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Elements of Aeronautics (13AE32)

Unit-1
Part-2 Introduction to Aircraft
Basic components of aircraft


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The modern aircraft has five basic structural components: fuselage, wings, empennage (tail
structures), power plant (propulsion system) and the undercarriage.
i) Fuselage
The fuselage is the main body structure to which all other components are attached.
The fuselage contains the cockpit or flight deck, passenger compartment and cargo
compartment.
While wings produce most of the lift, the fuselage also produces a little lift. A bulky
fuselage can also produce a lot of drag. For this reason, a fuselage is streamlined to
decrease the drag. It has a sharp or rounded nose with sleek, tapered body so that the
air can flow smoothly around it.

ii) Wings
The wings are the most important lift-producing part of the aircraft.
Wings vary in design depending upon the aircraft type and its purpose. Most airplanes
are designed so that the outer tips of the wings are higher than where the wings are
attached to the fuselage. This upward angle is called the dihedral and helps keep the
airplane from rolling unexpectedly during flight.
The internal volume of the wings can be used for such item as fuel tanks and storage
of the landing gear (the wheels and supporting struts).

iii) Empennage (tail structure)
The empennage or tail assembly provides stability and control for the aircraft. The
empennage is composed of two main parts:
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the vertical stabilizer (fin) to which the rudder is attached
the horizontal stabilizer to which the elevators are attached.

These stabilizers of the airplane help to keep the airplane pointed into the wind. When
the tail end of the airplane tries to swing to either side, the wind pushes against the tail
surfaces, returning it to its proper place. The rudder and elevators allow the pilot to
control the yaw and pitch motion of the airplane, respectively.

iv) Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear consists of struts, wheels and brakes. The landing
gear can be fixed in place or retractable.
Many small airplanes have fixed landing gear which increases drag, but keeps the
airplane lightweight.
Larger, faster and more complex aircraft have retractable landing gear that can
accommodate the increased weight. The advantage to retractable landing gear is that
the drag is greatly reduced when the gear is retracted. When flying on a commercial
airliner you will notice that the pilot retracts the landing gear very soon after the
airplane leaves the ground. This helps to decrease drag as the airplane ascends.

v) Power plant (propulsion system)

The power plant is simply the propulsion system and consists of the engines. The sole
purpose of the engines is to provide thrust for the airplane.
There are many different types of aircraft engines including: piston, turboprop,
turbojet and turbofan. Turbojet and turbofan are jet engines. Some aircraft, notably
gliders, do not have an engine. To take off they must have another source of thrust -
that is, the tow-plane which pulls them into the air.
When the engine is mounted on the wings, they are usually housed in a type of shroud
called a nacelle.

Aircraft Axis system

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In flight, any aircraft will rotate about its center of gravity, a point which is the average
location of the mass of the aircraft. We can define a three dimensional coordinate system
through the center of gravity with each axis of this coordinate system perpendicular to the
other two axes. We can then define the orientation of the aircraft by the amount of rotation of
the parts of the aircraft along these principal axes.
An airplane is of course a three-dimensional shape, therefore it has three axis:
1. Normal Axis
2. Lateral Axis
3. Longitudnal Axis
Normal axis (yaw)
The Yaw axis is a vertical axis through an aircraft, rocket, or similar body, about which the
body yaws; it may be a body, wind, or stability axis. Also known as yawing axis. The yaw
axis is defined to be perpendicular to the body of the wings with its origin at the center of
gravity and directed towards the bottom of the aircraft. A yaw motion is a movement of the
nose of the aircraft from side to side The rudder is the primary control of yaw.
Lateral axis (pitch)
The lateral axis (also called transverse axis) passes through the plane from wingtip to
wingtips. Rotation about this axis is called pitch. Pitch changes the vertical direction the
aircraft's nose is pointing. The elevators are the primary control of pitch.
Longitudinal axis (roll)
The longitudinal axis passes through the plane from nose to tail. Rotation about this axis is
called bank or roll. Bank changes the orientation of the aircraft's wings with respect to the
downward force of gravity. The pilot changes bank angle by increasing the lift on one wing
and decreasing it on the other. This differential lift causes bank rotation around the
longitudinal axis. The ailerons are the primary control of bank.
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Normally these axes are represented by the letters X, Y and Z in order to compare them with
some reference frame.
Aircraft motions
A yaw motion is a movement of the nose of the aircraft from side to side.
A pitch motion is an up or down movement of the nose of the aircraft.
A rolling motion is an up and down movement of the wing tips of the aircraft.
Control Surfaces
As aircraft moves in the three dimensions, we need various control devices to control it. The
main control surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft are attached to the airframe on hinges or tracks
so they may move and thus deflect the air stream passing over them. This redirection of the
air stream generates an unbalanced force to rotate the plane about the associated axis.There
are mainly three types of control surfaces:
i) Ailerons
ii) Elevator
iii) Rudder
i) Ailerons

Ailerons are mounted on the trailing edge of each wing near the wingtips and move in
opposite directions. When the pilot moves the stick left, or turns the wheel counter-clockwise,
the left aileron goes up and the right aileron goes down. A raised aileron reduces lift on that
wing and a lowered one increases lift, so moving the stick left causes the left wing to drop
and the right wing to rise. This causes the aircraft to roll to the left and begin to turn to the
left. Centering the stick returns the ailerons to neutral maintaining the bank angle. The
aircraft will continue to turn until opposite aileron motion returns the bank angle to zero to fly
straight.
ii) Elevator
An elevator is a moveable part of the horizontal stabilizer, hinged to the back of the fixed part
of the horizontal tail. The elevators move up and down together. When the pilot pulls the
stick backward, the elevators go up. Pushing the stick forward causes the elevators to go
down. Raised elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch up. This makes the
wings fly at a higher angle of attack, which generates more lift and more drag. Centering the
stick returns the elevators to neutral and stops the change of pitch. Many aircraft use a fully
moveable horizontal stabilizer called stabilator or all-moving tail.
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iii) Rudder
The rudder is typically mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer, part of
the empennage. When the pilot pushes the left pedal, the rudder deflects left. Pushing the
right pedal causes the rudder to deflect right. Deflecting the rudder right pushes the tail left
and causes the nose to yaw to the right. Centering the rudder pedals returns the rudder to
neutral and stops the yaw.
High lift devices:
In aircraf design, high lift devices is a component or mechanism which increases lift
beyond that obtainable from the main aircraft components. The device may be fixed
component or movable mechanism which is deployed when required.
Devices to increase the lift coefficient by geometry changes (camber and/or chord)
and/or boundary-layer control (avoid flow separation).
a) Flaps, trailing edge devices
b) Slats, leading edge devices
a) Flaps
Flaps increase the wing surface or curve generating more lift with the same speed. They are
very used on low speed operations, mainly during landings and take offs.There are several
types of flaps:
Plain Flap
Split Flap
Flap Zap or Slotted
Flap Fowler
Flap Multi-Fowler

b) Slats
Slats are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wings of fixed-wing aircraft which,
when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of
lift is produced as a result of angle of attack and speed, so by deploying slats an aircraft can
fly at slower speeds, or take off and land in shorter distances. They are usually used while
landing or performing maneuvers which take the aircraft close to the stall, but are usually
retracted in normal flight to minimize drag.
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Spoilers

A spoiler (sometimes called a lift dumper) is a small, hinged plate on the top portion of a
wing intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Spoilers are used to disrupt or "spoil" the flow of
air over a section of a wing.By doing so, the spoiler creates a controlled stall over the portion
of the wing, greatly reducing the lift of that wing section.
When the pilot activates the spoiler, the plate flips up into the air stream. On this figure, the
airplane's right wing spoiler is deployed, while the left wing spoiler is stored flat against the
wing surface (as viewed from the rear of the airplane). The flow over the right wing will be
disturbed by the spoiler, the drag of this wing will be increased, and the lift will decrease
relative to the left wing. Because the forces are not equal, there is a net twist about the center
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of gravity in the direction of the larger force. The resulting motion will roll the aircraft to the
rightt (clockwise) as viewed from the rear. If the pilot reverses the spoiler deflections (right
spoiler flat and left spoiler up) the aircraft will roll in the opposite direction. We have chosen
to name the left wing and right wing based on a view from the back of the aircraft towards
the nose, because that is the direction in which the pilot is looking.
Spoilers differ from airbrakes, in that airbrakes are designed to increase drag without regard
to affecting the lift, while spoilers reduce lift as well as increase drag.
Types of aircraft
Lighter than air aerostats

Fig. A hot air balloon in flight
Aerostats use buoyancy to float in the air in much the same way that ships float on the water.
They are characterized by one or more large gasbags or canopies, filled with a relatively low-
density gas such as helium, hydrogen, or hot air, which is less dense than the surrounding air.
When the weight of this is added to the weight of the aircraft structure, it adds up to the same
weight as the air that the craft displaces.
A balloon was originally any aerostat, while the term airship was used for large, powered
aircraft designs usually fixed-wing though none had yet been built. The advent of powered
balloons, Nowadays a "balloon" is an unpowered aerostat and an "airship" is a powered one.

Heavier-than-air aerodynes
Heavier-than-air aircraft, such as airplanes, must find some way to push air or gas
downwards, so that a reaction occurs (by Newton's laws of motion) to push the aircraft
upwards. This dynamic movement through the air is the origin of the term aerodyne. There
are two ways to produce dynamic upthrust: aerodynamic lift, and powered lift in the form of
engine thrust.
Aerodynamic lift involving wings is the most common, with fixed-wing aircraft being kept in
the air by the forward movement of wings, and rotorcraft by spinning wing-shaped rotors
sometimes called rotary wings. A wing is a flat, horizontal surface, usually shaped in cross-
section as an aerofoil. To fly, air must flow over the wing and generate lift. A flexible wingis
a wing made of fabric or thin sheet material, often stretched over a rigid frame. A kite is
tethered to the ground and relies on the speed of the wind over its wings, which may be
flexible or rigid, fixed, or rotary.
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With powered lift, the aircraft directs its engine thrust vertically downward. V/STOL aircraft,
such as the Harrier Jump Jet and F-35B take off and land vertically using powered lift and
transfer to aerodynamic lift in steady flight.
A pure rocket is not usually regarded as an aerodyne, because it does not depend on the air
for its lift (and can even fly into space); however, many aerodynamic lift vehicles have been
powered or assisted by rocket motors. Rocket-powered missiles that obtain aerodynamic lift
at very high speed due to airflow over their bodies are a marginal case.
Fixed-wing

. The most important wing characteristics are:
Number of wings Monoplane, biplane, etc.
Wing support Braced or cantilever, rigid, or flexible.
Wing planform including aspect ratio, angle of sweep, and any variations along the
span (including the important class of delta wings).
Location of the horizontal stabilizer, if any.
Dihedral angle positive, zero, or negative (anhedral).
A variable geometry aircraft can change its wing configuration during flight.
A flying wing has no fuselage, though it may have small blisters or pods. The opposite of this
is a lifting body, which has no wings, though it may have small stabilizing and control
surfaces.
Wing-in-ground-effectt vehicles may be considered as fixed-wing aircraft. They "fly"
efficiently close to the surface of the ground or water, like conventional aircraft during
takeoff. An example is the Russian ekranoplan (nicknamed the "Caspian Sea
Monster"). Man-powered aircraft also rely on ground effect to remain airborne with a
minimal pilot power, but this is only because they are so underpowered in fact, the
airframe is capable of flying higher.
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Rotorcraft

Rotorcraft, or rotary-wing aircraft, use a spinning rotor with aerofoil section blades (a rotary
wing) to provide lift. Types include helicopters,autogyros, and various hybrids such
as gyrodynes and compound rotorcraft.
Helicopters have a rotor turned by an engine-driven shaft. The rotor pushes air downward to
create lift. By tilting the rotor forward, the downward flow is tilted backward, producing
thrust for forward flight. Some helicopters have more than one rotor and a few have rotors
turned by gas jets at the tips.
Autogyros have unpowered rotors, with a separate power plant to provide thrust. The rotor is
tilted backward. As the autogyro moves forward, air blows upward across the rotor, making it
spin. This spinning increases the speed of airflow over the rotor, to provide lift. Rotor
kites are unpowered autogyros, which are towed to give them forward speed or tethered to a
static anchor in high-wind for kited flight.
Cyclogyros rotate their wings about a horizontal axis.
Compound rotorcraft have wings that provide some or all of the lift in forward flight. They
are nowadays classified as powered lift types and not as rotorcraft. Tiltrotor aircraft (such as
the V-22 Osprey), tiltwing, tailsitter, and coleopter aircraft have their
rotors/propellers horizontal for vertical flight and vertical for forward flight.

Wing Configurations
Fixed-wing aircraft can have different numbers of wings:
Monoplane: one wing plane. Since the 1930s most aeroplanes have been monoplanes.
The wing may be mounted at various positions relative to the fuselage:
Low wing: mounted near or below the bottom of the fuselage.
Mid wing: mounted approximately half way up the fuselage.
Shoulder wing: mounted on the upper part or "shoulder" of the fuselage, slightly
below the top of the fuselage. A shoulder wing is sometimes considered a sub-type of
high wing.
High wing: mounted on the upper fuselage. When contrasted to the shoulder wing,
applies to a wing mounted on a projection (such as the cabin roof) above the top of
the main fuselage.
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Parasol wing: raised clear above the top of the fuselage, typically by cabane struts,
pylon(s) or pedestal(s).

Low wing

Mid wing

Shoulder wing

High wing

Parasol wing
A fixed-wing aircraft may have more than one wing plane, stacked one above another:
Biplane: two wing planes of similar size, stacked one above the other. The most common
configuration until the 1930s, when the monoplane took over. The Wright Flyer I was a
biplane.
Unequal-span biplane: a biplane in which one wing (usually the lower) is shorter
than the other, as on the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny of the First World War.
Sesquiplane: literally "one-and-a-half planes" is a type of biplane in which the lower
wing is significantly smaller than the upper wing, either in span or chord or both.
TheNieuport 17 of WWI was notably successful.
Inverted sesquiplane: has a significantly smaller upper wing. The Fiat CR.1 was in
production for many years.

Biplane

Unequal-span biplane

Sesquiplane

Inverted sesquiplane
Triplane: three planes stacked one above another. Triplanes such as the Fokker
Dr.I enjoyed a brief period of popularity during the First World War due to their
manoeuvrability, but were soon replaced by improved biplanes.
Quadruplane: four planes stacked one above another. A small number of the Armstrong
Whitworth F.K.10 were built in the First World War but never saw service.
Multiplane: many planes, sometimes used to mean more than one or more than some
arbitrary number. The term is occasionally applied to arrangements stacked in tandem as
well as vertically. The 1907 Multiplane of Horatio Frederick Phillips flew successfully
with two hundred wing foils, while the nine-wing Caproni Ca.60 flying boat was airborne
briefly before crashing.
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Triplane

Quadruplane

Multiplane

Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio is the span divided by the mean or average chord.
Low aspect ratio: short and stubby wing. More efficient structurally and higher
instantaneous roll rate. They tend to be used by fighter aircraft, such as the Lockheed
F-104 Starfighter, and by very high-speed aircraft (e.g. North American X-15).
Moderate aspect ratio: general-purpose wing (e.g. the Lockheed P-80 Shooting
Star).
High aspect ratio: long and slender wing. More efficient aerodynamically, having
less induced drag. They tend to be used by high-altitude subsonic aircraft (e.g.
theLockheed U-2), subsonic airliners (e.g. the Bombardier Dash 8) and by high-
performance sailplanes (e.g. Glaser-Dirks DG-500).

Low aspect ratio

Moderate aspect ratio

High aspect ratio
Most Variable geometry configurations vary the aspect ratio in some way, either deliberately
or as a side effect.
Wing sweep
Wings may be swept back, or occasionally forwards, for a variety of reasons. A small degree
of sweep is sometimes used to adjust the centre of lift when the wing cannot be attached in
the ideal position for some reason, such as a pilot's visibility from the cockpit. Other uses are
described below.
Straight: extends at right angles to the line of flight. The most structurally-efficient wing,
it is common for low-speed designs, such as the P-80 Shooting Star and sailplanes.
Swept back (aka "swept wing"): The wing sweeps rearwards from the root to the tip. In
early tailless examples, such as the Dunne aircraft, this allowed the outer wing section to
act like a conventional empennage (tail) to provide aerodynamic stability.
At transonic speeds swept wings have lower drag, but can handle badly in or near a stall
and require high stiffness to avoid aeroelasticity at high speeds. Common on high-
subsonic and early supersonic designs e.g. the Hawker Hunter.
Forward swept: the wing angles forward from the root. Benefits are similar to
backwards sweep, also it avoids the stall problems and has reduced tip losses allowing a
smaller wing, but requires even greater stiffness to avoid aeroelastic flutter as on
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the Sukhoi Su-47. The HFB-320 Hansa Jet used forward sweep to prevent the wing spar
passing through the cabin.

Straight

Swept

Forward swept

The angle of sweep may also be varied, or cranked, along the span:
Crescent: wing outer section is swept less sharply than the inner section. Used for
the Handley Page Victor.
Cranked arrow: similar to a compound delta, but with the trailing edge also kinked
inwards. Trialled experimentally on the General Dynamics F-16XL
M-wing: the inner wing section sweeps forward, and the outer section sweeps backwards.
Periodically studied, but never used on an aircraft.
W-wing: A reversed M-wing.

Crescent

Cranked arrow

M-wing

W-wing
.
Dihedral: the tips are higher than the root as on the Boeing 737, giving a shallow 'V'
shape when seen from the front. Adds lateral stability.
Anhedral: the tips are lower than the root, as on the Ilyushin Il-76; the opposite of
dihedral. Used to reduce stability where some other feature results in too much stability.
Some biplanes have different degrees of dihedral/anhedral on different wings; e.g.
the Sopwith Camel had a flat upper wing and dihedral on the lower wing, while the Hanriot
HD-1had dihedral on the upper wing but none on the lower.

Dihedral


Anhedral


Biplane with
dihedral
on both wings

Biplane with dihedral
on lower wing
In a polyhedral wing the dihedral angle varies along the span.
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Gull wing: sharp dihedral on the wing root section, little or none on the main section, as
on the PZL P.11 fighter. Sometimes used to improve visibility forwards and upwards and
may be used as the upper wing on a biplane as on the Polikarpov I-153.
Inverted gull: Anhedral on the root section, dihedral on the main section. The opposite
of a gull wing. May be used to reduce the length of wing-mounted undercarriage legs or
allow a larger propeller. Two well-known examples of the inverted gull wing are World
War II's American F4U Corsair, and the German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber.
Cranked: tip section dihedral differs from the main section. The wingtips may crank
upwards as on the F-4 Phantom II or downwards as on the Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet
(Note that the term "cranked" varies in usage. Here, it is used to help clarify the
relationship between changes of dihedral nearer the wing tip vs. nearer the wing root. See
also Cranked arrow planform.)

Gull wing

Inverted gull wing

Upward cranked tips

Downward cranked tips
Blended body or blended wing-body a smooth transition occurs between wing and
fuselage, with no hard dividing line. Blended wing body (BWB or Hybrid Wing Body,
HWB
[1]
) craft have no clear dividing line between the wings and the main body of the
craft. Reduces wetted area (entire surface exposed to airflow) and can also reduce
interference between airflow over the wing root and any adjacent body, in both cases
reducing drag. The Lockheed SR-71 spyplane exemplifies this approach.




Fig. Blended body


Twin boom layout
A twin-boom aircraft is characterised by two longitudinal booms (extended nacelle-like
bodies) fixed to its main wing on either side of itscentre line. The booms may contain
ancillary items such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for external ancillary
items. Typically, twin tailbooms provide mounting points for one or more tail surfaces,
although on some types such as the Rutan Model 72 Grizzly the booms run forward of the
main wing. The twin-boom configuration is distinct from twin-fuselage designs.
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Fig: De Havilland Vampire

Canard refers to an arrangement in which a small forewing or foreplane is placed ahead of
the main wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The term "canard" may be used to describe the aircraft
itself, the wing configuration or the foreplane.
Stealth aircraft
Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of advanced technologies that
reduce reflection/emission of radar infrared,visible light, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, and
audio, collectively known as stealth technology. Development of stealth technology likely
began in Germany during World War II, the planned Horten Ho 229 being described as the
first stealth aircraft. Well-known modern examples of stealth of U.S aircraft include the
United States' F-117 Nighthawk (19812008), the B-2 Spirit, the F-22 Raptor, and the F-35
Lightning II.
Stealth technology also termed LO technology (low observable technology) is a sub-
discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range
of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, missiles and satellites to make
them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods. It
corresponds to camouflage for these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
STOL aircraft
A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is an aircraft with short runway requirements
for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for
use on runways with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including
those used in scheduled passenger airline operations, have also been operated from STOL
port airfields which feature short runways.
Eg. Zenith STOL CH 701
STOVL aircraft
A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL aircraft) is a fixed-wing
aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway (or take off vertically if it does not have a
heavy payload) and land vertically (i.e. with no runway).
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Eg. VTOL jet aircraft (such as the Harrier jump-jet) and tiltrotors (such as the V-22
Osprey), among others.