How is mathematics used in airplanes?

Answer 1

Mathematics are important to pilots in many many many ways. Every pilot is aware of the effect weight and balance has on aircraft performance and must be able to use simple equations to quantify these effects on paper before applying them on the runway. Likewise, geometry is vital when navigating aircraft. There are no highways to speak of, and so aircraft navigate using directional headings. Pilots must also be able to use the navigation radio system to triangulate their location on charts and the like.

Pilots are constantly figuring numbers in their heads. Whether he's calculating the ETA based on airspeed minus windspeed (corrected for wind direction) divided by the remaining distance to destination or using fuel consumption info to figure out if that headwind is going to keep him from making it in one go, a good pilot is always thinking of some number it seems. Computerized systems have made some of this automatic, but there will always be a need for math in the cockpit.