If thrust exceeds drag, what happens to the aircraft's speed?

• A. It slows down
• B. It maintains speed
• C. It accelerates
• D. It stalls

Answer: (C)

When thrust exceeds drag, there’s a positive net forward force on the airplane, which causes acceleration in the direction of flight. In other words, the aircraft speeds up because the engine’s forward push isn’t being fully resisted by drag yet. The speed will continue to rise until drag increases enough to balance the thrust (or until power, weight, or configuration changes produce a new balance). This isn’t a stall scenario—the stall condition comes from too little airspeed and insufficient lift, not from a simple excess of thrust over drag.