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This time let us walk around an aircraft and I will identify each part and tell you what is the function briefly (Since this is the beginner course).
The aircraft models used here consist of:
B737, B777, B747 (Air Force 1 livery) and Phenom 300
Try to identify them!
It is the main body of the aircraft. It house the passengers, crew and payload. All the other components are welded or insert to the fuselage to form the entire aircraft.
Function:
To carry and protect passengers and cargo. It is the center of aircraft assembly.
2. Wings a.k.a. main lifting device -
The wings provide Lift to keep the aircraft in the air. Without it, the aircraft will not be able to sustain in the air. Unless it is equipped with rocket engines which the thrust is much greater than the weight. There are many wing designs which I will talk about it in details in the future post.
Function:
It is to provide the main lifting force for the aircraft to fly in the air.
Function:
It is to provide pitch/longitudinal stability.
4. Vertical Stabilizer -
Consists of the tail fin and the rudder. The idea of calling them stabilizer is because they are the important parts to stabilize the aircraft in-flight. To keep flying straight and level. Without any of the stabilizer, the aircraft will be "Unstable" and difficult to control.
Function:
It is to provide yaw/normal axis stability.
5. Empennage (i.e. tail assembly = Vertical + Horizontal Stabilizer) -
This is just a name and is mainly used on fighter jets as they have short and narrow fuselage.
Function:
It is to provide overall stability of the aircraft.
6. Power Plants a.k.a. Engines -
Without these 2 engines, the aircraft becomes a glider.
One Engine can produce enough thrust to support entire aircraft in the air, of-course it can't fly high and fast enough for the entire flight, therefore a diversion is required if one engine is not operative.
Nowadays Engine is designed to have a high-bypass ratio (Turbo-Fan) which means it can move a large quantity of air molecules in a short-time. In the past, jet engine (Turbo-Jet) is accelerating small amount of air molecules to extremely high speed in order to produce thrust. The current high-bypass ratio engine can achieve the same thrust by move a large amount of air molecules in a short-time. The benefits is much quieter and cooler engine.
Function:
It is to produce thrust.
1. Aileron -
The Aileron is part of the wing but this is a moveable part, it is pivoted to the wing and moves upward and downward. There is Aileron on left and right wings, however their movement is the opposite of each other.
i.e. The left aileron moves upward, the right aileron to move downward.
The left aileron moves downward, the left aileron will move upwards.
Function:
To roll/bank the aircraft along longitudinal axis.
2. Elevator -
The Elevator most of the time is located at the back of the aircraft and is part of the horizontal stabilizer. It pivoted to the horizontal stabilizer and only move upwards and downwards together. Unlike the aileron, they move in the same direction.
Function: The Elevator is to change the pitch of the aircraft along the latitudinal axis and there are 3 states: Level, Nose Up and Nose Down.
3. Rudder -
It is part of the vertical stabilizer. The rudder pivoted along the vertical stabilizer and the movement is left and right.
Function: It is to control the yaw (Nose Left or Nose Right) of the aircraft along the normal axis.
4. Slats, Flaps and Pylons -
Flaps and Pylons are an additional lifting device and formed part of the wing installed at the trailing edge of the wing. It is to be used during slow speed such as during takeoff and landing. During cruise, the flaps will be retracted (Hidden inside the wing). The pylons is the mechanism to extend and retract the flaps. More lift is generated when the flaps is extended. The flaps extend backward increase the wing surface, it also can be extended downwards to increase drag (For landing use).
Slats is an additional device and formed part of the wing. It is installed at the leading edge of the wing and when extended it will increase the camber of the wing shape to make it more suitable for slow flight. During cruise, the slats will be retracted to minimize drag since cruising speed is much higher and does not require additional lifting device.
The Slats might not be present in all aircraft, Boeing and Airbus Jetliners will have it. But probably not in smaller size aircraft and General Aviation.
Function: It is to provide extra lift and drag.
Flaps In Action
Slats Increase Wing Camber (Not actual slats - for illustration only)
5. Multi-function Spoilers -
The multi-function spoilers has 2 uses, one in the air and one on the ground therefore the name multi-function.
Speed Brakes - When it is used in the air, there are 2 functions. Primarily this is by extending these panels upwards (Not more than 20 deg) to increase the drag and hence the speed reduction. Secondary function will be acted as assisted aileron to help the aircraft in bank and roll.
Ground Spoiler - When it is used on ground, the only function is during landing and rejected takeoff. These panels will fully extended upward around 80 degrees, the theory is to break the airflow and create a "Lift Dump" effect. In this case the landing gears will have more traction and friction on ground for more effective braking.
1. Pitot-Static or Pitot and Static -
In older aircrafts they are separated ports. The Pitot Tube must be in the front of the aircraft to and facing forward in order to capture the airflow.
The Static port need to be installed at the least airflow disturbance area, most of the time will be by the side of the fuselage. And flushed with the fuselage surface.
Pitot Tube's function is to measure the air pressure inside the pitot tube
Static Port's function is to measure the static pressure.
The air data computer then will compare 2 of the inputs using a formula and deduct the the Airspeed, Altitude and Vertical Speed. (We will have a detailed lesson about this in coming lessons.
In more advanced aircraft they have Smart Probe which combines Pitot-Static, Temperature Sensor and Angle of Attack all in one. It is easier and faster for maintenance as well but the cost price of one probe is much higher.
2. Anti-ice -
There are multiple parts equipped with anti-ice system. They are Windshield, Wings' leading edge, Elevators' leading edge and Engine Inlets.
There are few anti-ice systems available:
1. Ice-boot (Cheapest implementation) - Is made of rubber and formed part of the wing or elevator's leading edge. Most of the them are in black colour. When it is activated the rubber will expand by a mechanism, and it will expand outwards to break any ice formed. Mainly installed on the Wings' leading edge and/or Elevators' leading edge.
2. Pneumatic system (Expensive implementation) - Is made of metal housing and formed part of the wing, elevator or engine inlets. They have a chrome surface which is smooth as mirror. When it is activated the inner part of the metal housing will flow with hot air. The hot air is bleed from the engine through connecting pipings to the respective area. This is much more efficient comparing to Ice-boot systems.
3. Electric system - It is only to be used for the windshield to prevent frosting and affecting visibility. It is similar to our car windshield heating by using electrical element embedded inside the glass panels.
Showing in this picture is the Phenom 300 - Using Pneumatic System and Electric System.
3. Landing Gears -
Landing gears are very important needless to say. There are retractable and non-retractable. The purpose of retractable landing gear is to reduce drag in-flight and equipped in most of the mid-size to jetliners.
Non-retractable landing gears are mainly in slower aircraft (80-120 kts) cruise speed. Since they are not flying that fast and doesn't really required streamlining.
Function: To be able to maneuver on ground and to absorb impact during touch-down.
It is so fun to see this loop - But in actual fact the duration per cycle is about 20 seconds.
4. Communication and Navigation Antennas -
During commercial flying, you are bound to be control by Air Traffic Controller and there couple of ways to communicate with them. The most common method is through VHF (Very High Frequency) Radio, and it is a line-of-sight communication method. When it is outside the line-of-sight coverage, then you will need either HF (High Frequency) which can bend around the earth curvature but along the way it picks up too much noise and hard to listen and talk.
Therefore it is replaced by satellite communication.
For navigation, the aircraft receives VHF signals generate by the navigation aid, then the aircraft navigation computer will be able to tell where is the signal and how far are they. The pilot has to tune-in to these signals during navigation. And to make sure you are tune-in to the right Navaid, they have audible morse code to identify himself.
As shown below there are antennas looks like shark fins attached to the upper and lower part of the fuselage. They are VHF antennas for Navaids and Communication radio.
1. Navigation Lights -
Whenever an aircraft is energized, they have to switch on the Navigation Lights. There are 2 colours: Green and Red. It is meant to help you to identify the other aircraft flying direction. Red is on Port side (Left) of the wing tip, and Green is on the Starboard Side (Right) of the wing tip. These lights are visible from the nose straight ahead to 110 degree either side. Subsequently you will only see aft lights in white colour.
Examples:
1. You see green on your left and red on your right = The aircraft is flying towards you.
2. You see red light only = The aircraft is flying from your right to your left.
3. You see green light only = The aircraft is flying from your left to your right.
2. Strobe Lights -
Strobe lights is a high intensity white flashing light installed on top and below the fuselage. The function is to let the other aircraft to notice you from far, and subsequently using the navigation lights to identify the flying direction. Pilot will only switch them on when they are on ground switching to tower control and throughout the flight until landed on ground and vacated the runway.
3. Anti-collision Lights -
It is a red colour rotating beacon, this is to notify others that your aircraft engines are running. Pilot will shut it off only after engine shut-down.
4. Taxi / Landing Lights -
Just like our normal car headlights it should be bright white/yellow lights. The difference between taxi and landing lights are just like car's high beam and low beam. Taxi light will be shining on the ground and landing lights will be straight ahead to the air. Landing lights will be on after takeoff clearance is given and will be switched off after the aircraft climbed to 10,000 ft. The reverse apply to descend and landing.
5. Aft and Tail Light -
These lights are in white colour and visible straight to the back of the aircraft to 140 degree either side. Therefore when you see 3 white lights, the aircraft is straight ahead of you.
------------------------------------------
This time let us walk around an aircraft and I will identify each part and tell you what is the function briefly (Since this is the beginner course).
The aircraft models used here consist of:
B737, B777, B747 (Air Force 1 livery) and Phenom 300
Try to identify them!
Aircraft is assembled out of these parts:
1. Fuselage -It is the main body of the aircraft. It house the passengers, crew and payload. All the other components are welded or insert to the fuselage to form the entire aircraft.
Function:
To carry and protect passengers and cargo. It is the center of aircraft assembly.
2. Wings a.k.a. main lifting device -
The wings provide Lift to keep the aircraft in the air. Without it, the aircraft will not be able to sustain in the air. Unless it is equipped with rocket engines which the thrust is much greater than the weight. There are many wing designs which I will talk about it in details in the future post.
Function:
It is to provide the main lifting force for the aircraft to fly in the air.
3. Horizontal Stabilizer -
This part including the elevator which is designed to control the pitch moment of the aircraft. Without this, the aircraft will go crazy into climb or descend depends on the Center of Gravity at that moment.Function:
It is to provide pitch/longitudinal stability.
4. Vertical Stabilizer -
Consists of the tail fin and the rudder. The idea of calling them stabilizer is because they are the important parts to stabilize the aircraft in-flight. To keep flying straight and level. Without any of the stabilizer, the aircraft will be "Unstable" and difficult to control.
Function:
It is to provide yaw/normal axis stability.
5. Empennage (i.e. tail assembly = Vertical + Horizontal Stabilizer) -
This is just a name and is mainly used on fighter jets as they have short and narrow fuselage.
Function:
It is to provide overall stability of the aircraft.
6. Power Plants a.k.a. Engines -
Without these 2 engines, the aircraft becomes a glider.
One Engine can produce enough thrust to support entire aircraft in the air, of-course it can't fly high and fast enough for the entire flight, therefore a diversion is required if one engine is not operative.
Nowadays Engine is designed to have a high-bypass ratio (Turbo-Fan) which means it can move a large quantity of air molecules in a short-time. In the past, jet engine (Turbo-Jet) is accelerating small amount of air molecules to extremely high speed in order to produce thrust. The current high-bypass ratio engine can achieve the same thrust by move a large amount of air molecules in a short-time. The benefits is much quieter and cooler engine.
Function:
It is to produce thrust.
Flight Control Systems:
In general, there are 3 moments in flight:
- Pitch (along latitudinal axis)
- Roll (along longitudinal axis)
- Yaw (along normal axis)
And these are the control surface to change the state of one or more of the followings. In the coming lesson I will explain all the relationship, but here we learn where they are and what they called.
The Aileron is part of the wing but this is a moveable part, it is pivoted to the wing and moves upward and downward. There is Aileron on left and right wings, however their movement is the opposite of each other.
i.e. The left aileron moves upward, the right aileron to move downward.
The left aileron moves downward, the left aileron will move upwards.
Function:
To roll/bank the aircraft along longitudinal axis.
The moving parts here are only outer aileron! There is another inner aileron, which also act as a Flaps. Some called it Flaperon.
2. Elevator -
The Elevator most of the time is located at the back of the aircraft and is part of the horizontal stabilizer. It pivoted to the horizontal stabilizer and only move upwards and downwards together. Unlike the aileron, they move in the same direction.
Function: The Elevator is to change the pitch of the aircraft along the latitudinal axis and there are 3 states: Level, Nose Up and Nose Down.
3. Rudder -
It is part of the vertical stabilizer. The rudder pivoted along the vertical stabilizer and the movement is left and right.
Function: It is to control the yaw (Nose Left or Nose Right) of the aircraft along the normal axis.
4. Slats, Flaps and Pylons -
Flaps and Pylons are an additional lifting device and formed part of the wing installed at the trailing edge of the wing. It is to be used during slow speed such as during takeoff and landing. During cruise, the flaps will be retracted (Hidden inside the wing). The pylons is the mechanism to extend and retract the flaps. More lift is generated when the flaps is extended. The flaps extend backward increase the wing surface, it also can be extended downwards to increase drag (For landing use).
Slats is an additional device and formed part of the wing. It is installed at the leading edge of the wing and when extended it will increase the camber of the wing shape to make it more suitable for slow flight. During cruise, the slats will be retracted to minimize drag since cruising speed is much higher and does not require additional lifting device.
The Slats might not be present in all aircraft, Boeing and Airbus Jetliners will have it. But probably not in smaller size aircraft and General Aviation.
Function: It is to provide extra lift and drag.
Flaps In ActionSlats Increase Wing Camber (Not actual slats - for illustration only)5. Multi-function Spoilers -
The multi-function spoilers has 2 uses, one in the air and one on the ground therefore the name multi-function.
Speed Brakes - When it is used in the air, there are 2 functions. Primarily this is by extending these panels upwards (Not more than 20 deg) to increase the drag and hence the speed reduction. Secondary function will be acted as assisted aileron to help the aircraft in bank and roll.
Ground Spoiler - When it is used on ground, the only function is during landing and rejected takeoff. These panels will fully extended upward around 80 degrees, the theory is to break the airflow and create a "Lift Dump" effect. In this case the landing gears will have more traction and friction on ground for more effective braking.
Systems:
1. Pitot-Static or Pitot and Static - In older aircrafts they are separated ports. The Pitot Tube must be in the front of the aircraft to and facing forward in order to capture the airflow.
The Static port need to be installed at the least airflow disturbance area, most of the time will be by the side of the fuselage. And flushed with the fuselage surface.
Pitot Tube's function is to measure the air pressure inside the pitot tube
Static Port's function is to measure the static pressure.
The air data computer then will compare 2 of the inputs using a formula and deduct the the Airspeed, Altitude and Vertical Speed. (We will have a detailed lesson about this in coming lessons.
In more advanced aircraft they have Smart Probe which combines Pitot-Static, Temperature Sensor and Angle of Attack all in one. It is easier and faster for maintenance as well but the cost price of one probe is much higher.
2. Anti-ice -
There are multiple parts equipped with anti-ice system. They are Windshield, Wings' leading edge, Elevators' leading edge and Engine Inlets.
There are few anti-ice systems available:
1. Ice-boot (Cheapest implementation) - Is made of rubber and formed part of the wing or elevator's leading edge. Most of the them are in black colour. When it is activated the rubber will expand by a mechanism, and it will expand outwards to break any ice formed. Mainly installed on the Wings' leading edge and/or Elevators' leading edge.
2. Pneumatic system (Expensive implementation) - Is made of metal housing and formed part of the wing, elevator or engine inlets. They have a chrome surface which is smooth as mirror. When it is activated the inner part of the metal housing will flow with hot air. The hot air is bleed from the engine through connecting pipings to the respective area. This is much more efficient comparing to Ice-boot systems.
3. Electric system - It is only to be used for the windshield to prevent frosting and affecting visibility. It is similar to our car windshield heating by using electrical element embedded inside the glass panels.
Showing in this picture is the Phenom 300 - Using Pneumatic System and Electric System.3. Landing Gears -
Landing gears are very important needless to say. There are retractable and non-retractable. The purpose of retractable landing gear is to reduce drag in-flight and equipped in most of the mid-size to jetliners.
Non-retractable landing gears are mainly in slower aircraft (80-120 kts) cruise speed. Since they are not flying that fast and doesn't really required streamlining.
Function: To be able to maneuver on ground and to absorb impact during touch-down.
It is so fun to see this loop - But in actual fact the duration per cycle is about 20 seconds.4. Communication and Navigation Antennas -
During commercial flying, you are bound to be control by Air Traffic Controller and there couple of ways to communicate with them. The most common method is through VHF (Very High Frequency) Radio, and it is a line-of-sight communication method. When it is outside the line-of-sight coverage, then you will need either HF (High Frequency) which can bend around the earth curvature but along the way it picks up too much noise and hard to listen and talk.
Therefore it is replaced by satellite communication.
For navigation, the aircraft receives VHF signals generate by the navigation aid, then the aircraft navigation computer will be able to tell where is the signal and how far are they. The pilot has to tune-in to these signals during navigation. And to make sure you are tune-in to the right Navaid, they have audible morse code to identify himself.
As shown below there are antennas looks like shark fins attached to the upper and lower part of the fuselage. They are VHF antennas for Navaids and Communication radio.
Lightings:
1. Navigation Lights - Whenever an aircraft is energized, they have to switch on the Navigation Lights. There are 2 colours: Green and Red. It is meant to help you to identify the other aircraft flying direction. Red is on Port side (Left) of the wing tip, and Green is on the Starboard Side (Right) of the wing tip. These lights are visible from the nose straight ahead to 110 degree either side. Subsequently you will only see aft lights in white colour.
Examples:
1. You see green on your left and red on your right = The aircraft is flying towards you.
2. You see red light only = The aircraft is flying from your right to your left.
3. You see green light only = The aircraft is flying from your left to your right.
2. Strobe Lights -
Strobe lights is a high intensity white flashing light installed on top and below the fuselage. The function is to let the other aircraft to notice you from far, and subsequently using the navigation lights to identify the flying direction. Pilot will only switch them on when they are on ground switching to tower control and throughout the flight until landed on ground and vacated the runway.
3. Anti-collision Lights -
It is a red colour rotating beacon, this is to notify others that your aircraft engines are running. Pilot will shut it off only after engine shut-down.
4. Taxi / Landing Lights -
Just like our normal car headlights it should be bright white/yellow lights. The difference between taxi and landing lights are just like car's high beam and low beam. Taxi light will be shining on the ground and landing lights will be straight ahead to the air. Landing lights will be on after takeoff clearance is given and will be switched off after the aircraft climbed to 10,000 ft. The reverse apply to descend and landing.
5. Aft and Tail Light -
These lights are in white colour and visible straight to the back of the aircraft to 140 degree either side. Therefore when you see 3 white lights, the aircraft is straight ahead of you.
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