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Beginners Guide to Aeronautics

Do you ever wonder how airplanes fly? How does a pilot control the movement of the airplane? How did the Wright Brothers invent the airplane? Why are the engines on an airliner different from the engines on a fighter plane? The information on this site is designed to give you a better understanding of how aircraft and aerodynamics work.

Rocket being launched in the air

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion explain the relationship between a physical object and the forces acting upon it. Understanding this information provides us with the basis of modern physics.

BGA Airplane

Interactive Simulations

Over twenty years ago, NASA Glenn Research Center developed this collection of interactive simulation exercises to accompany our Beginners Guide to Aeronautics educational content. Students and others in academia, industry, and those with an interest in aeronautics, visit these pages daily to learn and refresh their knowledge of these concepts. Thousands of educators use this … Read the rest ⇢

The original source code for the simulations is available for users to download at the BGA Simulations on GitHub.

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