More Pilot Aerodynamic Stuff

Well, we're beginning to get much deeper into the weeds on aerodynamics of an airplane. Lift, center of pressure, center of gravity, frost on the wings, all of these things impact the plane. The biggest concern is all of the stuff on the stalls.

Whoa

This will sound stupid, but much of the stuff I'm learning about explains a lot of what I see in the movies. For instance, when a plane is taking off, and it's drifting off the runway, you would think there's enough speed to take off, so why don't they just pull back in the movies? Well, that has to do with ground effect. Once you're higher than the wing span's length, it really takes a toll on the plane. The aerodynamics on the plane when you're in the air and the uplift is completely different than when the ground is underneath you.

Comforting

What's even more comforting to me is that as I'm beginning to understand how the airplane stays in the air, I'm actually feeling a little safer inside one, I think. It doesn't feel like it's "blind trust" anymore. Grasping the science, I'm having a lot more faith in the plane itself.

Side Note

Out of curiosity, I took an online quick practice quiz for the FAA written test for a Private Pilot's License (which is what I'll be pursuing), and my God! There is a ton of information I can't even begin to tell you about. The test looks extremely difficult, and I bombed it with blind guesses on more than 90% of the questions. It's mind-blowing to believe that in just a few months, I'm actually going to understand all of the coordinates, pilot "lingo" and charting stuff. 

Upcoming

I've gone to some lengths to make sure I study the information. So far, we've had open-book quizzes on 50 questions regarding aerodynamics (the first unit of the book). I've hand-input those 50 questions into a quiz-maker app for my phone, and I go through them at least once a day. I'm not sure how much I can keep that up, though. The next unit has about 98 questions. If we're going through about a unit a week, that can keep me extremely busy.
I won't go into the details on everything because, although it is fascinating to me, it is extremely detailed. The good news: Tuesday (tomorrow) is probably the last we'll be dealing with aerodynamics. It's not incredibly critical to know everything we're covering, but it's really good to understand how and why certain things affect the airplane.