What impact does a greater angle of attack have on drag?

When examining the effects of a greater angle of attack on drag, it's important to understand the relationship between angle of attack and the types of drag present in an aircraft's performance.

As the angle of attack increases, the lift generated by the wing also increases to a certain point. However, beyond this point, drag begins to rise significantly. This is primarily because of two types of drag: induced drag and profile drag.

Induced drag is directly related to the generation of lift; as lift increases (up to the stall angle), induced drag also increases. This is due to the fact that as the angle of attack rises, airflow over the wing creates more lift, which in turn causes more airflow separation and increased vortices behind the wing, leading to a rise in induced drag.

Profile drag, on the other hand, refers to the drag due to the shape of the aircraft and its components, including skin friction and form drag. As the angle of attack increases, airflow can become turbulent, and this turbulence increases the form drag. The increased lift associated with higher angles also contributes to changes in the pressure distribution over the wing, leading to further increases in drag.

Therefore, a greater angle of attack does indeed result in an increase in both induced drag and profile