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Biology 325 > Flight Mechanics > Flashcards

Flight Mechanics Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the properties of gliding flight/wings?

A
  • High aspect ratio wings
  • -> Reduces lift at wingtip (pressure gradient)
  • -> Thus, reduces induced drag
  • Maximize lift, minimize drag
  • Good for flying at max Cl:Cd velocity (max range)
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2
Q

What are the properties of soaring flight/wings?

A
  • High aspect ratio wings
  • Compromise: aspect ratio is lowered
  • -> Allows lower wing loading, slower speed
  • Advantage is to fly slow, take advantage of updrafts
  • Allows tighter turning
  • Robust/strong structure for take off and landing on land
  • Slotted wingtips help to reduce induced drag to mitigate lower aspect ratio
  • Good for minimum sink speed
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3
Q

What are the properties of rapid take off flight/wings?

A
  • Elliptical wings
  • Low aspect ratio but large lift
  • Shorter wings are more mechanically robust
  • -> good for resisting forces seen in aerodynamic maneurvers
  • -> easier to flap
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4
Q

What are the properties of high speed flight/wings?

A
  • Short tapered wings
  • Center of mass and center of lift closer to body
  • -> reduces inertia
  • -> can be rapidly flapped to increase thrust
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5
Q

Elliptical wings are for ___________ flight

A

Rapid take off

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6
Q

Pointed wings are for __________ flight

A

Low speed

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7
Q

Concave wings are for ___________ flight

A

Gliding?

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8
Q

Convex wings are for ____________ flight

A

Soaring

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9
Q

Swept back wings are for _________ flight

A

high speed (supersonic)

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10
Q

Forward wings are for ________ and __________ flight

A

Maneurverability and Low speed (landing)

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11
Q

Why is high lift and high drag useful for landing?

A

Slows you down while still supporting your weight

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12
Q

What are the procedures for take off?

A
  • Take off into the wind
  • Increase forward velocity (eg: dive off high place(small), jump into air, run forward(big))
  • Increase angle of attack and camber
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13
Q

What are the procedures for landing?

A
  • Land into the wind
  • Increase angle of attack and camber
  • Lower landing gear
  • Swoop up wherever possible (approach perch from below)
  • Stall
  • Touch down
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14
Q

What is the Alula and what does it do?

A

The alula is the first digit of the hand or the thumb of a bird.

  • -> Delays boundary layer separation which allows a higher angle of attack for slow flight
  • -> aids in take off and landing
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15
Q

What are covert feathers and what do they do?

A

Covert feathers are feathers on the top of the wing which can be raised or lowered.

  • -> delay boundary layer separation from spreading to the leading edge which allows an increase in the angle of attack
  • -> Prevent trailing edge eddies
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16
Q

What is gliding?

A

The exchange of gravitational energy for horizontal velocity to power flight

17
Q

The lift:drag ratio is equivalent to the __________:___________ Ratio

A

Horizontal velocity:Sink speed Ratio

18
Q

What is soaring?

A

When you extract energy from atmospheric structure rather than rely solely on gravity and descent

19
Q

What is slope soaring?

A

Birds take advantage of ascending air on the upwind side of a hill.

  • -> glide normally but the updraft compensates for descent speed and horizontal wind compensates for forward motion
  • Bird remains in position relative to the ground, rides the wind
20
Q

What is thermal soaring?

A

A bird circles a thermal updraft in order to gain height.

  • -> As long as the birds sink speed while in a turn radius of r is less than the thermal updraft Vclimb, the bird will rise
  • -> the smaller the diameter of the thermal, the tighter the turn, the larger the sink speed and therefore, makes it harder to extract energy
  • -> More useful for birds with broader, slotted wings than high aspect ratio winged birds (gliders)
21
Q

What is sea anchor soaring?

A

Bird faces into the wind, spreads wings to generate lift and thrust, but keeps feet in the water to create drag
–> bird moves slowly backwards ensuring constant wind

22
Q

What is dynamic soaring?

A

Soaring that takes advantage of variations in wind speed. (eg: flys up into shear wind and down away from shear wind when flying along the coast/ocean)

23
Q

How do birds measure pressure differences and thus airflow? (along water)

A

Their beaks resemble pitot-static tubes (manometer sort of thing)

24
Q

Why is formation flying useful?

A

Make use of an otherwise unwanted drag (induced drag)

–> birds behind another bird can capture/use the induced drag vortexes of the bird in front of them to create lift

25
Q

Why would one evolve flight? (5)

A
  • Help escape from predators
  • Help catch flying or speedy prey
  • Help move from place to place (leaping/gliding)
  • Free hind legs for use as weapons
  • Gain access to new food sources/unoccupied niche
26
Q

Why would birds have a lower mortality rate than land mammals?

A

Ability of fliers to move in three dimensions

–> increases probability of escape

27
Q

How did wing structures evolve?

A
  • Flate planes originally used for one purpose provided drag to slow descent when jumping, possibly away from predators –> evolve to wings
28
Q

What are the properties of parachutes?

A
  • Slow descent –> increase dispersal
  • Small size is favorable
  • Reynolds # is low, viscous forces dominate and drag is high
  • -> Lowers descent velocity and increases distance traveled
  • Favors bristles or hairy fringes
  • -> Bugs should look like dandelion seeds
29
Q

What would cause someone to evolve wings?

A
  • Sexual selection
  • Bounded ignorance
  • Solar collectors
  • High oxygen
30
Q

What is the arboreal origin of flight?

A

Wings evolved from gliding ancestors who began to flap their gliding structures in order to produce thrust

31
Q

What is the cursorial origin of flight?

A

Wings evolved because bipedal animals were leaping into the air; large wings assisted leaping

32
Q

What is the wing assisted incline hypothesis?

A

Feathers are used as spoilers to increase traction

–> improves escape performance –> leads to flapping which leads to flight

33
Q

What is the jesus christ hypothesis?

A

Ancestors ran over water to escape from predators and travel between islands

  • -> thrust and weight support were provided by the feet slapping
  • -> wings took over some of weight support, with every step toward increase lift providing a fitness advantage

Biology 325 (4 decks)

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