Principles of Flight

UNIT -3

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Principles of Flight

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 Principles of Flight
Weight:
• Force of gravity that acts vertically through the
center of gravity
• Weight varies based on load, passengers, and fuel
Opposing lift, as an aircraft is descending

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 Principles of Flight
Thrust:
• Forward acting force that opposes drag and propels the
airplane.
• Measured in pounds of thrust and/or horsepower
• Acts parallel to the center of thrust to overcome drag, F=MA
• Excess thrust makes an airplane climb
• Provided by a propeller in most small aircraft
• Thrust must overcome total drag in order to provide forward
speed with which to produce lift
• Increasing the power allows thrust to exceed drag, causing
the airplane to accelerate
• Reducing the power allows drag to exceed thrust, causing
the airplane to slow
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 Principles of Flight
Lift
•Key aerodynamic force on an airfoil
•Lift always acts in a direction perpendicular to the
relative wind and to the lateral axis of the aircraft
•Therefore, lift is not always up or in any reference to
the Earth
•Lift is concentrated from the center of pressure (CP).
•Drag is always a by-product of lift

•Air flow over the airfoil causes lift.

•Lift is proportional to the square of the speed (Lift = V2)
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 Principles of Flight
•The magnitude of the force of lift is directly proportional to the
density of the air, the area of the wings, the airspeed, shape, and AOA.
•Total lift must overcome the total weight of the aircraft, which is
comprised of the actual weight and the tail-down force used to control
the aircraft's pitch attitude
•Occurs proportionately with:
•Speed
•Air Density
•Shape
•Size of the airfoil
•You can control lift in 2 ways:
•Increasing AoA
•Increasing Speed

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 Principles of Flight
The principle structure of an aircraft consists of:
Fuselage: main structural unit
Wings: airfoils to produce lift
Flight Control Surfaces:
Primary: ailerons, elevator, rudders
Secondary: moveable trim tabs located on the
primary flight control surfaces
Auxiliary: wing flaps, spoilers, speed brakes and
slats.

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 Principles of Flight
Definitions:
•Airfoil: any surface such as a wing, aileron, rotor blade, or stabilizer designed to produce lift when in
motion relative to the surrounding air
•Chord: Chord line longitudinal length (length as viewed from the side)
•Chord Line: The chord line is the straight line intersecting the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil
•Mean Camber Line: Located halfway between the upper and lower surfaces as the average
•Relative Wind: The direction of the airflow with respect to an airfoil
•Angle of Attack (AOA): The acute angle measured between the relative wind, or flight path and the
chord of the airfoil
•Angle of Incidence (AOI): formed by the chord of the airfoil and the longitudinal axis of the aircraft
which is designed into the aircraft and cannot be changed by the pilot
•Attitude: relationship of the aircraft's nose with the horizon
•Flight Path: The course or track along which the aircraft is flying or is intended to be flown
•Lift: A component of the total aerodynamic force on an airfoil and acts perpendicular to the relative
wind
•Center of Pressure (CP): The average (mean) of the lift force through which all lift is considered to
act, same as Center of Lift
•Center of Lift: The average (mean) of the lift force through which all lift is considered to act, same as
Center of Pressure
•Center of Gravity: The average weight across an aircraft through which gravity is considered to act

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There are 4 forces
involved with flight:
• Lift
• Weight
• Thrust
• Drag

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Airfoils:
• A streamlined surface that provides aerodynamic force, when interacting
with a moving steam of air, is an airfoil
• A wing is shaped to take advantage of Bernoulli's principle as well as
Newton's laws
• Lift created is measured with the coefficient of lift, which relates to the
AoA
• Every airfoil has an angle of attack where maximum lift occurs (stall)
• The mean camber is important because it assists in determining
aerodynamic qualities of an airfoil
• The measurement of the maximum camber, inclusive of both the
displacement of the mean camber line and its linear measurement from
the end of the chord line, provides properties useful in evaluating airfoils

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 Principles of Flight

• Chord—an imaginary straight line drawn from

the leading edge to the trailing edge of a cross
section of an airfoil
• The relative wind for an airplane in flight flows
in a direction parallel with and opposite to the
direction of flight.
 Wingspan—the maximum distance from
wingtip to wingtip, .

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 Air Density Air Velocity
Coefficient Lift

L L
Wing Surface Area
Total Lift
Coefficient of Lift

Total Drag
D
Coefficient of Drag
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• Bernoulli's principle can be
derived from the principle
of conservation of energy.
• This states that, in a steady
flow, the sum of all forms of
mechanical energy in a fluid
along a streamline is the
same at all points on that
streamline.
• This requires that the sum
of kinetic energy and
potential energy remain
constant. Thus an increase
in the speed of the fluid
occurs proportionately with
an increase in both its
dynamic pressure and
kinetic energy, and a
decrease in its
static pressure and
potential energy.
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Drag is a mechanical force generated by a solid object
moving through a fluid. 18
 Principles of Flight
• Drag: Drag is the rearward acting force which resists
the forward movement of the airplane through the air
• Drag acts parallel to and in the same direction as the
relative wind
Total drag may be classified into two main types:
•Induced Drag
•Parasite Drag

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 Principles of Flight

•Several factors affect parasite drag. These

factors are:
• The more streamlined an object is, the less
the parasite drag.
• The more dense the air moving past the
airplane, the greater the parasite drag.
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 Principles of Flight

•As speed increases, the amount of

parasite drag increases.
•If the speed is doubled, four times as
much drag is produced.
• Parasite drag can be further classified into
form drag, skin friction, and interference
drag 21
 Principles of Flight
•Form drag is caused by the frontal area of the airplane
components being exposed to the airstream
•Skin friction drag is caused by air passing over the airplane’s
surfaces and increases considerably if the airplane surfaces are
rough and dirty.
•Interference drag is caused by interference of the airflow
between adjacent parts of the airplane such as the intersection of
wings and tail sections with the fuselage.
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Principles of Flight

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 FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

a) Movable airfoil
Example
- Ailerons – Controls movements of aircraft around the longitudinal axis
- Elevators - Controls movements of aircraft around the Lateral axis
- Rudder - Controls movements of aircraft around the Vertical axis.
- Flaps – Creates drag during landing and take off.

b) Fixed airfoil
Example
- Wings
- Fin (vertical Stabilizer)
- Horizontal stabilizer

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 FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

The axis of an airplane are:-

 Lateral axis, an imaginary line form wing tip
to wing tip.
Longitudinal axis, an imaginary from the
nose to the tail.
Vertical axis, an imaginary extending through
the intersection of the lateral and longitudinal
axis.

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FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

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FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

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FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

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FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES

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