density.
- represents the velocity of the aircraft relative to the air.
- represents the wing area.
- represents the coefficient of lift when the aircraft is at an angle of attack of zero (i.e., the angle between the oncoming air and the wing’s chord line is zero).