Definition
The forces and physical principles acting on an aircraft in flight — including lift, weight, thrust, drag, stability, and the effects of airspeed, attitude, load, and atmospheric conditions — that determine how the aircraft performs and responds to control inputs.
Plain English
All the things about how air moves around an aircraft and how the aircraft moves through it that affect the way it flies.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument flying when learning how changes in pitch, power, speed, and aircraft setup affect what the airplane does when you are flying mainly by reference to instruments.
Derivation
Aerodynamic comes from the Greek aer (air) and dynamis (power or force). So aerodynamic factors are literally the 'air-force factors' — the things involving air and the forces it creates on the aircraft.
Why Pilots Care
These forces directly determine how the aircraft behaves during attitude changes, climbs, descents, and turns in instrument conditions.
Grounding Statement
If you raise the nose, change power, lower flaps, or let the airplane slow down, the air around the airplane changes how the airplane responds.
Intuition Check
Do not read aerodynamic factors as abstract science only. In this context, it means practical flight effects the pilot can see and control through pitch, power, speed, and aircraft setup.
Example Sentence 1
Before introducing instrument procedures, the handbook reviews the aerodynamic factors that affect aircraft control.
Example Sentence 2
During the turn, the student recognized how aerodynamic factors affected airspeed and descent rate.