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Commercial Aerodynamics
Commercial Aerodynamics
ADY 1
1. CoG position
- Distance between the CoG and tailplane affects longitudinal stability
- The further forward to CoG, the greater the length of the moment arm between
the CoG and the tailplane
-Therefore, the greater the righting moment (tendency to restore stability)
-The closer the CoG to the tailplane, the less tendency it has to recorrect stability
-The further aft the CoG, the smaller the length of the moment arm and
therefore the smaller the righting moment
Remember:
a) CoG forward of forward limits = too stable
b) CoG aft of limits = not stable
- The surface area of an aerofoil directly affects the amount of lift force generated
- Therefore, the larger the surface area of the tailplane, the greater the longitudinal
stability
3. Longitudinal Dihedral (Angle between the angles of incidence of the wing and tailplane)
- Angle of incidence refers to the angle between the chord line and the
longitudinal axis
- The angle at which the wing is fixed to the airframe
If thrust is increased, the nose will tend to pith up (negative static & dynamic
If thrust is decreased, the nose will tend to pitch down (negative static & dynamic)
Roll stability
When an aircraft rolls it will tend to initially sideslip
into the turn initially
This changes direction of relative airflow!
This means that during a sideslip, the lower wing presents at a greater angle of attack to the
relative airflow.
- Greater angle of
attack on down
going wing
- Down going wing
has tendency to be
pushed up as it
creates more lift,
wants to self
correct.
- This means that
during a sideslip,
the lower wing
presents at a greater angle of attack to the relative airflow
- Therefore, the lift on the lower wing will be greater and will work to level the
wings
- It has a destabilising effect but increase manoeuvrability – antonov, harrier jump jet
Pendulum Effect:
When a high wing aircraft is rolled, its low centre of gravity will also work to roll the wings level.
If an aircraft is fitted with floats or other keel surfaces such as wheel fairings, lateral stability
may be decreased
The relative airflow striking the keel surfaces in a sideslip during roll causes a destabilising
moment that wants to further the roll
Directional Stability:
An aircraft has directional stability about the normal axis – Yaw Stability
- The large keel surfaces aft of the CoG provide the restoring force
- The greater the arm between to CoG and the vertical stabiliser, the greater the
stability
Spiral Instability:
As an aircraft rolls, it will sideslip, changing the direction of the relative airflow.
As the aircraft yaw’s, the outboard wing travels faster and therefore generates more
lift, producing further roll.
The bank angle will continue to increase and eventually the aircraft will be
established in a spiral dive.
Spiral Dive:
- Speed Increasing
- Load Factor ‘G’ increasing
- Rapid height loss
- High Angle of Bank
Recover:
So Spiral Stability
High – Lateral
Low – Directional
(instability is opposite)
ADY 2
Adverse Yaw:
The Cessna 172 uses design features to cause the aircraft to yaw in the direction of roll. This
reduces fatigue on the pilot as reduces need to apply constant rudder through turns.
Types of Ailerons:
NOTE: The combination of differential and fries aileron designs means that an equal amount
of drag is produced by the up-going and down-going aileron during roll
NOTE: Equal amount of drag is produced by up going and down going ailerons through the
use of these design features.
NOTE: Induced drag – by-product of lift – more weight, more induced drag.
Flaps:
C172 has slotted flap’s (physical gap between trailing edge and the flap.
‘By opening a slot between the wing and the flap, high pressure air from the lower surface flows
onto the upper surface.
Trim Tabs:
Becomes difficult for pilots of large aircraft with large aircraft with large control surfaces,
which are also difficult to deflect due to their weight
Balance tabs reduce the force required to deflect the control surface into the airflow.
1. Fixed – small tab that can be adjusted by engineers to a fixed position (On C172)
2. Aerodynamic – Horn Balances assist the pilot, by protruding a small surface area
into the opposing side of the flight control surface.
4. Automatic (Servo tab’s) – reduces weight off the flight control for deflection
When pilot moves controls:
1. The control input from the pilot causes the servo tab to move
2. The servo tab automatically moves in the opposite direction of
the flight control surface. This enables the control surface to
move more easily.
Anti-Servo Tab:
- When the stabiliser moves up, the anti-servo tab moves in the same direction
creating more ‘feel’
- An anti-balance tab or “anti-servo” tab is used
- Makes controls harder to move and in doing so, makes the controls heavier in
feel to the pilot
ADY 3
CoG:
Ground Looping
- If a swing to the left or right is allowed to continue unchecked, an unstable combination of forces
acts to point that even full rudder cannot prevent its continuation
- Due to the continuous yaw, a roll is induced which noses the aircraft into the ground
NOTE:
In a strong head wind – ‘PULL control column back or hold at neutral’ (Climb into wind)
In a strong tail wind – ‘PUSH control column forward’ (Dive out of wind)
Quartering Winds:
In a left quartering headwind, raise upwind aileron by moving the control column into the wind. This
in turn acts to pull the wing down, and hold the aircraft on the ground.
In a left quartering tail wind, lower the upwind aileron. This reduces the amount of airflow over the
aerofoil.
Wake Turbulence:
How to avoid:
1. Remain 200 feet above flight path of another A/C
2. Remain 1000 feet below A/C flight path
When close to the ground (within 200ft), vortices move laterally along the ground at approx. 5knots.
NOTE: Light wind may cause the wake turbulence to remain stationary or clear faster.
LIFE SPAN – 3 minutes+ on the ground and 5 minutes at altitude
Ground Effect: - ‘Ground effect is most significant during take-off and landing’
During landing as a result of extra lift and reduction in drag the pilot will experience a
floating sensation.
Ground Effect – when aircraft operate within one wingspan of the ground vortices cannot
fully develop. (the air is cushioned, artificially REDUCING drag by up to 41%)
- Ground effect is most pronounced within ½ a total wingspan from the ground
However, once ‘one wingspan’ above the ground, as much as 41% MORE drag is created
whilst leaving ground effect. This will decrease lift and increase induced drag.
HAZARD ON LANDING:
- If approach is too fast, aircraft will enter ground effect and will appear to float
- DON’T put the nose down, go round
Load Factor:
Load factor increases stall speed, therefore requires more lift to stay in the air
Turn Performance:
1. Radius of turn
2. Rate of turn
RADIUS of Turn:
V(TAS) ANGLE OF BANK
30° 60°
105 515m 170m
80 300m 100m
RATE of Turn:
Summary:
Types of Climbs:
Best Angle of Climb - Maximum vertical distance achieved over minimum horizontal distance
Best Rate of Climb – Maximum vertical distance for minimum amount of time
- Achieved by flying at the speed for max excess power (74knots in C172)
- Common in flight training operations
- Vertical Distance vs Time
CADA 1
Air Pressure –
Bernoulli’s Theorem
Coanda Effect
The tendency of the airflow to follow a surface with gentle curvature rather than
continue its original path until the stalling angle is reached – known as entrainment
Results in the air being deflected downward after it leaves the trailing edge
Aerofoil
Chordline: The straight line joining the Leading Edge to the Trailing Edge
Mean Camber Line: The line drawn halfway between the upper and lower surfaces
The Cessna 172 has a typical low-speed, high-lift wing and the maximum camber is about
25% of the chord back from the leading edge
A Boeing 737 has a laminar-flow aerofoil designed for high speed cruise. It has less camber
and the maximum camber is at about 50% chord
Another consideration when designing wings is the relationship between chord and span
Relative Airflow (R.A.F): Opposite to the direction of the path of the aircraft
Angle of Attack (AoA): The angle between the chordline and relative airflow
Effect of Flap
Lift Equation
Increase AoA
Increase Camber
Deploy Flap
Thickness/Chord Ratio
Parasite Drag: opposes the motion of the an object within a fluid (the atmosphere)
b) Interference Drag
Occurs most frequently at the intersection of the fuselage with the wings , tailplane etc. reduced by
use of fairings
Induced Drag
Is a by-product of Lift.
At wing tips air leaks to the upper surface creating swirling vortices.
The slower the aircraft flies, the more air has time to spill over the wing tip
The greater the pressure difference between the bottom and top surface, the greater the
induced drag
Aircraft Weight
• W=L
Heavy aircraft must create more lift,
therefore a stronger pressure difference
must exist
Wake Turbulence
A result of the air spilling around the wingtip from the region of higher pressure below the wing to
the lower pressure above
For take-off aim to lift off well before the rotation point of the
preceding, departing aircraft and climb well above its flightpath.
When taking off behind an aircraft which has just landed aim to
rotate well beyond its touchdown point or delay the take-off
(wait for vortices to dissipate), as per wake turbulence
separation standards in the JEPPS ATC AU-810
When landing on a
crossing runway plan to
cross above the larger,
landing aircraft’s
flightpath and touchdown
well beyond the runway it
has landed on (see
below).
When landing on a
crossing runway plan to cross above the larger, landing aircraft’s flightpath and touchdown well
beyond the runway it has landed on (see below).
When landing behind a larger aircraft taking off from a crossing runway, if the larger aircraft rotates
beyond the intersection, touch down before the intersection. If it rotates prior to the intersection
discontinue the approach unless the landing run can be completed before the intersection (see
below).
When landing behind a larger aircraft
taking off from a crossing runway, if the
larger aircraft rotates beyond the
intersection, touch down before the
intersection. If it rotates prior to the
intersection discontinue the approach
unless the landing run can be completed
before the intersection (see below).
At 900ft the vortices stabilise and once stabilised, the cover an area of sky equal to 2 wingspans
horizontally by 1 wingspan vertically
Therefore, when avoiding wake turbulence en-route aim to stay at least 200’ above and 1000’ below
the aircraft’s flightpath.
In the event a heavy aircraft conducts a baulked approach it should be assumed the entire length of
the runway could pose a hazard and the departure or approach delayed or discontinued
respectively.
Vortices can persist for up to 3 minutes on the ground and up to 5 minutes at altitude
Helicopters also produce wake turbulence (rotor downwash), the strength of which is usually far
greater than a fixed-wing aircraft of similar weight. The strongest wake turbulence occurs when the
helicopter is operating at lower speeds.
CADA 3
Thrust Available
The difference between the thrust available and the thrust required is called the excess
thrust
Excess Thrust
The maximum excess thrust will determine the maximum climb angle
Power
Power Available
Power is a rate at which work is done, it is directly proportional to fuel flow and is defined by he
following formula:
At high airspeeds the drag will be high and the TAS will also be high, so power required will
be very high
Excess Power
The maximum excess power will determine the maximum climb rate
The area of the power curve where the power required increases with decreasing airspeed is known
as the Region of Reverse Command
In the normal operating area, changes of airspeed in level flight will be resisted
Example instability
If an aircraft is flying below the min power speed and it slows down due to a gust, the power
required INCREASES
The power setting is now less than what is required for level flight (despite not actually
changing)