What outward reaction is described as the force acting opposite to the change in direction in a turning flight?

• A. Lift
• B. Centrifugal force
• C. Weight
• D. Drag

Answer: (B)

In turning flight, the airplane must accelerate toward the center of the turn (a centripetal acceleration). Because the airplane tends to continue straight due to inertia, the force that effectively acts outward, opposite to the change in direction, is the centrifugal force. It’s the apparent outward push you feel in the rotating frame of the turning airplane, while the real inward force comes from the horizontal component of lift that provides the centripetal acceleration. Lift mainly acts upward to balance weight, and drag opposes the motion along its path; neither of those directly represents the outward reaction to turning. So the outward reaction described is centrifugal force.