Which statement about load factor is correct?

Which statement about load factor is correct?

• A. It is the ratio of weight to lift.
• B. It is the ratio of lift to weight.
• C. It is the ratio of drag to thrust.
• D. It is the ratio of wing loading to gross weight.

Answer: (B)

Load factor is the lift-to-weight ratio. It tells you how many times the airplane’s weight is being supported by the wings, i.e., the G-load on the airframe. In straight-and-level flight, lift equals weight, so the load factor is 1. When you maneuver, the wings must produce more lift to provide the centripetal force for turns, climbs, or pulls, so lift increases and the load factor rises above 1. This is why aircraft have structural limits expressed as maximum allowable load factors. The other ideas don’t describe what load factor measures: drag-to-thrust is about propulsion forces, and wing loading to gross weight isn’t the lift-to-weight ratio that defines load factor.

Load factor is the lift-to-weight ratio. It tells you how many times the airplane’s weight is being supported by the wings, i.e., the G-load on the airframe. In straight-and-level flight, lift equals weight, so the load factor is 1. When you maneuver, the wings must produce more lift to provide the centripetal force for turns, climbs, or pulls, so lift increases and the load factor rises above 1. This is why aircraft have structural limits expressed as maximum allowable load factors. The other ideas don’t describe what load factor measures: drag-to-thrust is about propulsion forces, and wing loading to gross weight isn’t the lift-to-weight ratio that defines load factor.