Aviation Flashcards
Fuselage
Body of airplane
How many wings? Typical
Counted in sets , most are monoplanes
Description of wings
Serve as main lifting mechanism supporting airplane in flight. Considered an airfoil- aircraft part or surface that controls lift, direction, stability, thrust, or propolsion
Attachment of wings to fuselage (top middle or bottom)
High wing, mid wing, low wing
Wing bracing and support
Cantilever: requires no external bracing, gets support from internal items / semi-cantilever : both internal and external support from struts attached to fusalage
Ailerons
Middle of wing out to wing tip, move in opposite directions to create aerodynamic forced that cause airplane to roll
Flaps
Flaps- attached to trailing edge of wing, increased both lift and drag when extended move downward together to increase lift of the wing for takeoffs and landings
Airfoil
A part of aircraft (wing, rudders propeller blade) helping with lift and thrust
Leading edge of airfoil/trailing edge
Leading edge: thicker attached to fuselage
Trailing edge: end of airfoil, thinner
Camber
Curved surface
Bernoullis Principle
Explanation for airfoil generating lift - top of surface of wing has greater camber than bottom surface of wing
AND air flows faster in too than underneath (less pressure above than underneath) difference in air pressure causes lift
Actual lift theory
Newtons laws
Chord
Distance from leading edge to training edge , cuts airfoil into upper and lower surface
Dihedral angle
Angle of wings
Swept wing
Most common design for modern / high speed airplanes
Propeller airplanes gain thrust how
Corkscrew action of propellers, blades rotating very fast infront of engine, pushing air backwards, plane moves forward
Jet engine
Forced incoming air into tube or cylinder, compressed and mixed with fuel then burned and pushed out exhaust
Elevator
Movable control- moved nose or airplane (up or down)
Rudder
Movable control attached to vertical stabilizer , used to move airplane nose left and right
Trim tabs
Small movable segments on rudder and elevators and ailerons, controlled by pilot, reduce control pressures and pilot workload
4 flight forces
Lift: pushes aircraft up
Gravity: weight, pulls aircraft down
Thrust: pushes aircraft forward
Drag: slows aircraft, pushing back as it pushes forward
Flight attitude
Position in flight , changing on axes,
Roll is controlled by and what axis is it on
Ailerons , longitudinal (provided lateral stability), initiate turns
Pitch is controlled by and what axis is it in
Elevators, lateral (provides opposite type of stability- longitudinal), affects pitch,
Yaw is controlled by and what axis is it on
Rudders, vertical , provided directional stability,
Atmosphere is composed of
78% nitrogen, 21% o2
Heavier items are closer or farther to earth
Closer. Lighter elements are further
Angle of attack
Angle between horizontal and chord line of airfoil
Secondary flight controls
Flaps, leading edge devices, spoilers, trim
spoilers
Used for descent destroys lift
Trim tabs
Used to relieve pilot of constant pressure of flight controls attached to trailing edge of elevator
Altimeter
Measures height above a particular air pressure level
Vertical Speed Indicstor
Indicated whether plane is climbing descending or in level flight
Airspeed indicator
Shows difference between pitot pressure and static pressure, un disturbed atmospheric pressure at level flight
4 types of air speed ICE T
Indicated , calibrated, equivalent, true
Inclometer
Shows airplane yaw
Artificial horizon
Attitude indicator, displays picture of airplane. Horizon bar = true horizon.
For instrument comprehension
Go to compass heading first and eliminate any answer choices that aren’t heading in the right direction, THEN look at artificial horizon
Helicopter lift
Most occurs at wing tips, so rotor blades are made with a twist do angle of attack decreased as distance from rotor hub increases
Helicopter controls
Cyclic- longitudinal and lateral movement
Collective- controls pitch and engine torque
Directional control system: pilot controls tail rotor torque
