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Aviation glossary

Angle Of Incidence

What is angle of incidence?

Illustration related to angle of incidence
Image: Richard Webb — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The angle of incidence is the fixed angle between the wing's chord line (an imaginary line from the leading edge to the trailing edge) and the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. It is built into the aircraft during manufacturing and does not change in flight with pilot input. Don't confuse it with angle of attack—think of it as how the wing is "bolted on," while angle of attack is how the wing meets the oncoming air.

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