# 3.2: Airfoils shapes


Figure 3.9: Aerodynamic forces and moments.

The geometric figure obtained as a cross section of an airplane wing is referred to as airfoil. An airfoil-shaped body moved through a fluid produces an aerodynamic force. The component of this force perpendicular to the direction of motion is called lift. The component parallel to the direction of motion is called drag. In order to be able to calculate the movement of an airplane, an important issue is to determine the forces and torques around the center of gravity produced by the effects of air. Readers are referred to $$F_{\text{RANCHINI}}$$ et al. [4]. Other introductory references on airfoil aerodynamics are Franchini and García [3, Chap. 3] and Anderson [1, Chap. 4-5].

 The aerodynamic forces are: The aerodynamic torques are: $$L$$: Lift force. $$D$$: Drag force. $$Q$$: Lateral force. $$M_x$$: Roll torque. $$M_y$$: Pitch torque. $$M_z$$: Yaw torque.

3.2: Airfoils shapes is shared under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Manuel Soler Arnedo via source content that was edited to conform to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.