- #1
Jimmy87
- 686
- 17
Hi,
Please could someone kindly explain how zero weightlessness is achieved in this aircraft. I have tried to use my own understanding and what I have read online.
My ideas are:
To experience weightlessness the plane must be in freefall so the only force acting on it must be gravity. Since planes have wings then simply shutting off the engines will not achieve this since there will still be lift. However, flying in a parabola means that the nose of the plane can tip down over the parabola and effectively remove the lift. On don't understand this picture from wiki though:
This says that free fall is achieved slightly before and at the peak of the parabola. How does that work? If the plane is perfectly level (like at the top) then there will still be lift surely just like every commercial airliner during the main flight? You would have to effectively tilt the wings downward to get rid of the lift which I thought could only happen after the peak of parabola like I have drawn in green here:
Could someone please explain?
Many thanks!
Please could someone kindly explain how zero weightlessness is achieved in this aircraft. I have tried to use my own understanding and what I have read online.
My ideas are:
To experience weightlessness the plane must be in freefall so the only force acting on it must be gravity. Since planes have wings then simply shutting off the engines will not achieve this since there will still be lift. However, flying in a parabola means that the nose of the plane can tip down over the parabola and effectively remove the lift. On don't understand this picture from wiki though:
Could someone please explain?
Many thanks!