PHAK Ch. 5 · learning aid
Parasite vs induced drag, total drag, L/D max. Home · Note · Ground effect
Parasite drag grows with speed. Induced drag falls as speed rises (lower CL). Together they make a U-shaped total drag curve. The valley is the max L/D region.
Companion notes: drag polar · ground effect (induced drag drops near the runway).
Toy CD = CD₀ + k CL² in level flight.
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