Thanks. I think the penny has dropped.
Level flight can be maintained but with increasing drag as we slow down which is offset with more thrust. So there must be a Vzrc with four engines at full chat, and gear up, below which speed the aircraft will start to resemble a (beautiful) brick I guess?
So on a hypothetical delta winged aircraft with engines of infinite power, is there an angle of attack where the vertical component of the thrust is actually supplying the lift and the forward component has dropped to a level which is not enough to overcome the drag by itself?
Sorry for the nerdy questions, but it intrigues me!
Duncan
Last edited by DuncanF; 13th Mar 2003 at 15:12.