Airplane Parts And Their Functions Flashcards
The wings are _______
airfoils attached to the fuselage that provide the main lift for the airplane during flight.
An airfoil is _______
a surface like a wing, propeller blade, or rudder, that controls lift, direction, stability, thrust or propulsion.
Modern aircraft can have different wing _______
designs, shapes and sizes based on the aircraft’s purpose and capabilities
Different wing shapes provide _______
different capabilities, advantages and disadvantages.
All wing designs work in _______
basically the same aerodynamic way to generate lift.
The wings may be attached to the fuselage on _______
top, in the middle, or the bottom, hence the terms high-wing, mid-wing, and low-wing
Airplane wings are counted in _______
pairs because you can’t just have a left wing.
There are planes with different number of wings, such as _______
monoplane (1 pair), biplane (2 pairs), and also but rarely the triplane (3 pairs)
Concerning wings, most airplane nowadays are _______
monoplanes, although there are exceptions such as the crop duster biplane.
Some modern aircraft have winglets, which help _______
reduce vortex formation off the back of the wings. These help with increasing lift and improving fuel efficiency.
The fuselage or body of the aircraft contains the _______
cockpit, from which the pilots and aircrew control the aircraft’s operations; the cabin if there are any passengers; cargo area if there is one; and attachment points for other major airplane components such as the wings, tail section, and landing gear.
Single-engine propeller-driven airplanes usually have the engine in _______
front of the fuselage.
There is a fire proof partition called a _______
firewall between the engine compartment and the cockpit/cabin to protect the aircrew and passengers (if any) from engine fire.
The 2 general construction designs for the fuselage are _______
truss and monocoque. Truss construction designs have triangular steel or aluminum tubings that run through the whole fuselage (which are called trusses), to get the necessary strength and rigidity. Monocoque designs use bulkheads, stringers (running the length of the fuselage), and formers (perpendicular to the stringers) of various sizes and shapes to help support a stretched or “stressed” skin. Semimonocque includes stringers which help distribute the load of the skin.
The wing ribs _______
run laterally across the wings, determine the shape and thickness of the wing (airfoil), divide the interior of the wing into bays and provide attachment points for control surfaces, and also support the aircraft wings and fuselage.
Spars _______
attach to the fuselage at the root and run spanwise within the wing, and act as beams to hold the wing shape and prevent excessive deflection under load.
There are typically 2 main spars - _______
the forward spar and rear spar. The forward spar handles the majority of the flight load. Additional intermediate spars may be present on larger wings.
Wing stringers _______
provide longitudinal reinforcement, stiffness, and support to the wing structure against bending and torsional stresses.
The wing strut _______
prevents the lower wing from bending and torsional loads.
The principle of telescopic shock absorber:
When the wheel travels upwards, a spring inside the telescopic suspension system compresses to absorb the energy and its rebound action puts it back in its original place, thus allowing a constant cycle of compression and rebound.
In aviation, speed is most often expressed in _______
knots (kt). One knot is one nautical mile per hour. In an aircraft the airspeed is “measured” with a pitot tube. Together with the static pressure one can determine not the speed of the aircraft, but the speed of the air flowing around the aircraft, the airspeed. It is usually mounted on the left side of the aircraft, though not always. Some aircraft may have two for redundancy. The pitot tube has an open end facing directly into the airstream. The tube then turns 90 degrees and is routed inside the aircraft to the airspeed indicator. The open end has a small hole pointing forward to measure static pressure.
An ammeter is used to monitor the performance of?
the aircraft electrical system which shows if the alternator/generator is producing an adequate supply of electrical power
Ammeter pointing indications:
When the pointer of the ammeter is on the plus side, it shows the charging rate of the battery
An ammeter minus indication means more current is being drawn from the battery than is being replaced
An ammeter full-scale minus deflection indicates a malfunction of the alternator/generator
An ammeter full-scale positive deflection indicates a malfunction of the regulator.
In either case, consult the AFM or POH for appropriate action to be taken
Not all aircraft are equipped with an ammeter-some have _______
a warning light that, when lighted, indicates a discharge in the system as a generator/alternator malfunction
It also indicates whether or not the battery is receiving an electrical charge
Refer to the AFM or POH for appropriate action to be taken
Some main parts of the airplanes and their functions:
Flaps increase lift and drag
Vertical stabilizer stabilizes yaw
Horizontal stabilizer stabilizes pitch
Rudder changes/controls yaw
Elevators change/control pitch
Ailerons change/control roll
The cockpit is for command and control
The fuselage holds the plane together and carries the payload.
Speedbrakes are spoilers that _______
help increase drag to reduce speed and lift to assist in decreasing the rate of descent. They can be one surface or multiple surfaces. They are on top of the wings and always extend upwards. They are only used in flight and are particularly useful when descending. They can be deployed using the lever. Additionally, there are always less speedbrakes than ground spoilers.
Ground spoilers are _______
only activated when in the ground, and they help increase drag and improve braking efficiency for landing or reject take off to slow down to a safe speed. They may be activated automatically by landing gear and thrust lever information, but can also be done manually using the lever. Information like the WEIGHT-ON-WHEELS system.
Roll spoilers are _______
sometimes used to assist ailerons in a roll maneuver, or to act as backup in case of aileron failure. They provide higher control authority when necessary, like on steep roll maneuvers. On normal cruise flight turns they generally remain retracted.
Spoilers are secondary _______
control surfaces and can generally be activated automatically or manually by the pilot.
Some spoilers tilt _______
downwards, depending on the design and purpose of the aircraft, but most tilt upwards
Slats are _______
aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wing in some airplanes. They are used to increase lift coefficient, perform low speed maneuvers, and take off and land at shorter distances. Because they increase AOA, they can cause critical AOA.
In large commercial aircraft, slats are virtually _______
always extended for take off and landing. Those aircraft are not permitted to turn for take off or final approach without fully locked extended slats as configured by the aircraft manufacturer. Retraction and extension is automated. Failure of slats to extend fully requires an abort of take off or landing, then inspection and repairs before further flight.
