FOUR FORCES OF DRONE FLIGHT
FLY HOPPER
Drone Flight
While the forces of flight are the same for all air vehicles, they act a bit differently on a drone than they do on a winged aircraft. Unlike most winged aircraft, drones move vertically up and down, side to side, forward and backwards, and can hover. Let’s look at how the forces of flight work to allow them to do this.
Vertical Up
Our drone creates lift with its propellers. It will take off or climb when all four propellers are given equal thrust, and that thrust is enough to overcome weight and drag.
Vertical Down
Drones descend when power is reduced to the propellers, producing less thrust, allowing weight and drag to overcome lift.
Hover
Drones have the ability to hover, which is defined as “to remain at the same place in the air".
Hovering is achieved when the Four Forces of Flight are all equal to one another.
Flight Maneuvers:
Roll - The movement an aircraft makes around the Longitudinal (x) Axis
Pitch - The movement an aircraft makes around the Lateral (y) Axis
Yaw - The movement an aircraft makes around the Vertical (z) Axis
Roll Right:
A drone rolls right by increasing the speed of the two motors on the left side, while slowing down the speed of the two motors on the right side. This creates thrust in the intended direction (right) while lift and weight remain equal.
Roll Left:
A drone rolls left by increasing the speed of the two motors on the right side, while slowing down the speed of the two motors on the left side. This creates thrust in the intended direction (left) while lift and weight remain equal.
Pitch Forward:
A drone pitches forward by increasing the speed of the two motors on the back while slowing down the speed of the two motors on the front. This creates thrust in the intended direction (forward) while lift and weight remain equal.
Pitch Backward:
A drone pitches backward by increasing the speed of the two motors on the front while slowing down the speed of the two motors on the back. This creates thrust in the intended direction (backward) while lift and weight remain equal.
Yaw Right:
A drone yaws right when the rotational speed of the front right motor and the back left motor are increased.
Yaw Left:
A drone yaws left when the rotational speed of the front left motor and the back right motor are increased.
Aerodynamics
The science of how objects move through air
Altitude
The height of an object in relation to sea level or ground level
Aviation
Flying within the Earth’s atmosphere
Drag
The force that acts against an object in motion
Flight
Flight is the process of moving through the earth’s atmosphere (or beyond) without touching earth’s surface.
Hover
To remain in one place in the air - all forces of flight must be equal
Lift
The force that causes an aircraft to rise while in flight; created when air passes over and under an airplane's wings
Pitch
The movement a drone makes along the lateral axis
Roll
The movement a drone makes along the longitudinal axis
Space Flight
Flying through the vacuum of space is called Space Flight.
Thrust
The force that allows an aircraft to move forward; allows an aircraft to overcome weight and produce lift; created by a motor turning a propeller
VLOS
VIsual Line of Sight - drone is visible to the pilot without any devices like binoculars
INTRODUCTION
SCIENCE OF FLIGHT
FOUR FORCES OF FLIGHT - A CLOSER LOOK
FOUR FORCES OF DRONE FLIGHT
SAFETY
FLIGHT CONTROLS - FTW FLY
FLIGHT CONTROLS - CONTROLLER
