Lent term test Flashcards
Leonardo Da Vinci
1452-1519
Italian artist and inventor
Produced many aircraft designs resembling flapping wings
Never built designs, wings were too heavy to operate
Montgolfier Brothers
- Built a hot air balloon in 1783
- Late 1783 saw first living creatures to be artificially airborne
- 1783 also gave first free flight
- Hydrogen filled balloon by J Charles superseded the Montgolfier balloon
Why balloons fly
- Displaces own volume of air causing upthrust
- Hydrogen and helium are less dense than air
- Balloon ascends, atmospheric pressure falls and balloon expands
- Gas is released or expands in spare envelope space
Airships
- Large air crafts filled with hydrogen
- Able to carry lots of cargo and people
- Extremely dangerous
- 1937- Hindenburg incident
- Airships no longer used as much
How airships are controlled
- Two ballonets in the main balloon
- Ballonets maintain pressure in balloon
- Prevents balloon overinflating or sagging
- Ballonets release air to ascend
- Air pumped into ballonets to descend
Sir George Cayley
- Built first model glider- 1804
- It was a broomstick with a kite shaped wing at one end and vertical and horizontal tail surfaces at the other attached
- It was capable of stable flight over many metres
- Confirmed heavier-than-air flight was possible
Hand-gliding
- Failure to develop light enough engine for flight
- Instead focus was put on improving airframe design
- Otto Lilienthal - built lightweight gliders
- Made many thousands of flights
- Built so mass could be moved for some control
Wright brothers
- 1903- Orville and Wilbur Wright’s ‘Flyer’ had first test flight
- First time man was airborne and in control of a powered heavier-than-air flight
- By end of 1908, Wilbur Wright made over 100 flights
- Orville Wright demonstrated the Flyer to the public
Louis Bleriot
- 1909- crosses the English Channel by heavier-than-air craft
- Bleriot’s aircrafts were also the first:
- Over the Alps (1910)
- Non-stop trop from London to Paris (1911)
- Airmail carriage in Britain (1911)
- Use of aeroplane in war (1911)
WW1
- War increased development of aeroplanes and engines
- Development of more sophisticated gun technology
- The SE5a - one of the most popular British fighters
- Bombing was limited with little military effect
Post- WW1
- 1919- converted Vickers Vimy bomber made first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic by Alcock and Brown
- 1930 - Amy Johnson made first solo flight from England to Australia in a Gipsy Moth
- The Tiger Moth- the Royal Air Force’s trainer in the World War Two
WW2
- 1939- war caused further technological development in aircrafts
- 1944- Germany launched the V-1 (‘Doodle Bug’ or ‘Flying Bomb’)
- Gloster Meteor entered service one month later to destroy V-1s
- Germany used rocket-powered Messerschmitt Komet fighters to intercept enemy bombers
Jets
- Jets inspired ideas such as jet passenger services, supersonic flight, and vertical take-off and landing
- World’s first jet airliner- de Havilland Comet 1
- Pressurised cabin allowed for flight in all weather conditions
- Most successful aircraft of jet airliners was the Boeing 707
Concorder and Boeing
- Concorde was supersonic transport- flew at twice the speed of sound
- Only served two airlines, British Airways and Air France
- Retired in 2003
- Boeing planned for a huge airliner with 400 seats
- 747 made international travel an almost commonplace experience
Before the RAF
- The first Air Force was the Royal Balloon School
- 13th March 1912: Royal Flying Corps is formed
- July 1914: Navy Wing splits and forms Royal Naval Air Service
Formation of the RAF
- 1st April 1918: the amalgamation of the RFC and RNAS formed the Royal Air Force
- Lord Trenchard is appointed as the Chief of Air Staff
The Role of the RAF in WW2 and the Falklands War
- July-September 1940: the RAF along with the FAA (Fleet Air Arm) of the Royal Navy defeat the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain
- The Falklands War lasted from 2nd April 1982-14th June 1982. RAF aircrafts flew many people and many tons of freight to Ascension Islands and then to the Falklands/South Georgia
LEARN THE RANKS
Air Cadet Organisation
- Encompasses all Air Cadet activities
- This includes: Air Training Corps (ATC), Combined Cadet Force (CCF), Volunteer Gliding Squadrons, Air Experience Flights (AEF) and Air Cadet Adventure Training Camps
- ACO is based in RAFC Cranwell, Lincolnshire
- It is part of no.22 (training) group
The Air Training Corps (ATC)
- Formed 5th February 1941
- Aim to promote and encourage an interest in aviation and the Royal Air Force, to provide training useful in the Services and civilian life
- 1952: Prince Philip became Air Commodore-in-Chief
ATC Gliding
Cadet gliding badges:
- Gliding (Scholarship) wings - Blue
- Gliding (Scholarship) Solo Wings - Silver
- AGT wings - gold
ATC Gliding
Gliding history
- 1943: Dagling Open Glider introduced
- 1950: Sedbergh Side-by-Side Glider introduced
- 1977: Venture Motorised Glider
- 1984: Grob Viking Unpowered Glider
- 1990: Vigilant Motorised Glider
Launching a Glider
3 stages to launch a winch glider (Viking)
- ‘All clear above and behind’
When the glider is ready and safe to launch, the pilot and wing tip holder check above and behind the glider to ensure there are no hazards - ‘Take up slack’
The pilot indicates with one finder and gives the command ‘Take up slack’, so the signaller passes this on to the winch driver using lamp signals or large bats. The winch driver pulls slack out of the cable - ‘All out’
When the pilot is satisfied that the slack has been taken up, the order ‘All out’ is given, which the signaller passes on to the winch driver. The winch speeds up and the glider begins ground ride and launch the wing tip holder holding the wings level to begin with
Air Experience Flying (AEF)
The Grob Tutor is a single engined, low winged monoplane with fixed undercarriage
Wingspan: 10.0m
Length: 7.6m
Height: 2.8m
Max Weight: 990kg
Engine: 180hp
Max Speed: 185Kts