PHAK 3: Aircraft Construction Flashcards
Categories of aircraft for certification of airmen include:
- Airplane
- Rotorcraft
- Glider
- Lighter-than-air
- Powered-lift
- Powered parachute
- Weight-shift control aircraft
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
The FAA certifies three types of aviation products:
- Aircraft
- Aircraft engines
- Propellers
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What does CFR stand for?
Code of Federal Regulations
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What does TC stand for?
Type Certificate
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
When does the FAA issue a TC?
- When they are satisfied the product complies with the applicable airworthiness standards.
- When the TC is issued, a TCDS is generated
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What does TCDS stand for?
Type Certificate Data Sheet
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What is a TCDS for?
- The TCDS defines the product.
- The important design and operational characteristics of the aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
Are light sport aircraft designed according to FAA airworthiness standards?
Light Sport Aircraft
- No.
- TC is issued to the aircraft as a whole. It includes the airframe, engine, and propeller.
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
When does the FAA issue an airworthiness certificate for light sport aircraft?
Light Sport Aircraft
When the aircraft is complete.
With the airframe, engine, and propeller.
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What does having an airworthiness certificate mean?
Light Sport Aircraft
The complete aircraft meets the design and manufacturing standards, and is in a condition for safe flight.
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
How long does an airworthiness certificate remain valid?
Light Sport Aircraft
As long as the required maintenance and inspections are kept up to date for the aircraft.
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
Where is the airworthiness certificate kept?
Light Sport Aircraft
Must be carried in the aircraft during all flight operations.
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
Airworthiness certificates are classified as either…
Light Sport Aircraft
“Standard” or “Special”
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What color are Standard airworthiness certificates.
- White
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
Describe Standard airworthiness certificates.
- Issued for normal, utility, acrobatic, commuter, or transport category aircraft.
- Also issued for manned free balloons and aircraft designated as “Special Class.”
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
What color are Special airworthiness certificates.
- Pink
Aircraft Design, Certification, and Airworthiness
Describe Special airworthiness certificates.
- Issued for:
- primary
- restricted
- limited category aircraft
- light sport aircraft.
- Also issued as provisional airworthiness certificates, special flight permits (ferry permits), and for experimental aircraft.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What four forces act upon an aircraft in relation to straight-and-level, unaccelerated flight.
- Thrust
- Lift
- Weight
- Drag
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What is thrust?
- Forward force produced by the powerplant/propeller.
- It opposes or overcomes the force of drag.
- As a general rule, it is said to act parallel to the longitudinal axis. This is not always the case as explained later.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What is drag?
- Drag is a rearward, retarding force and is caused by disruption of airflow by the wing, fuselage, and other protruding objects.
- Drag opposes thrust and acts rearward parallel to the relative wind.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What is weight?
- Combined load of the aircraft itself, the crew, the fuel, and the cargo or baggage.
- Weight pulls the aircraft downward because of the force of gravity.
- It opposes lift and acts vertically downward through the aircraft’s center of gravity (CG).
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What is lift?
- Produced by the dynamic effect of the air acting on the wing
- Acts perpendicular to the flight path through the wing’s center of lift (CL).
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
An aircraft moves in ____ and is controlled by moving it about one or more of its ____.
three dimensions, axes
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
The lateral axis
- Pitch
- Passes parallel to a line from wingtip to wingtip
- Intersects the CG
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
The longitudinal axis
- Roll
- Extends through the aircraft from nose to tail
- Passes through the CG
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
The vertical axis
- Yaw
- Passes through the aircraft vertically
- Intersects the CG
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
How do control movements relate to the airplane axes?
All control movements cause the aircraft to move around one or more of these axes and allows for the control of the aircraft in flight.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What does CG stand for?
Center of Gravity
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
What is aircraft CG?
The specific point where the mass or weight of an aircraft may be said to center; that is, a point around which, if the aircraft could be suspended or balanced, the aircraft would remain relatively level.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
The position of the CG of an aircraft determines the…
stability of the aircraft in flight.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
As the CG moves rearward…
the aircraft becomes more and more dynamically unstable.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
If the CG is too far aft…
there might not be enough elevator nose-down force at the low stall airspeed to get the nose down for recovery.
Lift and Basic Aerodynamics
If the CG is too far forward…
there will not be enough elevator nose-up force to flare the airplane for landing.
Major Components
Most airplane structures include…
- A fuselage
- Wings
- An empennage
- Landing gear
- A powerplant
Major Components
Fuselage
- Central body of an airplane and is designed to accommodate the crew, passengers, and cargo.
- It also provides the structural connection for the wings and tail assembly.
Major Components
What are the most popular fuselage types in today’s aircraft?
- Monocoque (French for “single shell”)
- Semimonocoque.
Major Components
Wings
The wings are airfoils attached to each side of the fuselage and are the main lifting surfaces that support the airplane in flight.
Major Components
Wings may be attached at…
- The top, middle, or lower portion of the fuselage.
- High-, mid-, and low-wing, respectively.
Major Components
What are planes with a single set of wings called?
Monoplanes
Major Components
What are planes with two sets of wings called?
Biplanes
Major Components
What is a semi-cantilever wing?
- High-wing airplanes with external braces, or wing struts that transmit the flight and landing loads through the struts to the main fuselage structure.
- The wing struts are usually attached approximately halfway.
Major Components
In most modern airplanes, the fuel tanks are…
either an integral part of the wing’s structure or consist of flexible containers mounted inside of the wing.
Major Components
What is 1?
Fuel tank
Major Components
What is 2?
Skin
Major Components
What is 3?
Ribs
Major Components
What is 4?
Stringers
Major Components
What is 5?
Wing tip
Major Components
What is 6?
Aileron
Major Components
What is 7?
Spar
Major Components
What is 8?
Wing flap
Major Components
Basic section
Major Components
Plain flap
Major Components
Split flap
Major Components
Slotted flap
Major Components
Fowler flap
Major Components
Slotted fowler flap
Major Components
Empennage
- The entire tail group
- Fixed surfaces include the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizer.
- Movable surfaces include the rudder, elevator, and one or more trim tabs.
Major Components
What is 1?
Horizontal stabilizer
Major Components
What is 2?
Vertical stabilizer
Major Components
What is 3?
Rudder
Major Components
What is 4?
Trim tabs
Major Components
What is 5?
Elevator
Major Components
Where is the rudder attached?
Back of the vertical stabilizer.
Major Components
What is the rudder used for?
Move the airplane’s nose left and right on the vertical axis.
Yaw.
Major Components
Where is the elevator attached?
Back of the horizontal stabilizer.
Major Components
What is the elevator used for?
Move the airplane’s nose up and down.
Major Components
Where are trim tabs attached?
May be installed on:
* the ailerons
* the rudder
* and/or the elevator
Major Components
What are trim tabs used for?
To reduce control pressures.
Major Components
What is a stabilator?
A single-piece horizontal tail surface on an airplane that pivots around a central hinge point. A stabilator serves the purposes of both the horizontal stabilizer and the elevators.
Major Components
What is 1?
Antiservo tab
Major Components
What is 2?
Stabilator pivot point
Major Components
Wheeled landing gear has how many wheels?
Three
Two main wheels and a third wheel positioned either at the front or rear of the airplane.
Major Components
What is landing gear with a rear mounted wheel called?
Conventional landing gear
Major Components
What is is the principal support of the airplane when parked, taxiing, taking off, or landing.
The landing gear
Major Components
The most common type of landing gear consists of…
Wheels, but airplanes can also be equipped with floats for water operations or skis for landing on snow.
Major Components
Airplanes with conventional landing gear are sometimes
referred to as…
Tailwheel airplanes
Major Components
What is it called when the third wheel of landing gear is located on the nose?
A nosewheel, and the design is referred to as a tricycle gear.
Major Components
How do you steer a nosewheel or tailwheel airplane on the ground?
- Most aircraft are steered by rudder pedals, nosewheel or tailwheel.
- Additionally, some aircraft are steered by differential braking.
Major Components
What is the Powerplant?
Usually includes both the engine and the propeller.
Major Components
What is the primary function of the engine?
To provide power to the propeller.
Major Components
What are secondary functions of the engine?
- Generates electrical power.
- Provides a vacuum source for some flight instruments.
- In most single-engine airplanes, provides a source of heat for the occupants.
Major Components
What covers the engine?
- A cowling
- Or a nacelle
Major Components
What is the purpose of the engine cover?
- Streamline the flow of air around the engine.
- Help cool the engine by ducting air around the cylinders.
Major Components
What does the propeller translate rotating force to?
Thrust
Major Components
What is a propeller?
A rotating airfoil that produces thrust through aerodynamic action.
Major Components
Where do propellers form a high-pressure area?
At the back of the propeller’s airfoil.
Major Components
Where do propellers form a low-pressure area?
At the face of the propeller.
Major Components
What are two significant factors involved in the design of a propeller that impact its effectiveness.
- The angle of a propeller blade, as measured against the hub of the propeller, AOA.
- The pitch.
Major Components
What are two significant factors involved in the design of a propeller that impact its effectiveness.
- Angle of Attack
- The pitch
Major Components
What is the AOA of a propeller?
- Angle of Attack
- The angle at which the relative wind meets the blade.
- The AOA continuously changes during the flight depending upon the direction of the aircraft.
Major Components
What is the pitch of a propeller?
Defined as the distance a propeller would travel in one revolution if it were turning in a solid.
Major Components
Propellers are usually matched to a specific aircraft/powerplant combination to achieve the best…
Efficiency at a particular power setting.
Subcomponents
What do the subcomponents of an airplane include?
- The airframe
- Electrical system
- Flight controls
- Brakes
Subcomponents
What is the airframe?
Basic structure of an aircraft and is designed to withstand all aerodynamic forces, as well as the stresses imposed by the weight of the fuel, crew, and payload.
Subcomponents
What is the primary function of the electrical system?
Generate, regulate, and distribute electrical power throughout the aircraft.
Subcomponents
What are the different electrical power sources on aircraft?
- Engine-driven alternating current (AC) generators
- Auxiliary power units (APUs)
- External power
Subcomponents
What are aircraft’s electrical power systems used for?
- Operate flight instruments
- Essential systems, such as anti-icing
- Passenger services, such as cabin lighting
Subcomponents
What do the flight controls govern?
- The attitude of an aircraft
- As a result, the flight path followed by the aircraft.
Subcomponents
What are the life of airplane brakes measured in?
Landings
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a Truss Structure comprised of?
- Longerons
- Vertical & horizontal struts
- Stringers
- Bulkheads
- Formers
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a longeron?
A longitudinal structural component of an aircraft’s fuselage.
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a stringer?
A longitudinal structural piece in a framework, especially that of a ship or aircraft.
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a bulkhead?
A dividing wall or barrier between compartments in a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle.
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a former?
A structural component used to shape and support the fuselage of an aircraft, providing its cross-sectional contour and rigidity.
Types of Aircraft Construction
How do longerons and stringers differ?
- Longerons often carry larger loads than stringers and also help to transfer skin loads to internal structure.
- Longerons nearly always attach to frames or ribs.
- Stringers often are not attached to anything but the skin, where they carry a portion of the fuselage bending moment through axial loading.
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is a Monocoque?
A structural design where the external skin bears most or all of the load, eliminating the need for an internal frame.
Much like an aluminum beverage can.
Types of Aircraft Construction
In a monocoque design, what carries the twisting and bending forces?
The external skin.
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 1?
Stressed skin
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 2?
Formers
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 3?
Bulkhead
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 1?
Skin
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 2?
Formers
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 3?
Stringers
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is 4?
Bulkhead
Types of Aircraft Construction
What is the fireproof partition between the rear of the engine and the flight deck or cabin to protect the pilot and passengers from accidental engine fires?
Firewall
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are some composite materials used in aircraft?
- Fiberglass
- Carbon fiber cloth
- Kevlar cloth
- Mixtures of all of the above
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are two advantages of composite construction?
- Extremely smooth skins.
- Ability to easily form complex curved or streamlined structures.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are composite materials in aircraft?
Fiber-reinforced matrix systems
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What is the matrix in a composite material?
The “glue” used to hold the fibers together and, when cured, gives the part its shape, but the fibers carry most of the load.
There are many different types of fibers and matrix systems.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What is the most common matrix in aircraft composites?
Epoxy resin
A type of thermosetting plastic.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are the most common reinforcing fibers used in aircraft composites?
- Fiberglass
- Carbon fiber
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are 5 advantages of fiberglass?
- Good tensile and compressive strength
- Good impact resistance
- Easy to work with
- Relatively inexpensive
- Readily available
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are disadvantages of fiberglass?
- Somewhat heavy.
- It is difficult to make a fiberglass load-carrying structure lighter than a well designed equivalent aluminum structure.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are advantages of carbon fiber?
- Generally stronger in tensile and compressive strength than fiberglass.
- Much higher bending stiffness.
- Considerbly lighter than fiberglass.
- Considerbly lighter than aluminum structures. (sometimes 30%)
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are disadvantages of carbon fiber?
- Relatively poor impact resistance.
- More expensive than fiberglass.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are some advantages of composites?
- Lighter weight if properly designed.
- Very smooth, compound curved, aerodynamic structure made from composites reduces drag.
- Lack of corrosion.
- Good performance in a flexing environment, such as in helicopter rotor blades.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What are some disadvantages of composites?
- Lack of visual proof of damage.
- The potential for heat damage to the resin.
- Chemical paint strippers are very harmful to composites.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
In a composite structure, a low energy impact, such as a bump or a tool drop…
may not leave any visible sign of the impact on the surface.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
When is a repair mandatory on a composite material?
If an impact results in delaminations, crushing of the surface, or a puncture.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
Impact energy affects the visibility, as well as the severity, of damage in composite structures. What are the differences between high, medium, and low energy impacts?
- High and medium energy impacts, while severe, are easy to detect.
- Low energy impacts can easily cause hidden damage.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
Many epoxies begin to weaken over…
150 °F
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
Why do composite aircraft often have specific recommendations on allowable paint colors?
So they don’t overheat in the sun.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
A quickly extinguished small brake fire can damage…
Bottom wing skins, composite landing gear legs, or wheel pants.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What type of chemicals are very harmful to composites and must not be used on them?
Chemical paint strippers
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
How do composites react to fuel, oil, or hydraulic fluid?
These are generally not a problem with modern composites using epoxy resin.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
How do aircraft mitigate the impact of lightning strikes?
The energy from the strike must be spread over a large surface area to lower the amps per square inch to a harmless level.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
What is typically bonded to the skin surfaces of composite aircraft and why?
- Fine metal aluminum and copper mesh.
- To mitigate the risk of lightning damage.
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
For composite aircraft with internal radio antennas, there must be ____ in the lightning strike mesh in the area of the antenna.
windows
Types of Aircraft Construction: Composites
Internal radio antennas may be found in fiberglass composites because fiberglass is…
transparent to radio frequencies, where carbon fiber is not.
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What does LCD stand for?
Liquid Crystal Display
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What does EFD stand for?
Electronic Flight Display
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What does PFD stand for?
Primary Flight Display
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
Where is the PFD positioned?
In front of the pilot.
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What does MFD stand for?
Multi Function Display
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
Where is the MFD positioned?
Approximately in the center of the instrument panel
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
Whether an aircraft has analog or digital (glass) instruments, the instrumentation falls into three different categories:
- Performance
- Control
- Navigation
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What do performance instruments do?
Indicate the aircraft’s actual performance.
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
How is performace determined?
By reference to the:
altimeter
airspeed
vertical speed indicator (VSI)
heading indicator
turn-and-slip indicator
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What do control instruments do?
Display immediate attitude and power changes and are calibrated to permit adjustments in precise increments.
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What do navigation instruments do?
Indicate the position of the aircraft in relation to a selected navigation facility or fix.
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
Navigation instruments are comprised of indicators that display…
- GPS
- VOR
- NDB
- ILS
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Airspeed Indicator
Performance instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Altimeter Indicator
Performance instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Attitude Indicator
Performance instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Heading Indicator
Performance instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Tachometer
Control instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Turn Coordinator
Performance instrument
Instrumentation: Moving into the Future
What is the highlighted instrument and what type is it?
Vertical Speed Indicator
Performance instrument