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Supposing I have the all dimensions of an RC airplane: wingspan, NACA airfoil, aspect ratio, fuselage length, etc., what would be the best methods of calculating the expected lift the aircraft should feel during takeoff, climb, and cruising stages? The conditions are assumed to be that of sea level.
I also have estimates of thrust produced by the propellers on the airplane, center of gravity location, stall speed and lift off speed
As we have learned here at Avation Stack Exchange through many writings: thrust or power variation is critical in take off, climb, and cruise flight.
In straight line steady state flight (at the same speed) lift only equals weight in level flight, in climb or descent it is equal to the cosine climb or descent angle x weight. In a climb the engine must provide the remainder of vertical lift, in a descent drag reduces vertical lift requirement.
Plugging in some numbers for cosine, we see lift is close to weight until climb or descent angles exceed around 20 degrees. (Cosine 10 degrees = 0.98 Cosine 20 degrees = 0.94)
Lift may exceed weight during maneuvering, known as "G's". This involves curving flight. Every plane has a G limit, even models. But in straight line flight, under most conditions, lift produced is fairly close to the weight of the plane, and is governed by airfoil type, wing area, air density, speed, and angle of attack.
