Flaps

Principles of operation The general airplane lift equation demonstrates these relationships: L={\tfrac {1}{2}}\rho V^{2}SC_{L} where: L is the amount of Lift produced, \rho is the air density, V is the true airspeed of the airplane or the Velocity of the airplane, relative to the air S is the area of the wing C_{L} is the lift coefficient, which is determined by the shape of the airfoil used and the angle at which the wing meets the air (or angle of attack). Here, it can be seen that increasing the area (S) and lift coefficient (C_{L}) allow a similar amount of lift to be generated at a lower airspeed (V).