Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: fiddler@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Dogfighting
Message-ID: <7575@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 20 Jun 89 03:45:45 GMT
References: <7471@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: fiddler@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)

> [mod.note:  For those of us unfamiliar (me included)... I take it
> alpha == angle of attack.  Now, what's angle of attack ?  Does (I'm
> guessing from context) an alpha of 30 degrees mean the plane can
> fly level with its nose 30 degrees above level ?  -  Bill ]

No.  Not quite.

Take a line between the leading and trailing edges of the wing.
That's a chord.  Measure the angle between the chord line and
the direction the air going due to the aircraft's motion.

The angle is what you're looking for.

(Roughly, a wing's lift [and drag] increase with increasing angle of attack.
Up to a point...past that point, lift falls off, usually with a related
separation of airflow from the wing.  At that point the wing stalls.

The stall is dependant on the angle of attack, the attitude of the aircraft
in relation to the earth is essentially irrelevant.  You can stall at any
attitude or speed.)