Principles of Flight (CHAPTER 1-THE BASICS os DennionsaxD AMMREVATIONS, “One Revtion ae Prise Laws ae ~ "Newton's Fit La [Newton's Third Le, omme Drewemon ‘i Arwosria ‘ee Equsmiow oF Cony Sree, Wor & Pow AAmOW. oer if Coico Apa, 1 Co-tion and Cater 1 Coeficetond Wing Pla Lip Content Res Mmbr ond ach Mabor Conte of Prewure Moves : 2 CHAPTER 3- DRAG rene ‘THeBounnany LaveR. co “he Bondy Laer on Cred Saas amine Pow Ao, = nations oD The Epica ins Mingle = Pps io ‘Generel ora ined Dra. u “round cr ~ au Ste dant fin ny FOIA Bidens comma ities at = te Polar Dugas = 7 Low Brag tier = en) Sted and mins io (CHAPTER 4 BALANCE OF FORCES IN LEVEL FLIGHT on Lav FUG : 1 i ies aa mma Srv recs LEVEL Fc =a Praronsies tse Pc 4 Principles of ight Tesue 5 Contents-4(CHAPTER - TAKEOFF AND CLIMB ‘Tw TaKrOr. Tie Gnoc in Twcin . Pree be li 2 “Aral flim ate of lim. Picton and arbor i (CHAPTER 6. FLYING FOR RANGE AND ENDURANCE vrs Flin for Range Mba Nh ts - Trent cin Dre ec oftempertie Tre fect of wind Taclinb orm cb? hiner Enron ‘nw timscror Wao on aed (CHAPTER 7 DESCENT AND LANDING wn "Forces the Gide. t ding or Rage Ghding jor Era Tre Aft of Residual Poe. Theft of treat Weg Dre fet of Drag and igh Devices. neh Vo ing ae (CHAPTER = MANOEUVRE eon Rare anb Rags oF Tom ‘Nini Rds Tons 2 . Maxinam Rate Tm. Main Load Faron — — ion rr Davis TORUS = oa ——= AERON TS Hounbany Laven Sinavaon Uirean Daa arm Stati z ——= ‘Sal Development Alesaing Tp Stal. ccontmou at Stat a ‘Stall Wane ANDSTALL AVON, : ‘Sal Ware. 2 2 eoue S Principles of Flight@ SEAL SP ne 1 The Bit of ig. ae The Bie of High. i The bic of Ce Poston ~ an The Bfect of Power H ene i Proposer 2 The fc o Contiation 2 Bente eee a Swart Wines i nmernneees | Towel Fgh. ‘Sig inl Stang mane sau cove TUBSPIN nena aneearaiaae "The nciiot p ‘Thence Spi covery. Pre Pal Sn } ‘The Standard Sin eon (CHAPTER 10— HIGH LIFT DEVICES eoneerrnnne yrrapuction, _ a “Train Edge Flap ae Comps Flaps lasing i fi = = [BOUNDARY LAYER CONTRO. aeateteeeaae Vater Goma. Sucking: 2 2 Blowing (CHAPTER 11 - FLYING CONTROLS. near = Sen on cit lle is. - « ‘Trailing Edge Controls. ~ ee a ot rr Sr acs ‘id a Ct ca cera foe - a arom ofur = | "town ie ‘Spots ~ “ | Sores | rehapae — | concen eS | tart : Sta Tat = eens Cerio wr aR 33 ond 33. = Principles of Fight Issue 5 Contents.3CONTROL NYA ‘Secondary Efe of ir, H Yaw Rtsrons . . a (CHAPTER 12- STABILITY Sranic Ap Dade STABILTY 1 ‘Sure Sob = : 1 Stati Digan 2 Dynami Sabi. 3 Aunonarr Stat sen r. — The Shin af eDar i Lonertnal Starie San i: ad he Talpane Conribtiono Pach Sabi, as Phe Cac Didar - 3 Cats te a mod an ‘Lnginaino! Died: conn ‘aacages ond gine Nal — a ‘Sit Pad or Stet Fr 4 Postion oft CG - Pr 6 Sibi in Mace - rf ‘Stab and the Cu Diagram - 2 ‘igh; Pomer and Confit, 2 Shek Fore Sab ee = a barscrowat Sane SAaiiTY : 8 The Cree Diagram. ” Latta Sane Sai = : 20 ‘ering the Sips Rig. 2 Ming Conraton 2 (Geom Dia. 2 Swewphack - a he Conriation of Wigston ote Faas: 2s Moor ifete 26 Sima: a The Cup Diagram 8 Rot an Ys » Dywaste stam —— - 30 “gin! Dynamic iy 30 Lateral Dynami Sta. = Sr Daach ra” ~ on Spiral sy 2 Tre eet f 0. = 2 ell Tow Demping. 2 Dirona Dyan Sai - - as sen Stanasr. oo os 3 (CHAPTER 13- HIGH SPEED FLIGHT serene TESPE1B 08 SOUND nnn 7 ‘Mach Number. 2 Shoexwavns = 5 xpi Comers 7 ‘reson ruc ‘ The Wingo Trasonie Fig. ——— 5 patho ° Shots ‘0 and Co Transom Fight 8 sTessonte Stabiry = Is 1 Tews 5 Principles of FlightTraon Lateral Say. . — us Transom Longitude Sei. : 16 Tranonc Distal Sti. = 6 Mech Sat! 16 Desi om TRaRSONIC LCT. = 6 The Supereritcal Wing - te Thin Wings is Spe in : 2 dren Ralg. a aaa Werte Gots Tans igh a (CHAPTER 14= PROPELLERS nom Foe ing om th Proper. : 2 Dre Bet of Forward peed. 3 NomALBacE OF Omuon ‘ The Bf of Changing Power and Sed - “7 ‘peut Onexane Ra 3 esther ° ‘Strep and Tay. =a Rovwne That. 10 ‘Alpha and Beta Coo. = i ‘Fe Poh Locks and Sp 1 Coarse Pic tp =a 12 Naga Torgue Sein 2 cconmmot Liven eT 3 ‘The Two Levers Sen = B Sige Leer Ste i roptiLin Govino Enact = 1s ‘Gyosop Bier. 1s ‘tome Had ct a 15 Proper Sipsraam Ee ~ oe Tonge Be 7 Tate Summary a Paoeutttn Desc — =u Propeller fin. = 18 Poe Absorption ~ - ny Suman 2 ‘spieitontsne i Sricimamaaieg a0 ‘Symlronsing. 2 ‘Symckophaig 2 (CHAPTER 15 - FLIGHT OPERATIONS... Asyussnc FLcr = “mime Frat ‘ame Blak is Fa The Cote Engine Counter eng Propels — 2 Dra ‘Eft of Erin aire othe rag Line fee ahr 2 ‘retin f orcs fr gis Fa. ‘Sidesip in Aimer Fl. = lining Stet. 2 “Living with Ses, — Minima Control Sed vance a 1 Factors dieting VC = 4 rer = 4 Pastors iting nin Cot ped ~ 1s 1 Teaue 5 Contents.5Take Safe Speed Single Pie Sf Speed Landing Fin Siat The Eft of Engine Faron dire Prac uci inten Condens ingle Tape ing adr king ‘contanenaron avo Wee Gow (CHAPTER 16—DESIGN & NORMAL OPERATING LIMITS. eS LBM Dre Sl Lint - Cae Treg Limi Design dpe. High Speed im The Bit of Aide Dre Efecto ap Exesion The Gs lp The Combined Eco. Nona Ortari Lat. ‘aft Boundary Chart. Tsewe S 16 v is oo 31 31 Principles of Flight“There i ong it of abbreviations at (5 eth same QO arwctopareat ‘lib nb) introduced as they arise in the main text, but a list is ‘given for reference at the end of this section Aerodynamics stil handles @ mix of imperial, metric and other units, but you will need to know the St (Systeme International) units for some common factors: T: efinitions and abbreviations you will need are Mas: Kilogram (ke) Force: Newton (N) The force that accelerates 1kg at Im/sect Acceleration; Metres per second per second (m/sec*) Velocity: Metres per second (m/sec) ‘Temperature: Kelvin (K) Pressure: Pascal (Pa) A pressure of IN/mn? Density: Kilograms per eubie metre (kg/m) Energy’ Joule J) 1N moving Im Power ‘Watt (W) A rate of energy use of 1J/see Some ofthese will be unfamiliar, and not all are in general use. ‘The Kelvin does not need the prefix “degree” and is tie same as the temperature in degrees Absolute (°C +273). “he Pascal turns up in Meteorology, where the hectopascal (hPa), 100 Pascals, is the same as the millibar (mb). The Joule and the Watt are very small, and often appear as kilo- or Mega- units, KW or MJ for example. ‘There is always confusion between weight and mass. Weight is fg. In SI unite Ig is 0.81m/ece!, Therefore in level flight an aircraft of 10,000kg mass would have a weight of 98,100N. ‘Wing loading, for example, which is aircraft weight divided by wing ares, would be given in N/m? in SI units, not ke/m?. [tis perfectly acceptable to use kilograms as weight but this is not ‘the correct SI unit. One kilogram weight is equal to 9.81%. Principles of Flight aus 5 1”A.Quick Revision ‘The Examination may require you to handle simple ‘conversions and equations, Example. Given the following formula and the values below calculate Grin Tunits Lif» Cuspves in = 60,000 SRRGNON in St anit V= 200% 4103m/see in St units 7 1225¢m/m 41.225kg/m? in SI units 5 = 500m! ‘500m in SI unite Solution: This is the lift formula, fully explained in a Inter section. The aircraft speed is V, the air density, p, and the wing area, S ‘By cross-multiplying the formula becomes: Bala ‘Sev? __2x 588600 1500 x1.225 x 10608 0.181 Q When you come to the examples in the text you will find C. quoted at radically different values. That is because the value Of C. depends on the unite you are working in, and older data js in pounds, knots and square feet Physical Laws The motion of the atmosphere, the aircraft in Night, taking of or landing, all operate under the basic laws’ of ms fcceleration and energy set ott by Isaac Newton. These are: Newton's First Law Newton's Mirst Law states that « body will continue in a state of est or ualforzs milion unless sted om By un exter force I ‘stationary body it is mass that is a measure ofits resistance to change. In a moving body itis its momentum, defined as ‘mass times velocity, mv, that resists change of motion, 12 Tesve 5 Roughly 108 for covery kg and it {or every misoc ‘Those lowesNewton's Second Law Newton's Second Law states that the rate of change of ‘momentum of a body is proportional to the applied force, and, takes place in the direction in which the force acts. In simple terms this means that the same force applied to the same body will produce the same rate of change of velocity, Rate of change of velocity is acceleration or deceleration Newton's Third Law Newton's Third Law states that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In a jet engine, if the action is, pushing sir out of the jet pipe, the reaction is pushing the Sireralt forward, Other Definitions Work done is the product of force times the distance moved in the direction ofthe force, Power is the rate of work done ‘The Energy of a Moving Body, its kinetic :nergy, is proportional to its mass times its velocity squared! Kinetic Energy 7 J my 2 When dealing with airflow we substitute mass per unit volume, which is density p (rho) in place of total mass and the equation becomes: fo Kinetic Energy =5 pv ‘This is the formula that gives the kinetic energy of moving ar. Principles of Flight Issue 5 13The Atmosphere ‘The atmosphere through which the aircraft fies is a mix of gases, predominantly oxygen and nitrogen. The average distribution of temperature with height is shown in the familiar ISA graph, at figure 1-1-1 2 ecnmneneae® Figure 1464-4 ‘The atmosphere, like any gas, obeys the Gas Laws. There are three, Boyle's Law states that at @ fixed temperature increasing pressure will decrease the volume and thus increase the Gensity. Charles's Law states that at a fixed pressure increasing the temperature will increase the volume and thus decrease the density. The Pressure Law states that at a fixed volume increasing temperature or pressure will increase the other factor. Combining these leads to the formula: Densty= P+RT Ris just a constant for the particular gas under study. These "Ideal" Gas laws apply forall normal work with gases, although We assume the real gasses do depart from the ideal at temperatures where the atmouphere sa fas is near to condensation. This is below minus 150°C at seq Mot Heal gases level pressure for atmospheric gases. 1 Teswe 5 Principles of FlightAc density halves st 20,0008 and hates again at {At low level atmospheric pressure is high, and therefore s0 is, density. At high allitude both are low. The Tal in temperature ‘a8 altitude increases only affects the rate at which pressure ‘and density fall. Atmospheric density is importan: to many ‘assessments of aircraft performance and you should know how density varies with height. The ISA data are given below. Notice that density is roughly half the sea level value at 20,0008, and, ‘one quarter the sea level value at 40,0008 Aiitade | Temp | Pressure | Density | Relative co) eo) | toy | igmym | Density | ew a Tig [tors | 1235100 ‘3000 —|+5.1_| —843__|_ 1086 | 86 70,000 | —-.8 | 696 [90s [74 15,000_| 14.7 |_s71_[77i_| 63. 20,000 | 24.6 | —a6s__| 683 [53 25,000 | —-a4.5 | 376 | 549 [a5 30,000 | -44.4_| 301] 458 | 37 35,000 [54.3 [238 | 386 [31 40,000 | 56.5 | 187 | 302 | 25 45,000_| 86.5 | 147 | 237 [20 50,000 [56.5 | 116 | 186 [15 Figure 144-2 In cold air masses the pressure at any true height will be lower than IS, but at a given pressure level density will be higher. Engines work better in cold, high-density air, so performance will be better in cold air masses. The opposite is true in warm ‘The data in the table refer to dry air. Water vapour has density of 760g/m* at sea level ISA conditions, so air ‘containing water vapour is less dense than dry ar. Principles of Flight Issue 5 1Definitions and Abbreviations “Angle of attack, the angle between the airfll (olpha) chord line and the relative airflow . B (beta) Sideslip angle vos Yew eng oem) Anglo bank Tight pth incnation ange Between ‘Veamme) relative airflow and the horizontal ich ange angle between the lngudinal 0 (theta) axis and the horizontal - y plus a eh) ‘ir deniy ‘gambday | Wing aweep ‘averse |p rn where the iow i moving rom iow en Anhedral |The downward angling ofthe wing, root ip ——— a ewe ‘layer of air next to the aircraft skin slower Boundary layer | han the free stream air “The shaping of the airfoil to improve lit oe coefficient cas: Calibrated Airspeed Ce Coefficient of drag, Sometimes Cx Cu Coefficient of induced drag, Sometimes Gx Coe Coefficient of profile drag. Sometimes Cor Si Gene of gravy, the point rough which the 6 datum | The CG position, zero load and zero fuel (CG manoeuvre | The distance hetween the CG datim and the margin CG manoeuvre paint ‘The CG position where the aircraft would be CO manoeuvre | neutrally statically longitudinally stable in Point steady looping manoeuvres (CG neutral | The CG position where the airerat is neutrally point longitudinally statically stable in level Sight CG static ‘The distance between the CG datum and the Teewe 5 Principles of Flight‘margin ‘CG neutral point ‘The line joining the Font ofthe air to the Chord line | The : ‘Coefficient of lateral or rolling moncent, Note : ‘confusion with lit coefficient a Lift Coveficlent. Sometimes given «8 Cr, cuMtax ‘The highest achievable C. Cn Coefficient of pitching moment Cuco Coefficient of pitching moment about the CG ca Coefficient of yawing moment = Centre of Pressure, the point through which actlift and drag Critical alpha, | The stall angle, the angle of attack where Cx (sh stops increasing ox Coefficient of drag in some textbooks o (Coefficient of lateral forces in some textbooks ce (Coefficient of lift in some textbooks Dihedral ‘The upward angling of the wing, reot to tip EAS ‘Equivalent Airepeed ae Engine shaft horsepower, the power delivered by the engine to the propeller I Fatigue Index Fineness Ratio ‘The ratio between an object's length and via ‘An element of drag due to the form or shape Form drag | Ar clement Ser Full Sale Fatigue Test Tnckleme | THC anele between the srl chord Tine and the aireraf longitudinal axis Induced dag” | ERTR Sra nduced bye nod BERETS ae ‘an clement of rag due to interference in the Interference | fw round wing/Tiselage and orher rag junctions A International Standard Atmosphere leading ge | The point where the ac fow comes to ret at Principles of Flight Issue 5 17again pol [wing tang sae Ltn manoewre vied by Tn ol ig Load factor (a) | Cr weight Me oe Tongiuainal | the diterccebewecn he wing adil inci" | angen of nner i Mach number, TAS a a acinal action of thecal oped of sud Meas serail chor, alee br — complex wing planforms Mn Mech number oral dag ne The ce eam Mach umber twEh any Mow ina Mach number around he era "aches cc Me Dani ving Mach number Massa Mach nurber deconaed in niin cron Xan camer | Te in joining pins eldtant Fo the the topand Sov sacs oe aa Mesum Mach uber or certeston of “= stability factors Ms Masa pain Mach ba rs Ling maximum Mach number, Never 5 a a ‘ax oral peating ach number, Now a supercded an Tee aun fhe eve on te on ah nowerain | Tem obi Operating ata Mana ° The ami presen og s Reyols amber, a non-dimensional eae forlorn ar elative siow, mas Rete eee ‘A graph of stress levels against number of | SiN Cure | spplications Speci er rage en fows a SNA ort inuad fuel used Separation | Re ont whee te boundary ayer eparaten = Pncpos of Font‘from the airfoil surface and streamline flow point breake down The altitude at which rate of climb has fallen Service ceiling |§ '§ | to 100%pm (propeller) or S00%pm (et), ‘Specific fuel consumption, fuel used over Eat power or thrust produced ‘An element of drag due to ition in the ‘Skin friction | ‘boundary layer ‘Stagnation | The point where che airflow is brocght to rest point and pressure equals total head pressure sTOL, Short takcof and landing Tallvolume | Tail area multiplied by the tail moment arm “Taper ratio __| The rato of the root chord tothe tip chord TAS ‘True Airspeed a “Thrust horsepower, the power delivered by & propeller ‘Trailing edge | The point where the airflow comes to rest at stagnation point the wing trailing edge ‘Transition point “The point where the boundary layer changes from laminar to turbulent flow Extra drag caused by the tail forces needed (© Trim drag | Ee ura Tampa [Tange fated whee earn v Takeoff decison oped ve Tako safety apd ve ‘Al eagies seca oped Thete not vs Deslen manoeuvre sped Ve Denlgneped or maxima gue atenaly Ye Design erat speed Yo Desen dving peed Yoo Maxum TAS for deployment of rag devices = Manin AS demansted in gt ding a Main AS ap operation Principles of Flight Tse00 5‘Maximum speed for certification of stability Mad factors Ve ‘Maximum IAS for flap extended Vw IAS for minimum drag in level flight Vow JAS for minimum power in level ight vi ‘Maximum IAS for landing gear extended and _ locked down Vor Lift-off speed ‘Minimum speed to maintain lateral and Vac directional control with the critical engine out and full power on live engine(s} a Minimum control speed, air, as above, = airborne, takeoff and climb fe ‘Minimum control speed, ground, as above, on ee the take-off run fe ‘Minimum control speed, landing, as above, = approach and landing fe ‘Maximum speed for stopping within the brake bao energy limit Vio ‘Maximum operating IAS Vw ‘Minimum unstick speed Vue Limiting maximum IAS ~ “never exceed” speed a ‘Maximum normal operating IAS. Now id superseded by Vio Ve Rotate speed Ve IAS for penetration of rough air Veer Landing reference speed. Was previously Va z ‘The minimum steady flight speed at which the : aeroplane is controllable, the stall speed Vso ‘Vo in the landing configuration (Vs nought} Vat Voi a speci ‘The one g stall speed, at which the aeroplane Vou can develop a lit force equal to its weight. ‘Typically 6% higher than Vs (see Vax) Ven ‘The reference stall speed, the same as Vang Vem Reference stall speed, landing configuration 1.40 Is Principles of FlightVers ver Ve we ‘Beat rate of climb IAS ‘Wash in Increase in incidence atthe wing tp ‘Weshout | Reduction in incidence at the wing ip Components of the Aircraft Figure 444-3Intentionally Blank aaa Teaue 5 Principles of Flight‘contin Chapter 2 - The Derivation of Lift The Equation of Continuity mass flow is constant, If you think of alr fowing in a {ube of varying crose section, then going in, coming out, fand at any point in the tube the mass of cir passing ‘every second is the same. ‘The mass low depends or the speed fof the air, V, the density ofthe air, p, and the eross section of the tube, A, 0: Ts ‘Equation of Continuity states that in a flow of air the AVp= Mass Flow constant Im airflow below about M0.4, about 300K TAS, the changes in density that occur are small, and can be ignored for simplicity ‘This then gives us AV= A constant ‘and this in turn means that if the aisflow is constricted the speed increases, the effect we get in a venturi tube or over the top surface of a wing. Bernoulli’s Theorem Daniel Bernoulli took the theory a bit further to show that in fn airflow the suum ofall the different forms of energy present Js a constant. Considering steady flow at speeds below MO.4, this means that: Pressure energy + Kinetic energy ~ A constant Using P for static pressure, and the kinetic energy formula ‘pV, this becomes: Pr rp constant ‘The constant is total head pressure, or pitot pressure, so the formula is saying that static pressure plus dynamic pressure Principles of Flight Taaue 5 2a‘equals total head pressure, and that in an airflow if the speed, ‘goes up then the pressure goes down, ‘This is also the beginning of speed measurement using a pitot head, which records total head pressure. Subtract the static pressure, and you have a value from which you can caleulate Y, true airspeed, TAS, s0 long as you know the density of the Airspeed ‘The term spV¥is the dynamic pressure, and itis this that will, determine values for lit and drag. Its abbreviated to “Q°, asin (Q Feel systems that adjust to aerodynamic forces. ‘The ASI is fed with total head pressure and static pressure, land subtracts the one from the other to find dynamic pressure ‘This is a function of V2 and density. The ASI assumes that the density is the ISA mean sea level value, and makes allowance ‘within the instrument so as to display V and not V. The figure Aisplayed on the ASI is then Indicated Airspeed, 14S, which corrected for any small instrument and static pressure error becomes Rectified Airspeed, RAS. Modern systems display Calibrated Airspeed, CAS. CAS starts off in the Air Data Computer (ADC) as IAS, but the ADC takes out all known and predictable errors, like instrument, static and configuration errors. CAS is equivalent to RAS forall practical purposes. [At higher speeds, above about MO.¢ or 300kt true speed the pressure changes in the airflow begin to compress the flow and Significantly affect its density. To find the true value of the dynamic pressure from RAS/CAS you have to make a compressibility correction to account for this. When this correction ia made t RAS/CAS you will have Equivalent ‘Airspeed, EAS. EAS then defines all aerodynamic forces, Qs proportional to EAS? Lift and drag are proportional to EAS. If other factors are constant you will get the same lit, drag and control forces at the same FAS wherever you ay. FAS is not displayed in the cockpit but at low speed and low altitude, because the compressibility correction is very smal, RAS or CAS is effectively the same as BAS. If the small instrument and static pressure errors are also ignored then EAS and IAS are the same. However, at height, where ‘compressibility becomes significant IAS is higher than EAS by the amount of the compressibility correction. We will continue totuse BAS for precision when dealing with aerodynamic forces, 22 Taaue 5 Principles of Flight At helght EAS Is tight loss than us820,008 | Work is forea Notice that EAS is only TAS at ISA mean sea level density, In lower density airflow, at higher altitude for example, the TAS, will be higher than EAS, snd a density correction must be made. The relationship is the square root of the relative density, so at 40,0008, where the density Is one quarter of the sea level value, BAS = V% x TAS as the ¥ %4 is % then, at 40,0008, BAS = wtas Only the density correction separates BAS and TAS. The ‘compressibility correction from RAS/CAS is already done. TAS, ccan be less than EAS if the density is higher than the ISA ‘mean sea level value, This will be the case if near sea level the temperature is very low, oF in the unlikely situation of fight ‘below sea level RASICAS Compressbilty EAS. EAS Density THs: RASICAS | Compressiilty &Densiy | TAS ‘TAS is the speed used in Reynolds Number calculations, which are dealt with later. Speed, Work & Power ‘The difference between EAS and TAS is important when we consider power required. Work done is the force applied ‘multiplied by the distance moved or Work dane Force x Distance ‘The power required is the rate of work or Time Principles of Fight Issue 5 23Which is the same as Power required = ‘Force x Distance Time Power required = Force x Speed ‘This means that, in aircraft terms, the power delivered is the thrust multiplied by the TAS. Notice that thrust and power are not the same thing. If an fireraft ia not accelerating then thrust equals drag so one could also say that Powerrequired = Drag x TAS. ‘The result ofthis is tha, if you hold the same EAS in the same configuration in level flight the drag wil always be the same, bbut the higher you go, the higher the TAS, and therefore the higher the power required to drive the aireralt through the ai, ‘This also affects the way speedbrakes work. They produce rag, which is proportional to EAS’, so a speedbrake selected fat 40,000R would have the same retarding effect as one selected at the same EAS at sea level. The difference is that at 40,0008 the TAS is twice the BAS so it takes twice as long to slow the aireraft down. Airflow It is convenient to simplify airflow into three categories streamline flow, vortex flow aid disturbed flaw. Streamline flow fs smooth flow that remains the same in the short term, s0 yout could draw a static picture of the flow. Disturbed flow is random, rapidly changing flow, swirling and moving all over the place. Vortex flow is a kind of halfway house between streamline flow and disturbed flow, where the general flow pattern is of @ circulating vortex, but the detailed small scale fow is a bit unsteady. The flow round an aircraft is a mixture ofall three. Lift Lift is generated by the change of pressure that follows from Bernoulli's theorem as the airflow speeds up over the airfoil surface. Many parts of the aircraft make a contribution but it the wings that contribute most of the lif. A symmetrical airfoil in streamline flow is shown below. 24 Teaue S Principles of Flight rot accelerating, Even it drag {the power required fortvel tight Imeroares withaig Edn sognton Pn an Peau | a rene Figure 442-4 ‘The equation of continuity says that where the streamlines are ‘Atastagnation closer together the speed has increased. Bernoulli's theorem point pressure says that therefore the pressure has reduced, but it is the ‘sauslstotalhend same reduction above and below the airfoll, 90 overell no lift is pressure produced. Where the sir is slowed down the pressure has increased, and there are two points where itis stationary, at the leading and trailing edge stagnation points, At" the stagnation points the pressure willbe total head pressure. Lean eae rang ee ian nour eee an Prose Principles of Flight issue 5 25If we give the airfoil an angle of attack the situation changes (igure 11-2-2), The angle of attack, normally relerred to as alpha (a), is the angle between the chord line and the relative airflow. The chord line is the line joining the front ofthe airfoil to the back. ‘The relative airflow, RAF, is still horizontal but in dividing has split more or less level with the centre of the airfoil, so there 1s fan upwash ahead of the airfoil and a downwash behind it. The Jeading edge stagnation point is now slightly below the front of the aifioll and as alpha inereases ie will move further down and back. The streamlines are more closely packed over the upper surface of the airfoil, s0 the speed is higher and the pressure lower, and the difference in preasure compared with the lower surface has generated a resultant force. Figure 14.23 ‘This force is the Total Reaction and there is an element parallel to the free stream airflow, RAF, which is drag, and an element ‘at right angles to the RAF, which is Ii. The point through which these forces act is the Centre of Pressure (CP). Drag i dealt with later, and we will now look in more detail at it. ‘The size of the lit forces depends on the dynamic pressure clement, »p\/2, the size of the wing in fact the wing plan area, called $'- and’ combination of the wing plan shape, the shape of the airfoil section, alpha, Mach number (M) and Reynolds ‘number (R}. We can combine these last into one factor, the Lift Coveffcient, called Cy, 26 Tecue 5 Principles of FlightLite proportional forthe square of ‘the specd We can then say: Lit= c.%spv's ‘This means that if you go faster or have a bigger wing, you will get more lit, but it also means that C; determines how much In you get For low apeeds we can ignore M and R, so C.will vary only with wing plan shape, called planform, airfoil section shape and alpha, and we need to know how. Lift Coefficient and Alpha ‘A symmetrical sirfoil has no lift at zero alpha, bu: as alpha increases lit s developed. The relationship is oughly linear up ‘to near the point where the streamline flow breaks down 10 turbulent flow, at 15* alpha for a conventional airfl, which is the airfoil stall point, This point is called eritieal alpha, After ‘thie Lt falls off (igure 11-24), Cootficient of Linc 5 +0 Citic 405 L/ ‘pha ' ' ' e ' e eee o Apna. Principles of Flight Issue 5 27Lift Co-efficient and Camber ‘Camber is the shaping of the airfoil to improve lit co-efficient, ‘A cambered airfoil, with some factors defined, is at figure 11-2- ‘5. The mean camber line is the line joining points equidistant rom the top and bottom suefaces. Apa is sll meastred from the chord lin, Figure 11.25 ‘Cambered airfoils produce hit at zero alpha, and give a higher maximum C, (CiMax). However, the breakdown 10 turbulent flow comes at a lower alpha. Figure 11-2-6 shows a C, curve for a typical general-purpose cambered airfoil, compared to that for a symmetrical sifol, ‘ge ot tack Figure 112.6 For a moderately cambered airfoil the zero lift angle of attack is about” alpha’ 2a Tesue 5 Principles of Flight canered wing sections give ih at ower aipheReal wings have tip vortices, only ‘a nite wing oosnot ‘Aspect ratte s the Sauare of wing | Span avid by wing area Life Co-efficient and Wing Planform Up to now we have looked at essentially two-dimensional sections of the airflow over a wing. A wing, however, is three- dimensional, and at the inboard end is fixed to the fuselage, ‘while the outboard end is in the free-stream flow. In the real three-dimensional world, therefore, when the wing is, generating lif the pressure difference between th: top and bottom surfaces generates a flow around the tips and spanwise flow outwards on the bottom surface and inwards an the top face. This will produce vortex flow at the trailing edge, and a single large vortex at the tips Figure 11.2.7 {In figure 11-2-7 the top surface flow moving spanwise toward the root is shown as light arrows and the bottom surface flow ‘moving out to the tip as dark arrows. The effect of this dow, fand the vortices, is to reduce lift at any given angle of attack ‘The closer the wing is to an infinite length, the less the tip effect, and the less the loss in lit, so long span wings of high ‘aspect ratio have a better C, than short low aspect ratio wings. Aspect ratio is the ratio of the wing span to wing chord, or Detter to take account of tapered, swept or complex wings, iis defined as the ratio of the square of wing span to wing area. Apart from high aspect ratio, anything that reduces the tip ‘effect - tapered wings, pointed tips, endplates and washout = ‘will improve C,. A way of defining wing taper is to give the ‘taper ratio, the rato of tip chord to 09t chord, Principles of Flight Tssue 5 28Figure 11-2-8 shows how C. varies with alpha for three Giflerent aspect ratio wings Figure 14.28 ‘The ellect is maximum when the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces is maximum - at high alpha = and is Zero at zero lift alpha. The higher C.Max values for igh aspect ratio wings occur at lower alpha, ‘The complex airflow around swept wings will also affect Cx. In this case increasing sweep angle reduces Cx, and the lower ‘CiMax produced comes ata higher alpha - hence the nose high landing attitude of swept wing aircraft, The ellect is a ‘maximum at high alpha, and as we shall see later, this impacts fon the lateral stability of swept wing alreraft near the sta [Figure 11-2-9 illustrates these points, 210 Tesue 5 “Teper ratios wing {ook chord divided by tip chord igh aspect ratio for hight wings swept wings give lose and st igh angles of|Cootcint of L(G) Straight Wing “5+ Se Ts 2 +6 ‘pha: Lift Co-fficient. Reynolds Number and Mach Number Reynolds umber (R) is @ non-dimensional number that describes the balance between the inertial forces in an airflow, that want to carry it straight on in streamline floy, and the viscous forces that want to make it turbulent and disturbed. In taleulating R you take in to account density, TAS a size or length factor and air viscosity. It is mainly used in scale modelling for wind tunnel tests, for the small size model will only give a representative result iis the same as forthe full Sze aircraft. Since the size factor is much smaller density has to be increased, by pressurising the wind tunnel ‘As far ap Cy, is concerned an increased will ge a higher Max. OF all the factors involved in R, the main one that is variable in ight is TAS, so if everything else remains the same 4 higher TAS will give @ higher R, and a higher C:Max, until Increasing Mach number problems intervene to reduce Cy ‘The detailed effects of increasing Mach Number (M) on Cy are covered in the High Speed Mlight section, In general terms Ci, Increases with increasing M fom about MO.4 upwards until shock waves begin to form at speeds around MO.S, when C, decreases again Principles of Flight Tssue 5 aaaCentre of Pressure Movement Lin, remember, acts through the CP. As alpha increases the pressure pattern around the airfoil changes, and the position fof the CP will change, Figure 11-2-10 shows the pressure pattem of a general purpose cambered altfoll from zer0 it alpha (4) through to 14” alpha, just below critical alpha. Figure 14.240 As the area of negative pressure above the wing intensities and moves forward the CP, the point through which the hit cts, Will also move forward. At critical alpha the fow breakdown ‘and loss of lift will move the CP sharply back aft. Figure 11-2- 11 ie @ graph of the movement of the CP against alpha for 8 cambered wing section 2az Tseue 5 Principles of Flight Positive pressures donot occur on ‘iphas of 1215"~ 28 P oeseha § 8 z 2 Figure 142-44 CCP is well aft at zero lit, moves forward to about 15% of chord, stays roughly there until ential alpha then moves alt. On a ‘gymmetrical section airfoil there is very litte moversent of the CP, which remains at about 20% to 25% chord throughout the ‘working range Note the aerodynamic centre (AC). When, later, ve look at stability we will find it convenient to treat the CP as fixed over the working range of alpha. For cambered airfoils itis possible ‘tw make an approximation and consider that ft acts through @ fixed point. To make this work you have to assume that the pitching moment due to wing bit’ is a combination of a fixed ‘hose down component present at zero lit alpha anc a varying ‘component induced by changing lif values acting always at the AC. This is a difficult concept to illustrate, but if you look at the pressure distribution at zero lif alpha in figure 11-2-10 you see that the pressure differences will be twisting the wing ‘nose down, although in sum there is no li, Principles of Flight Issue 5 2aaIntentionally blank 2aa Tesue 5‘hick, dragay and ih eneray. {amine thin, ‘tipper and iow Chapter 3 - Drag The Boundary Layer he boundary layer is the very thin - a few millimetres ‘depth - layer of air next to the aircraft skin that is held bback by friction with the surface and is slower than the free stream air, To understand drag, airflow near the stall and some effects at high M you must know how the boundary layer behaves. ‘The boundary layer - defined as the layer where spted ranges from 99% of the iee stream speed down to zero at the surface - exists in two forms, laminar and turbulent. In a laminar boundary layer the airflow in the boundary layer is smooth and the speed increases steadily from the surface to the free stream. In a turbulent boundary layer the flow is unsteady and there is mixing of high-speed air deep into the layer. The speed Principles of Flight Issue 5 3Aincreases sharply as you leave the surface, and then more steadily at the top of the layer. This can be shown by the velocity vectors of the boundary layer parallel tothe surface, as in figure 1-3-1 ‘The drawing ia not to scale. The turbulent boundary layer is typically ten times as thick as the laminar layer. The point where the flo in the layer changes from larninar to turbulent Js called the transition point. This is mot the separation point, Even then, ifthe surface is very, very smooth a thin laminar subslayer intervenes between the surface and the turbulent layer. Boundary layer drag depends on the rate at which the speed of the air changes just near the surface ~ the surface velocity gradient. You can see from figure 11-3-1 that the gradient is, sharper in the turbulent layer, so the turbulent layer has more ‘drag, However, if the surface ig smooth enough to keep a laminar sub layer in place the drag in the turbulent layer will be slightly less ~ but still higher than in the full laminar layer, You can see, too, fom figure 11-3-1 that there is more high speed airin the turbulent layer, soit has more kinetic energy Im summary, the boundary layer starts off laminar, but ‘changes toa turbulent layer at the transition point. The laminar layer has less drag, but the turbulent layer has higher energy. ‘The Boundary Layer on Curved Surfaces ‘On a smooth, fat surface the transition from a laminar 10 a. turbulent boundary layer will occur at a point determined by R, the Reynolds number, and can be a long way across the surface. On a wing, two further effects intervene, surface roughness and the pressure changes over the wing. Any surface roughness that you can feel by running your hand over the wing will make the boundary layer go turbulent, and the turbulence will fan out downstream, The pressure over a wing reduces as you go aft, reaching a minimum at about the point fof maximum curvature, and then inereases toward total head pressure aa you go toward the traling edge stagnation point. A Fegime of rising pressure as you move downstream is called an adverse pressure gradient, and it is a fact that laminar boundary layere cannot nermally be oustained in an adverne pressure gradient. The transition point, the change to turbulent layer, will therefore move forward to the point of ‘maximum curvature. (igure 1-3-2) 32 issue 6 ‘anstion point al be atthe point ‘curvtures oF forther forward ‘damaged or ‘tegraded“Twente rive dooper into pressure gradient ‘Sed maintain ‘This effect, combined with the inevitable surface danage, dead flies and even rainwater on real aircraft, means that most of the wing will have a turbulent boundary layer. Laminar Flow Airfols In am attempt to reduce drag some aircraft are fitted with laminar flow’ airfoils. These have their point of maximum curvature at about 45% chord, which hopefully keeps the ‘wansition point further aft, leaving a larger area of the wing with the laminar boundary layer, giving less drag. For the reasons given above this is not, In practice, entirely successful High performance sailplanes stil use laminar flow sections, but the wing is kept scrupulously clean and polished to obtain ‘maximum bene! ‘There is, however, a compensating beneGt. The turbulent layer, with its greater kinetic energy, will carry on further against the ‘dverse pressure gradient and remain attached to the wing ‘surface for longer than would a laminar layer. Airflow Separation ‘As the turbulent boundary layer moves on downs:ream over the wing the adverse pressure gradient, the falling free stream velocity and the surface friction combine to slow the air in the boundary layer. Eventually, the air in a layer near the surface stops moving, and even reverses direction. The boundary layer now breake down and separates from the surface, leaving. a Principles of Flight Tesu0 5 33wake of random and disturbed flow. The point where this ‘occurs is called the separation point. (Sgure 11-3-3) Figure 14:33 ‘Two things now happen. Bemoulli’s theorem - which was limited t0 steady Now ~ no longer works, and lift falls in the ‘rea of separated flow. The pressure difference between the front and back of the airfoil produces extra drag, called form. drag. Trailing edge controls, ike ailerons, will be less effective in the disturbed flow, so the longer the boundary layer remains attached the higher will be C.Max and the better your controls will work. Most high lit devices are concerned with keeping the boundary laver under control and fully attached at high alpha. The Elements of Drag ‘The total drag of an aircraft in Aight ie considered in two bits, zero lift drag and lift induced drag. Zero lift drag is more Usually known as profile drag, and sometimes as parasite drag. ‘This is the drag you would get when flying at zero g. In level flight or in manoeuvre the need to produce Ii induces extra fBeag. “We will look fest at profile deap, which ix farther anh divided into skin fection and form drag, which we have just met, and interference drag. 34 Teoue S Profte drag is ‘mado up of frm (rag, sin ton (ragProfile Brag Form Drag the frst element of profile drag, is caused by the form or shape fof the object generating disturbed and turbulent flow and higher pressure in front of the object than behind it. For this reason itis sometimes called pressure drag. A Mat plate at 90° 1 the relative airflow is generating pure form drag. Principles of Flight Tsoue 5 38‘Skin friction ‘This is the drag caused by friction in the boundary layer. IF a fat plate is positioned in line with the relative airflow the drag wil be much less, and all the drag will be skin friction Because fat, squared olf or fat objects give very high profile drag values they are given the characteristic “streamline” shape to minimise drag. (Ggure 1-3-5). This shape greatly reduces {orm drag, but does bring about an increase in skin friction, as the surface area in contact with the flow is much larger ‘Overall, however, moderate streamlining much redhices dra Interference Drag Interference drag is the element of extra drag that arises from the joining of wings and fuselage, wings and engine pods and ‘soon It is a mixture of form drag and skin friction, Factors Affecting Profile Drag If we put all the elements of profile drag together, we find that the drag depends on a large number of factors, as did Lif. ‘These include the dynamic pressure element, vpV?, the size land shape of the parts concerned, surface roughness, alpha, R ‘and M. ‘The effect of increasing M on drag is covered in the section on. Inigh speed flight, but you should note that drag increases sharply after the frst shockwaves form st just above Mow. An increase in R increases some elements of drag and decreases ‘others, but in practice the overall effect is to increase drag, Surface roughness increases profile drag. Shape and size are ‘considered both as plan area and as cross-section area relative to the free-stream airflow, and increasing either will increase drag, either as profile drag or skin friction. It follows from this ‘that increasing alpha, which effectively increases the alreraft cross-section relative to the airflow, will also increase drag. ‘This is one of the elements of it-indsiced drag, PPtting all the factors together enables us to derive a formul {or profile drag, otherwise known as profile drag. It is CoS pV Profile drag Where Cop is the coefficient of profile drag. Cxr is sometimes used in place of Cop 36 Tsse 5 Principles of FlightInavced rag Includes form | ‘roa, interference ‘dog and iin ‘tet Induced Drag Induced drag is the common name for lift dependent drag or lit induced drag. This is not entirely correct, however, for induced drag is only one of the elements of drag that increase as alpha is increased to obtain lift for level ight or manoeuvre. Form drag wil certainly increase, and it is likely that interference frag and skin friction will lso rise. We will use incuced drag for the total, but will remember that there are stil the other small elements to be accounted for. feet Form Drag eee] Skin Drag) Induced drag is generated on finite wings when there is a pressure difference between the upper and lower sarlaces. In fcarlier sections you saw the effect of these pressure differences the generation of vortices, extra downwash as the wingtip vortex preases down on the airflow over the tip area, and then the resultant loss of i. (Sgure 1-3-7). To regain sufficient lit for level flight you then must increase alpha, and that will Increase drag, ‘of Flight eee 5 a7In cross section it works as in figure 1-3-8, eae, Figure 143.8 ‘The top drawing is ofan infinite wing, generating enough lit for level fight, but with no vortices. In the second drawing we see the effect of making ita real wing with a tip. The vortices begin, the downwash increases, and this effectively reduces alpha and reduces lit. 38 Tesue 5 Principles of Flight‘an otiptical ‘pore ia beet, Dette mutt twat. You can got wit double {apered wings ‘To regain the lift we need for level Aight alpha must be increased. This increase in alpha increases the total reaction Torce and tips it aft, so we get an increase in drag as well as lif. ‘This increase in drag, caused solely by the need to maintain lift (on areal wing is induced drag, sometimes called vort=x drag. ‘The Elliptical Wing Figure 1439 If other factors are equal an elliptical wing has the least induced drag. A formula for the coeficient of induced drag ean, bbe derived for this planform. Its: iors A Cy where Cor (sometimes Cr) is the coefficient of induced drag and ‘Als the aspect ratio of the wing. Within the working range of flpha there is @ direct relationship between alpha and C, so you can substitute alpha? for C.? in the formula, The formula ‘Shows that induced drag is proportional to the squar= of the lift Coefficient (or alpha. It is also inversely proportional to wing aspect ratio, and high aspect ratio wings ~ nearest to infinite wings - have the leat induced dras. Winglets Induced drag is algo related to wing planform, Ui, weight and speed, The prachction of vortices is the catise of induced drag, ‘and as this isa tip elect anything that will eduee the tp effect will reduce drag, Factors that reduce the tip elect have already ‘emerged ~ Lift, and include planform, taper, washout, wing Principles of Flight Teste 5section change atthe tips and endplates, tiptanks ft the Ups Anything that rou the wingtip Inaveed reg ‘The effect of lowering flap is difficult to predict. With inboard flap down the aircraft will fy at a lower overall alpha for the same lift, so the outboard section and tips will have a form of ‘washout. This should reduce the tip effect. Your best guess Is that, while profile drag goes up, induced drag is not significantly changed by flap extension, 3a0 Tesue 5 Principles of Flight“Twice the weight or2g moana Indoced arog goos phy atactor ot 4 Induced drag is speed and high {A General Formula for Induced Drag A constant is added to the induced drag formula to account for iferent planforms and tip configurations. The final, general, ormula for any given aspect ratio and wing design is: Gy =kC? This is because the severity of the vortices and downwash. depend nn the pressure diffrence hetween the npper and lower surfaces of the wing, which generates lift. Increasing lit, ifall else is equal, means inereasing C,, Increasing lift, as in in level Might wil therefore raise the induced drag. Increasing weight on an aircraft is equivalent to increasing the wing loading, so aircraft designed ‘with a high wing loading will also have a high induced drag. In level ight induced drag varies as the square of all-up weight at any given speed. In manoeuvre it varies as the square of the Toad factor. Equally, in level Aight where lif is constant, if speed is reduced then C1 must be increased by increasing alpha. As speed is increased, Cy is reduced. From the lift formula, we east derive the relationship between Cyy and speed in level Night, ana its =k Cu =a substituting this in the formula Induced Drag = % CoiSpV, for any given configuration, Induced Drag = Where the Ks are just constants. This shows that Cox is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the apeed in level Might, and that induced drag itseiT will decrease with the square of increasing speed in level fight. At takeoff, for ‘example, induced drag can account for three-quarters of the ‘wtal drag. Put that together with the effect of increased weight ‘and you can see that on takeoff and initial climb any excess ‘weight will give a severe induced drag penelly. At high peed induced drag becomes a very small proportion ofthe total Ground Effect Flying within about half @ wingspan of the surface suppresses the downwash — it has nowhere to go — and significantly reduces induced drag. It also restores lost lift, for with the downwash gone local alpha near the wingtips goes back up. Prine 5 of Flight Tesue 5 BatGround-effect vehicles exploit this effect to produce a cross between a hovercraft and an aircraft. The Soviet ekranoplen, otherwise known as the Caspian Sea Monster, was designed to fy solely in ground effect. Figure 143-42 Ground effect also affects aircraft in the ground/air transition, either on lift-off or on landing flare. In the landing fare restored lift and reduced drag help to cushion the landing Watch out, though, that the loss of downwash and increased local alpha! at the tips does not lead to tip stall ‘The reduced drag means that the rate of deceleration from aerodynamic drag alone will decrease, becoming more maried ‘the nose goes down and C; and induced drag get smaller. On lift-off, as the aircraft leaves the ground effect, induced drag, fand the associated loss of hit will bite. This is not normally problem, as thrust at low level is usually sufficient to carry the Aircraft through to a stable climb. 3a2 Tsue 5 Principles of FightYou should not, however, rotate before Vs, nor rotate to an excessively high nose attitude. Fither of these will put you in @ high drag situation aa you leave the ground. Trere are ‘number of constraints on Vs in the certification requirements. In particular Vamay not be less than: mov (2) 108% of Vac (8) a speed which, following a max rate rotation, will give a Vine of not less than 110% of all engines operating Vu ‘or 105% of the one engine inoperative Vieu Ground effect is felt especially in low wing aircraft. There is an ‘equivalent effect on the tai, felt more on low set tails, where the increased tall effectiveness near the ground wil give @ small, nose down trim shift, requiring more nese up contr input to ‘achieve the flare Other elements of induced drag When alpha is increased to maintain Mit there will be an increase in the cross-sectional area of the alreralt at right angles to the relative airflow, and this will increase form drag for the wing, fuselage and tailplane, and there may or may not be increases in skin friction and interference drag. Principles of Flight Tssue 5 aaaTotal Drag In level Might, therefore, at low speeds and high alpha induced drag will be high. As speed is increased and alpha reduces, induced drag falls, but profile drag is now increasing. These two elements add up to total drag. ‘We can now combine all the drag elements together and derive ‘formula for total drag. Its Total Drag = 4CoSpV" Gy = Cap +0 Cx is sometimes used for Cp, The drag coefficient here is therefore a combination ofall the factors that alfeet both profile ‘drag and induced drag. Now we can derive a graph for Co ‘against alpha, just as we did for C.. Figure 11-3-14 shows this, ‘graph. Co is @ minimum at about the zero lif alpha ~ minus 4° for a typical cambered section- and rises steeply as critical ‘alpha is reached co heal Fic ange — JA 4 7 7 Figure 143-44 ‘This graph is for drag coefficient, not for drag. The best way of vistalising the effects of induced drag and profile drag is on a graph of drag against EAS in level flight. Figure 11-3-15 Illustrates thie. aaa Teaue 5 Principles of Fight ‘Total De Seo5pVE