Engineering Technolgy Flashcards
When was the first successful human flight?
1903
Describe aerodynamics-
Aerodynamics is how air interacts with solid objects, as well as the forces that act upon aircraft and spacecraft in flight.
Who was Wernher Von Braun?
Famous aerospace engineer whose well know project was the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo 11 to the moon.
How do engineers test components of a new aircraft or spacecraft?
By placing a scale model of the craft in a wind tunnel, flying scale models of the aircraft, & flying components of the new aircraft on board other aircrafts.
What are wind tunnels?
Tools used by engineers to investigate how air flows around a solid object.
Who designed and built the 1st wind tunnel? Where? And when?
Francis Wenham and John Browning England 1871
How does a wind tunnel work?
By simulating the movement of an aircraft through air at different speeds.
What are the advantages of a wind tunnel?
-ability to control airflow -engineers can observe and photograph exactly what is happening -tests can easily be repeated -tests are safer -can be used to measure air pressure
What did Osborne Reynolds discovery in 1883?
That scale models could accurately predict the flow of fluids around larger or smaller objects.
True or False? Wind tunnels models must have exactly the same shape as the full scale vehicle that they are simulating.
True
Describe high speed wind tunnels-
-They have a very small diameter, this is Because air is forced through a smaller opening its speed increases.
What is Aerospace engineering?
Branch of engineering that studies the design and construction of aircraft and spacecraft.
What is Bernoulli’s Principle?
As a volume of air passes through a small diameter tube pressure decreases and speed increases.
What can be used to measures air flow in a wind tunnel?
-Tufts of string placed all over the surface of object. -fog injected into the flow of air around object
What do Computational Flow Dynamics (CDs) allow engineers to do?
much faster testing of Aircraft and spacecraft designs in many different configurations and conditions.
What is the best way to test how an aircraft or spacecraft with handle?
Fly it
What do flying models of aircrafts or spacecrafts help us to validate?
The data produced by wind tunnels and computer simulations.
What is the fuselage?
Aircraft body
What are Large wind tunnels used for?
Subsonic speeds
What is free-flight?
Uncovered and uncontrolled.
Describe a flying wing aircraft design-
-have no fuselage or tail -engines crew, landing gear and all other parts are inside wing.
What is advantage of the flying wing?
- has much less draget which means it can fly farther with less fuel.
What is the disadvantage of the flying wing?
Wings are unstable because of their lack of tail.
What did Jack Northrop work on?
The flying wing. He wanted to build large flying wing aircraft.
What was the Northrop company ordered to build in 1940?
A huge flying wing bomber, the XB35
Describe the scale models of the XB 35-
-Called the N-9M -Had single pilot -Wingspan 1/3 the size -first one flew Dec. 27,1942
Why were the N-9M’so useful?
Because a number of control issues and stability issues were discovered and solved during test flights. Also help verify wind tunnel data.
Where can you find the last one flying N-9th still flying?
Planes of Fame museum, Chino California
What was the B-2 Spirit?
Top secret aircraft -huge flying-wing stealth bomber. 1980
What is supersonic?
Faster than the speed of sound
Who devoted the CF-105 Arrow? And when?
Aero Canada in the 1950’s.
What is Mach 2?
Approximately 2000 km/h or 1320 mph at high altitudes.
How did Aero engineers gather high speed data about Aero’s performance?
By firing scale models of the Arrow into the air using rockets.
Where is the Canadian armament Research and Development Establishment (CARDE)?
Point Peter near Picton, Ontario
How many models were fired over Lake Ontario from Point Peter from 1954-1957?
9 models
Where is the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)?
Test range near Wallop Island, Virginia
What is a telemetry?
Data radioed from instruments on board the models
When was the CF-105 Arrow program cancelled?
Feb. 20,1959
Where can you find parts of the Arrows today?
Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.
Why are rockets engines so important to any space mission?
Rocket engines must burn for exactly as long as needed & provide as much much thrust as expected or else the spacecraft could fail to reach orbit or explode.
Who developed the F-1 rocket engine?
We’re her von Braun’s engineer team at the Marshall space flight center in Huntsville, Alabama.
How tall was the Saturn V?
110 m (363’)
Describe the engineering of the F-1.
-each engine had to generate over 6.67 x 10-6 (1.5 million pounds) of thrust for more than 2 1/2 mins. -engine use 3 tones of propellants per second.
How much propellants did the Saturn V burn per second?
15 tonnes cause it had 5 engines
What were test stands use for?
To help engineers identify and fix problems.
True or false? every one of the 65 engines used in Saturn V launches worked flawlessly, helping to send 24 astronauts to the moon.
True
What does SLS stand for?
Space Launch System (rocket booster)
What is the Cold War?
A competition between United States and Soviet Union that stopped short of full scale war.
What is the CIA?
US Central Intelligence Agency that developed secret planes to fly around and over the Soviet Union using cameras and other instruments to gather data about Soviet military activities.
Describe the Stealth aircraft-
Could fly so high and fast that it could not be intercepted and shot down or be detected by enemy radars
What was the CIA’S secret aircraft that was designed to fly higher and faster than any other aircraft?
Lockheed Blackbird
What happened in 1954 to the Comet?
Two Comets crashes happened in 1054 in the Mediterranean killing all aboard.
When were underwater cameras first used?
Used by the Royal Navy To locate the wreckage a of the Comets
What did investigators conclude happened to the Comet?
That the metal had failed after being stressed by repeated pressurizing and depressurizing of the fuselage.
What was the cruising altitude of Comet?
12000 metres (40 000 feet)
What were some other things that contributed to crash of Comet?
Method of riveting Square cabin windows
What are radio waves?
a form of electromagnetic energy
How does radar work?
-by sending out radio waves -when these waves hit something, they are reflected back to radar receivers (called radar echo) -by calculating how long the waves take to return to the radar receiver and where they came from, the position of the target can be figured out.
How far can large radars detect targets?
several hundred kilometres away
True or False? Radar waves bounce best off a flat metal surfaces such as aircrafts.
True
Why did the engineers want the Blackbird to have a low RADAR CROSS - SECTION?
So that is would appear smaller on the radar then it actually is, so that radars would not detect a Blackbird until it was much closer than a convectional (non-stealthy) aircraft.
How did the engineers make Blackbird have a low RADAR CROSS - SECTION?
-Shape of the aircraft has lots of curves and very few flat surfaces, these curves were designed to reflect radar waves away from the radar not back towards it. -Special radar-absorbent materials(RAM) were used in parts of the aircraft that were most likely to face enemy radars. -special black paint that absorbed radar waves.
Why was the Blackbird very difficult aircraft for radars to detect?
Very little of the radar energy that hit the aircraft was reflected back to the radar receiver.
What is Area 51?
A secret facility in the Nevada desert.
What did the engineers test on the Blackbird at Area 51?
-test how small its radar cross-section was -
True or False? Before the Space Shuttle every human spacecraft flown had been tested in unmanned flights before it flew with humans aboard.
True
How do you land a space shuttle?
It had to be flown down to a landing like an airplane instead of falling to earth underneath parachutes like a space capsule.
What idea did NASA engineers come up with for how to fly the space shuttle without sending it into space?
A specially modified Boeing 747 to carry the first space shuttle into the air and then release it to fly back to ground on its own.
What was the name of the first space shuttle?
Enterprise
Where and when did the 5 APPROACH AND LANDING TESTS (ALT) for the Enterprise take place?
Edwards Air Force base in the California desert, 1977
True or False? During 135 missions no space shuttles had accidents during landing
True
How did the Data from the Enterprise test flights help engineers?
-to perfect the space shuttles flight control system -let pilots develop procedures for flying space shuttles.
What was the Convair B-58 Hustler?
The first Supersonic jet bomber
What is Mach 2?
approximately 2 000km/h or 1320MPH
Who designed individual escape capsules for the Convair B-58 Hustler?
Engineers at the Stanley Aviation Company
Describe the design of the individual escape capsules-
When the crew were about to leave the aircraft, a clamshell door would close, sealing each crew member in his own pressurized capsule that would protect him from the forces of airflow, provide him with oxygen, food, water and could serve as boat if it landed in water.
What animal that is similar in size and shape to a human did engineers use to test ejection capsules?
Black Bears
Who was |Yogi?
Second living creature to survive an ejection from an aircraft flying at supersonic speeds.
Who was George F. Smith?
North American Aviation test pilot, who made an emergency ejection from an F-100 Super Sabre at Mach 1.05 on Feb. 26,1955 (but was badly injured)
Describe Yogi’s test flight-
Yogi ejected from a B-58 flying at Mach 1.3 and 10 700 metres. and safely landed after minutes and 49 seconds.
Who was Big John?
Black bear ejected on a flight after Yogi at even higher speed and altitude. His capsule tumbled in flight, he suffered a few broken bones but recovered.
What were the results from the escape capsule tests?
They helped engineers to perfect the design of the escape capsule and gave them the confidence to let a human try the escape capsule in flight.
What is the agency in Canada that investigates aircraft accidents?
Transportation Safety Board
What is the agency in United States that investigates aircraft accidents?
National Transportation Safety Board
What is the agency in the United Kingdom that investigates aircraft accidents?
Air Accidents Investigation Branch
What was the de Havilland Comet?
First jet airliner built in 1949 by the British.
What did engineers conclude caused the Comets to crash?
metal had failed after being stressed by the repeated pressuring and depressing of the fuselage as the aircraft climbed and descended from its 12 000 cruising altitude.
What other design features contributed to the crash of the Comets?
method of riveting and the square cabin windows that concentrated stress at the their corners.
What are Crash tests?
Carefully conducted experiments that help engineers observe in a controlled way how an aircrafts structure and systems behave when the aircraft hit the ground.
What was the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID)?
Most famous crash test. It was the crash of a real Boeing 720 in the California desert conducted by NASA and the Federal Aviation Admin on Dec. 1, 1984.
Who many passengers( instrumented dummies) were on these flights?
113 passengers
What were the goals of the CID tests?
-test an antimisting kerosene fuel -gather structural data about how aircraft design could improve the chances of passengers and crew surviving a crash -test the effectiveness of seat restraining systems
What was antimisting kerosene fuel supposed to do?
reduce the chance of a post crash fire
What were some of the improvements on board the CID;s?
-fire resistant windows and interior materials -crash resistant seats -crash test flight data recorders -first time that a four engine jet aircraft had been flown by remote control
Did the CID’s tests go as planned?
No. as the aircraft was approaching the runway, the nose began to yaw. The aircraft hit the posts and tore the fuselage open and the aircraft burst into flames.
How does testing play a vital role aerospace engineering?
From basic research through development, flight testing, and entry into service, engineers expand our knowledge of how aircrafts work and how we can improve them.
Who were Todd Reichart and Cameron Robertson?
Two Canadian university students who made history for the first flight of a human powered flapping wing aircraft.
Where were Todd Reichart and Cameron Robertson graduate students at?
University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS)
What year did Leonardo Da Vinci first drew a bat like human powered flying machine?
1490
Who was Dr. James D. DeLaurier?
Famous for his research into mechanically powered flapping wing technology. Out of his research came the Human Powered Ornithopter (HOP) project. The snowbird aircraft came from this project.
Where and when did the Snowbird first fly?
In 2010 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario, Todd Reichart flew it.
What was the wing span of the Snowbird?
32 metres
Describe the first flight of the Snowbird-
Using the power of his legs, Todd pedalled, the wings flapped and the machine rose into the air, for 19 seconds, it reached a speed of 25.6 km/h.
What major prize did Todd and Cameron win?
In September 2015, they broke the world’s record for the fastest human powered vehicle winning the World Human Powered Speed Challenge with a human powered bike that went almost 140km/h.
Who is Richard Johnstone?
Aerospace Instructor at British Columbia Institute of Technology.
What is this?
The basic structure of a helium atom.
What is this?
The last surviving Northrop N-9M flying wing in flight.
What is this?
The Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird in flight.
