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PTC/CM/B1.1/M11A/01
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Mar 2014
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Category A/B1
List of Amendments
Amendment No.
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Issue Date:
All
31 March 2014
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Category A/B1
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MODULE 11A
Sub Module 11.1
THEORY OF FLIGHT
Category A/B1
Contents
11.1.1 AEOROPLANE AEORODYNAMICS AND FLIGHT CONTROLS
INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF ROLL CONTROL ------------------------------------------ 7
AILERONS AND SPOILERS -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF PITCH CONTROL --------------------------------------- 13
ELEVATORS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13
STABILATORS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
VARIABLE INCIDENCE STABILISERS ----------------------------------------------------- 13
CANARD AIRCRAFT -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF YAW CONTROL ---------------------------------------- 18
RUDDERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18
RUDDER LIMITER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
CONTROL USING ELEVON AND RUDDERVATORS ----------------------------------- 20
ELEVONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
RUDDERVATOR------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
HIGH LIFT DEVICES -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22
SLOTS AND SLATS---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
FLAPS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27
FLAPERONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33
DRAG INDUCING DEVICES -----------------------------------------------------------------34
SPOILERS AND LIFT DUMPERS ------------------------------------------------------------34
SPEED BRAKES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------34
EFFECT OF WING FENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------43
EFFECT OF SAW TOOTH LEADING EDGES ----------------------------------------------43
BOUNDARY LAYER CONTROL -------------------------------------------------------------45
VORTEX GENERATORS ----------------------------------------------------------------------45
STALL WEDGES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------45
LEADING EDGE DEVICES --------------------------------------------------------------------45
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF TRIM TABS -----------------------------------------------47
BALANCE TABS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------49
ANTI-BALANCE TABS ------------------------------------------------------------------------49
SERVO TABS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------49
SPRING TABS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------51
MASS BALANCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------53
CONTROL SURFACE BIAS -------------------------------------------------------------------54
AERODYNAMIC BALANCE PANELS -------------------------------------------------------54
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FIXED AIRFOILS
The fixed airfoils are the wings, the horizontal stabilizer, and the
vertical stabilizer (fin). The function of the wings has been
previously discussed. The tail section of the airplane, including
the stabilizers, elevators, and rudder, is commonly called the
empennage.
MOVABLE CONTROL SURFACES
Movable flight control surfaces are divided into two categories;
Figure 1
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Figure 2
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CONTROL OF AN AIRPLANE
Whether an airplane is stable or unstable, it is necessary for
the pilot to be able to control it, so that he can maneuver it into
any desired position.
If the control column is moved to the left, the right aileron will
depress and right wing will rise at the same time the left aileron
will raise and left wing will lower causing airplane to bank left.
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FIXED AIRFOILS
VERTICAL FINS
HORIZONTAL STABILIZERS
As has been discussed, the horizontal stabilizer is used to
provide longitudinal pitch stability and is usually attached to the
aft portion of the fuselage. It may be located either above or
below the vertical stabilizer or at some midpoint of the
stabilizer. Conventional tails (horizontal stabilizers) are placed
aft of the wing and set at a slight negative angle with respect to
the wing chord line. This configuration gives a downward lift
force on the tail, as shown in Figure 4.
The down-lift force is dependent on the size of stabilizer and
the distance aft that it is placed from the C.G. the horizontal
stabilizer may be designed as a fixed surface attached to the
tail or as a movable surface used to trim the aircraft or provide
pitch control.
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Figure 4
Figure 5
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Fig. 6
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Figure 7
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ADVERSE YAW
OTHER WAYS OF OVERCOMING ADVERSE YAW ARE;
Aileron control in an airplane is complicated somewhat by an
effect called adverse yaw. An aileron that moves down at the
trailing edge of a wing creates considerably more drag than the
aileron on the opposite wing that moves upward the same
amount. Also due to the induced turn the down-going wing will
have a lesser speed than that of the up-going wing increasing
the drag on the up-going wing. Therefore, if the ailerons were
rigged to move the same distance in response to the movement
of the cockpit control, the drag of the downward moving aileron
would cause the airplane to turn toward the side on which the
downward-moving aileron is located.
Thus, a pilot wishing to make a left turn would move the
control to the left, causing the right aileron to move downward,
but the drag caused by the aileron would cause the airplane
to turn to the right, except for strong rudder control.
To overcome adverse yaw, the ailerons of an airplane are
rigged for differential movement. The differential control causes
the up- moving aileron to move a greater distance than the
down-moving aileron. The amount of differential is sufficient
to balance the drag between the ailerons, thus eliminating the
yaw effect (Fig 8)
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Fig. 8
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If the wheel is moved to the right, the right aileron must move
up and the left aileron must move down. Reverse movement of
control should then cause a reverse of position of the ailerons.
AILERON REVERSAL
If we want to increase lift on one wing in order to roll the aircraft
we deflect the aileron down on the wing we want raised. But as
the wing C.G.is ahead of the aileron and the wing is flexible the
forces created on the aileron will have a negative moment
around the C.G. of the wing The wing will twist and will result in
a reduction of angle of attack for the wing.
If L2 is greater than L1 there is a net reduction in lift rather
than an increase and the aircraft will roll in the opposite
direction than intended. This is known as aileron reversal (Fig
11)
To prevent this from happening the following methods could be
used
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Fig 11
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STABILATORS
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Figure 13
Figure 12
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CANARD AIRCRAFT
The earliest powered aircraft, such as the Wright Flyer (see
Figure 15), had horizontal surfaces located ahead of the wings.
This configuration, also on the Beech Starship (Figure 16),
which has two lifting surfaces, with the forward airfoil being
called a canard, is an appealing way to assist in carrying some
of the airplane weight to reduce drag and increase cruising
speed.
Conventional airplane designs that have tail surfaces located
behind the wing use the horizontal tail to balance the wing
pitching moment. This means a down load on the tail, as
previously discussed, and requires an increase in the lift
coefficient to support the added wing load. Since wing drag
increases with wing lift, a climb-and-cruise penalty is paid for
the stability offered by an aft-Located horizontal tail.
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Fig 16
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T-TAILS
The T -tail arrangement positions the stabilizer and elevator
at the top of the vertical fin. A T -tail is illustrated in Figure 17.
The use of a T -tail configuration not only makes the fin and
rudder more effective because of the end-plate action of the
stabilizer location which act similar to the addition of an end
plate on a wingtip, as was discussed in module 8, but it also
positions the horizontal tail above wing turbulence. A T -tail
structure will be somewhat heavier than a conventional tail
arrangement due to combined horizontal tail-and-fin bending
loads which must be carried by the fin and the fuselage.
With this type of arrangement there is a disadvantage of deep
stall since the tail plane is shielded by the main planes at large
angles of attack. But has the advantage of keeping clear of the
hot jets and prop wash of wing mounted engines.
There are many shapes and sizes of airplanes, most of
which are similar in appearance. In its traditional form, the
airplane is marked by an arrangement of clearly distinguishable
parts. The traditional design of the fuselage supported by wing
lift, stabilized by the tail surfaces, and propelled by the engine in
the nose has worked well over the years. However, many
variations of the standard design appear to work equally well.
Fig 17
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Thus, with rudder only, the airplane will turn sideways and
skid. In order to prevent this skid in a turn, the ailerons are used
to bank the airplane. In a car, a banked turn is much easier to
negotiate at comparatively high speeds than a flat turn. It is the
same with an airplane. To prevent skidding in a turn, the
airplane must be banked.
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RUDDER LIMITER
But because of its size and placement, at high speeds a little
movement of the rudder will cause the aircraft to yaw
dangerously. Therefore as the speed of the aircraft increases
the rudder travel needs to be limited. This is achieved by
progressively mechanically limiting rudder travel when aircraft
speed is increased beyond a certain speed sometimes pedal
travel too may get limited. Some manufacturers even go to the
extent of limiting the rate of deflection of rudder with increasing
aircraft speed.
Fig 18
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Fig 19
Fig 20
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1.5
2
= 86.5 knots
Thus, with the higher lift coefficient available, less dynamic
pressure is required to provide the necessary lift. Because of
the stated variation of stall speed with CLmax, large changes in
CLmax are necessary to produce significant changes in stall
speed.
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Fig 22
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Figure 23
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FLAPS
There are many different types of high lift devices used to
increase the maximum lift co-efficient for low speed flight. The
high lift devices applied to the trailing edge of a section consist
of a flap.
NASA defines a wing flap as a hinged, pivoted, or sliding airfoil,
usually near the trailing edge of the wing. It is designed to
increase the lift, drag, or both when deflected and is used
principally for landing, although large airplanes use partial flap
deflection for takeoff. Most flaps are usually 15 to 25% of the
airfoil's chord. The deflection of a flap produces the effect of
adding a large amount of camber well aft on the chord. The
more camber that the airfoil has results in a greater pressure
differential and the creation of more lift. This makes it
possible for the airplane to have a steeper angle of descent for
the landing without increasing the airspeed. Flaps are normally
installed on the inboard section of the wing trailing edge.
The principal types of flaps are shown applied to a basic
section of airfoil. The effect of a 30 deflection of a 25 percent
chord flap is shown on the lift and drag curves of figure.
The plain flap shown in figure is a simple hinged portion of the
trailing edge. The effect of the camber added well aft on
the chord causes a significant increase in CLmax. In addition, the
zero lift angle changes to a more negative value and the drag
increases greatly.
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Fig 24
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Fig 25
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Fig 26
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Fig 27
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FLAPERONS
Ailerons that are rigged to serve as ailerons or flaps are called
flaperons. When employed as flaps, flaperons on opposite
wings move either upward or downward together.
When employed as ailerons, the flaperons move in opposite
directions. The use of flaperons allows the wings to vary in
camber or curvature. By varying the wings' camber, the pilot
gives the aircraft better performance capabilities over a wider
operating range. The use of ailerons that can be drooped to
change a wing's camber and, in effect, function as flaperons is
becoming popular on transport category aircraft. This allows the
entire trailing edge to be equipped with flaps to vary the
camber.
Additionally, on a few aircraft, ailerons designed to 'droop' when
the trailing edge flaps are lowered to certain positions, act as
additional plain flaps. Roll control is retained, but extra lift (and
drag) is generated during landing. These surfaces are usually
referred to as Flaperons or sometimes called droop ailerons.
Fig 28 - DROOP AILERON
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Secondly, the spoilers can be used in a symmetrical, partdeployed position, allowing the aircraft to slow down quickly in
the cruise, or
descend at a much steeper rate without
accelerating. On some aircraft, the deployment angle of the
spoiler panels can be varied by changing the position of the
control lever in the flight compartment.
Lift dumpers are, as their name describes, are spoiler panels
incorporated solely to dump lift. They are normally deployed
after landing, destroying the lift of the wing and producing high
drag, to assist in stopping the aircraft efficiently and thereby
allowing the wheel brakes to be operated more effectively.
SPEED BRAKES
Whilst it is true that the in-flight use of spoilers may be referred
to as selecting the 'speed brakes', the term more accurately
describes devices which are solely for the production of drag
without any change of trim. The rear fuselage mounted
'clamshell-type doors are true speed brakes (or air brakes) and
have the following major advantage over the use of spoilers for
producing drag.
When the wing mounted spoilers are deployed, vibration or
rumble is often felt in the passenger cabin, which some people
may find disturbing. The aft mounted speed brakes not only
produce high drag at any airspeed, but their selection is virtually
vibration free. Also, lift will be completely unaffected, thus
permitting their deployment on approach and making a go
around much safer.
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Washout
Wing fences
Saw tooth leading edge
Winglets
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Figure 31
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EFFECT OF WASHOUT
The wing may be given a geometric twist termed washout to
decrease the local angle of attack at the tip. In addition, the
airfoil section may be varied throughout the span such that
sections with greater thickness and camber are located in the
areas of highest local lift coefficients. The higher Cl max of
such sections can then develop higher lifts without the danger of
stall.
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Fig 31
Fig 33
Fig 32
Fig 34
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Normally, at the leading edge of the wing the boundary layer will
be laminar, (in smooth thin sheets close to the surface), but as
the air moves over the wing towards the trailing edge, the
boundary layer becomes thicker and turbulent. The region
where the flow changes from laminar to turbulent is called the
transition point. .As airspeed increases, the transition point
tends to move forward, so the designer tries to prevent this thus
maintaining laminar flow, over the top of the wing for as far back
as possible. Methods of boundary layer control are as follows:
BOUNDARY LAYER CONTROL
VORTEX GENERATORS
One way of stimulating the boundary layer and stopping the
airflow becoming increasingly sluggish towards the trailing edge
is the use of vortex generators.
Vortex generators are small plates or wedges projecting up from
the surface of an aerofoil about 25mm.(about 3 times the typical
boundary layer thickness), into the free stream air. Their
purpose is to shed small but lively vortices from their tip, which
act as scavengers to direct and mix the high energy free stream
air into the sluggish boundary layer air and invigorate it. This
action pushes the transition point backwards towards the trailing
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Fig 36
Fig 35
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A controllable trim tab is adjusted from the flight deck, with its
position being transmitted back to a flight deck indicator
showing trim units, left and right of neutral.
Flight deck controls are trim-wheel, lever, switch, etc., with the
actuation of the tab by mechanical, electrical or hydraulic
means. Trim facilities are normally provided on all three axes
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BALANCE TABS
ANTI-BALANCE TABS
Balance tabs assist the pilot in moving the primary control
surface. The flight deck controls are connected to the primary
control surface whereas the balance tab, hinged to the trailing
edge of the primary surface, is connected to the fixed aerofoil.
For example, the elevator balance tab, will be connected by an
adjustable rod to the horizontal stabiliser and is so arranged,
that it tends to maintain the tab at the same relative angle to the
stabiliser when the pilot moves the elevator.
Aerodynamically, therefore, the tab is moving in the opposite
direction to the control surface and assists its movement.
Adjusting the length of the connecting rod will alter the
displacement of the effective range of the tab about the midpoint datum.
Some types of balance tab have more than one point of
attachment and it is possible with these so called geared
balance tabs, to alter the range of tab deflection.
The function of a balance tab can also be combined with that of
a trim tab, by adjusting the length of the balance tab connecting
rod from the flight deck. This is usually achieved by installing a
form of linear actuator in the rod and is termed a trim/balance
tab.
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BALANCE TAB
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SPRING TABS
At high speed, control surfaces operated directly from the flight
deck, become increasingly difficult to deflect from neutral, due
to the force of the aerodynamic loads caused by the airstream
around them.
The spring tab is progressive in its operation and provides
increasing aerodynamic assistance in moving the control
surface, with an increase in aircraft forward speed. The flight
deck controls are connected to the spring tab in a similar
manner to the servo tab previously described, except the
linkage is routed via a torque rod assembly (or spring box)
attached to the primary control surface.
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MASS BALANCE
All aircraft structures are distorted when loads are applied. If the
structure is elastic, as all good structures are, it will tend to
spring back when the load is removed, or its point of application
is changed.
Since a control surface is hinged near its leading edge, the
centre of gravity (C of G) will be behind the hinge and as a
consequence, there will be more weight aft of the hinge line
than in front of it .
In the case of an aileron for example, should the air load distort
the wing upwards, it is likely that the aileron will lag behind and
distort downwards. This effectively produces an extra upward
aerodynamic force which pushes the wing up even further.
Due to its elasticity, the wing will spring back and the aileron will
lag again but this time upwards, aerodynamically forcing the
wing down further than it would normally go due to elastic recoil
alone. Now the cycle is repeated and a high speed oscillation
will result. This unwanted phenomenon is referred to as flutter.
Flutter can be prevented if the C of G of the control surface is
moved in line with, or slightly in front of, the hinge line. The
normal way of achieving this is to add a number of high density
weights, either within the leading edge of the surface itself or
externally, ahead of the hinge line. The addition of these
weights, normally made from lead or depleted uranium, is
closely controlled and calculated to ensure that the exact
balance is obtained.
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This method is similar to and has the same effect as the horn
balance. Instead of having a forward projection at one or both
ends of the control surface, the hinges are set back so that the
area forward of the hinge line, which projects into the air flow
when the control surface is moved from neutral, is spread
evenly along its whole length.
Air loads on the control side, aft of the hinge, try to push the
surface back towards neutral. (This is the force that would
normally make the controls heavy). If the proportion of balance
area forward of the hinge and control area aft of the hinge is
correct, the pilot will feel that his control loads are more
manageable, making the aircraft easier to fly.
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SUBSONIC FLIGHT
The propagation of the pressure waves from a stationary object
has been discussed above.
When an aircraft begins to move through the air at subsonic
speeds, (a speed less than pressure wave propagation speed)
the waves still travel forward and it is as if a message is sent
ahead of the aircraft to warn of its approach.
On receipt of this message, the air streams begin to divide to
make way for the aircraft but there is very little, if any change in
the density of the air as it flows over the aircraft. This warning
message can be detected perhaps 100metres in front of the
aircraft.
FIG 2
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TRANSONIC FLIGHT
At subsonic speeds, the study of aerodynamics is simplified by
the fact that air passing over a wing experiences only very small
changes in pressure and density. The airflow is termed
incompressible as, when it passes through a venturi, the
pressure changes without the density changing
At higher speeds, the change in air pressure and density
becomes significant and is called the compressibility effect.
When air enters a venturi at supersonic speeds, the airflow
slows down and must compress in order to pass through its
throat. Once a fluid compresses, its pressure and density
willboth increase.
Fig 3
Fig 4
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SUPERSONIC FLIGHT
Mach number is the ratio of the true airspeed of the aircraft and
the local speed of sound at that altitude. An aircraft travelling at
exactly the speed of sound is said to be travelling at Mach 1.
Mach 0.75
Transonic Flow
Supersonic Flow
Hypersonic Flow
Mach 5.0
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Fig 6
CRITICAL MACH NUMBER
Fig 7
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A thick wing will cause the airflow to speed up over the camber
and reach Mach 1 more quickly than a thin wing of similar chord
length. Consequently, the Critical Mach number for the thinner
wing will be a higher value than the thicker wing.
This in turn will mean that the aircraft with a thin wing, will be
able to fly faster in the transonic flight range than the one with
the thicker wing, before the unwanted effects caused by the
wing reaching Mach 1 ensue.
Conversely, less lift will be produced by a thin wing, than a thick
wing of similar chord length, but this can be overcome by the so
called Supercritical wing chord.
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SHOCK WAVES
TYPICAL SUPERSONIC FLOW PATTERNS
Figure shows the wave pattern associated with point source p of
weak pressure disturbances when stationary and when moving
in a straight line at different velocity regimes. The surrounding
fluid is assumed to be at rest. The circles represent the wave
fronts at a particular instant of time. If the time elapsed since the
wave front was emanated is t, the radius of a wave front is at,
where a is the acoustic speed.
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Fig 11
Fig 10
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The oblique shock will form on each surface of the wedge and
the inclination of the shock wave will be a function of the free
stream Mach number and the wedge angle.
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Fig. 13
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The energy of the airstream (indicated by total pressuredynamic plus static) is greatly reduced. The normal
shock wave is very wasteful of energy.
Fig 15
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EXPANSION WAVE
Fig 16
The flow direction is changed to flow along the surfaceprovided separation does not occur.
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Fig 17
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Fig 19
Fig 18
ISO 9001 - 2008 Certified
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Parts (c) and (d) of Figure show the wave pattern and resulting
pressure distribution for a double wedge airfoil at zero lift.
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Parts (e) and (f) of figure below illustrate the wave pattern and
resulting pressure distribution for the double wedge airfoil at a
small positive angle of attack.
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AERODYNAMIC HEATING
One of the biggest problems of sustained supersonic flight is
aerodynamic heating of the aircraft structure. An extreme
example of aerodynamic heating might be a shooting star,
when its material overheats to the point of destruction, from the
heat generated by friction-heating with the earth's atmosphere.
In fact, if it were not for the special ceramic tile heat-sink
insulation on the structure of the Space Shuttle, a similar fate
might occur to it on re-entry.
In the commercial world, Concorde is probably the only airliner
where aerodynamic heating presents a significant problem.
When the aircraft is flown at Mach 2, the friction of the air
passing around the aircraft heats the skin considerably even at
altitudes in excess of 17,000 metres. The point of maximum
heating is on the nose where the rise in temperature could
reach 1750C.
As a precaution, a probe on the nose of the aircraft monitors the
temperature during flight. When a reading of 1270C is reached,
the flight deck is directed to reduce the speed to about Mach
1.8, to bring the temperature back within limits.
Fig 22
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Fig 23
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AREA RULE
Area rule is an aerodynamic technique used in the design of
high speed aircraft. If drag is to be kept to a minimum at
transonic speeds, aircraft must be slim, smooth and
streamlined. In general terms it means that the wings, fuselage,
empennage and other appendages have to be considered
together when working out the total streamlining. This is
necessary so that the cross-sectional area of successive slices
of the aircraft from nose to tail, conform to those of a simple
body of streamline shape.
Area rule is defined as: For the minimum drag at the
connections, (wing/fuselage), the variation of the aircrafts total
cross-sectional area along its length, should approximate that of
an ideal shape having minimum wave drag.
Without area rule, the greatest frontal cross-sectional area of
the fuselage would occur where the wings are attached to the
fuselage. Therefore, one method of achieving area rule in this
situation, is to reduce the cross-sectional area of the fuselage,
thereby cancelling out the increase caused by the wings.
Alternatively, the fuselage cross-section could be increased with
the use of enlarged sections behind and in front of the wings to
eliminate sudden changes in the cross-sectional area and
achieve the same result.
Fig 24
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Fig 27
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Fig 28
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