Aerodynamic Questions

Question 1

You takeoff in your Cessna 172S at 2,000 pounds, which is 550 pounds under max gross weight. How will your Vso speed compare to the published Vso speed for your aircraft?

Answer 1

As weight decreases, your angle-of-attack for a given airspeed decreases as well. This means that at lower weights, your Vso speed goes down.

Question 2

If your aircraft has wing washout, it’s designed to stall from the

Answer 2

Wing washout means the root of the wing flies at a higher angle-of-attack than the tip, and the root stalls first. This creates a more stable, controllable stall, and gives you some aileron effectiveness during the stall.

Question 3

When you lower your flaps, you:

Answer 3

Lowering flaps decreases stall speed, because you increase the camber of your wing. And with an increased camber, you produce more lift at a given airspeed.

Question 4

Angle of attack is:

Answer 4

It’s the acute angle between your wing’s chord line, and the relative wind.

Question 5

You start climbing in your Cessna 182. And keep climbing. And climbing. And eventually, you get to your plane’s absolute ceiling. What’s your climb rate at the absolute ceiling? (max weight, clean config, max continuous power)

Answer 5

Your single-engine plane has a 0FPM climb rate at its absolute ceiling. No. Climb.

Question 6

The point where the green and yellow arc meet on the ASI is:

Answer 6

Vno

Question 7

You need to choose the climb speed that gets you the most altitude in the shortest horizontal distance. Which speed are you flying?

Answer 7

Vx gets you the most altitude in the shortest horizontal distance. Vy? That’s the most altitude over a given time.