Flight Theory and Movements Flashcards
Newton’s First Law of Motion
a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion (inertia)
Newton’s Second Law
F=ma; acceleration is directly proportional to the force applied and inversely proportional to the mass of the object
Newton’s Third Law
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
Four Forces which act on an aircraft in flight
lift, gravity (weight), thrust, drag
lift
pushes the aircraft up
weight
pulls the aircraft down
thrust
pushes the aircraft forward
drag
slows the aircraft or pushes it back
flight envelope
the different combinations of the four factors that allow the aircraft to be flown safely; ex flying out of the envelope is slang for unsafe conditions
Use Newton’s laws to describe why planes can fly
the wing splits the air (action) and lift is the reaction; there is a net change in the air after it passes over the wing to a reaction force acts of the wing giving it lift; lift is produced by diverting air downward
upwash
oncoming air stream the is deflected upward and over the wing
trailing edge
where the airflow that cam over the top of the wing rejoins the lower surface first
leading edge
the part of the airfoil which meed the airflow first
downwash
downward air stream deflection as it passes over the wing and past the trailing edge
stall
separation of airflow from the wings upper surface creating a rapid decrease in lift; happens from the trailing edge coming forward; happens slowly;
how to recover from a stall
the pilot has to restore smooth airflow by decreasing the angle of attack below the stalling angle
how to tell if there is a stall
mushiness in controls of slight buffeting of the aircraft
basic weight
weight of the aircraft plus weapons, unusable fuel, oil, equipment etc that will stay on the plane during flight
operating weight
sum of basic weight and items such as crew, baggage, emergency equipment, all other non expendable items not in basic weight
gross weight
total weight of the aircraft including contents and mounted items, anytime
landing gross weight
weight of the aircraft, plus contents and external items when it lands
zero fuel weight (ZFW)
weight of aircraft without any usable fuel
induced drag
drag that is a result of lift
longitudinal axis
axis through the fuselage from nose to tail
lateral axis
axis from wing tip to wing tip
vertical axis
axis vertically through the aircraft center of gravity
roll
movement around the longitudinal axis (wing tips moving up or down)
pitching
movement around the lateral axis (nose or tail moving up or down)
yawing
movement around the vertical axis
roll is controlled by…
ailerons
pitch is controlled by..
elevators
yaw is controlled by…
rudder
What temperature of air creates more lift?
cooler air (it is more dense than warmer air)
primary control system
systems needed to control the airplane during flight (ailerons, elevator, rudder)
secondary control system
improve airplane performance (wing flaps, trim control systems)
What type of movement does the joystick control?
roll and pitch movements
What type of movement do the rudder pedals control?
yaw of the airplane
How does an aileron work to roll the aircraft?
One aileron will go up and the other will go down, the one that goes up decreases the lift on that side making that wing drop; the one that goes down increases the lift and makes that wing go up
angle of attack
angle between horizontal chord line and air foil
adverse yaw
when the nose of the aircraft yaws in the direction of the raised wing due to increased drag
