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Talk:Angle of attack

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Latest comment: 9 months ago by Mr swordfish in topic why is it called angle of attack?

why is it called angle of attack?

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is this a refernce to artillery? it doesnt make sense to trace it to fighter planes Lollipop (talk) 17:15, 26 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

John D. Anderson defines the term in his textbook "Introduction to Flight" as
The angle between the relative wind and the chord line is the angle of attack α of the airfoil.
Sounds like an obvious enough usage of plain English to me, and nothing to do with artillery. I haven't researched the etymology, but maybe this article will answer your question. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 17:41, 26 September 2025 (UTC)Reply