What effect does increasing the angle of attack have on induced drag?

Increasing the angle of attack has a direct effect on induced drag, and it indeed increases induced drag. To understand this, it's important to grasp how induced drag is generated.

Induced drag is primarily a byproduct of lift. As an aircraft's angle of attack increases, the lift also increases, up to a certain point. However, as the angle of attack continues to increase beyond the point of optimal lift, the airflow over the wings begins to create more turbulence and vortices—this increased turbulence leads to a rise in induced drag.

Therefore, as the angle of attack rises, the wings produce more lift, but this comes at the cost of greater induced drag due to the more intense vortices created by the wing's interaction with the airflow. This increase is typically more pronounced at lower airspeeds, where maximum lift is crucial for aircraft performance, leading to a significant rise in induced drag when the angle of attack is increased significantly.

Understanding this relationship is critical for pilots and aviation professionals, as managing the angle of attack is essential for optimizing performance and efficiency while minimizing drag during flight.