AIRCRAFT

Aircraft structure and terminology

The five basic parts of an aircraft are: (1) fuselage, (2) wing, (3) tail, (4) landing gear, and (5) engine. The wing,
fuselage, tail and landing gear are referred to as the airframe.

1. Fuselage: the body of the aircraft that spans from nose to tail. The fuselage contains the aircraft controls,
the crew, passengers and cargo. Most large aircraft have a “cockpit” for the crew and a “cabin” for the
passengers.
2. Wing: extends from each side of the fuselage. A wing is almost flat on the bottom and curved on the top.
This shape called an airfoil, helps create the force called lift which gets the aircraft off the ground and
keeps it in the air.
3. Tail: also called the empennage, is located in the rear of the aircraft. It guides the aircraft and keeps it
balanced in flight. Most tails consist of a fin, rudder, stabilizer and elevator.
4. Landing gear: also called “undercarriage” is made up of wheels (for aircraft that move on the ground) or
floats (for aircraft that move on water). The landing gear supports the weight of the aircraft. Most aircraft
have a tricycle landing gear with two main wheel assemblies under each wing and a third wheel assembly
under the nose. Larger aircraft may have more to support the additional weight. The landing gear is fixed
or retractable.
5. Engine: not considered part of the airframe. The engine produces power that makes the aircraft move fast
enough to fly. Nearly all newer aircraft have jet engines.

Vocabulary:

layout компоновка
fuselage фюзеляж
wing крыло
tail (unit), empennage хвостовое оперение
landing gear, undercarriage шасси
engine двигатель
airframe планер
to span, to extend простираться; выпускать шасси, механизацию крыла
controls органы управления
cockpit, flight deck пилотская кабина
cabin салон
flat плоский
curved изогнутый
airfoil аэродинамический профиль
lift подъемная сила
in the rear/back/aft/tail part в задней части ВС
of the aircraft
in the fore/forward/front в передней части ВС
part of the aircraft
to guide направлять, вести
balanced уравновешенный
fin киль
rudder руль направления
stabilizer стабилизатор
elevator руль высоты
wheel колесо
float поплавок
to support поддерживать
tricycle здесь - трехопорный
assembly здесь - стойка, опора шасси
fixed landing gear фиксированное шасси
retractable landing gear убирающееся шасси
jet реактивный

Dialogues:

1. Passenger: (On take-off/landing) - What was that loud bang?

Cabin attendant: - It was the wheels locking up/down, sir/madam (or: this sound appears when landing
gear is extended/retracted). Don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal.

2. P: - The wings seem to be bending!

CA: - Yes, sir/madam. They are designed to be flexible. In fact, if they weren’t they wouldn’t
be safe.

3. P: - I’ve never understood, how exactly we’re keeping in the air?

CA: - It’s a rather technical subject, sir/madam, but basically the air moving at speed over our wings
creates a lifting force that is equal to our weight.

4. P: - How on the earth does the pilot know which way to steer?
CA: - Well, sir/madam, he has very sophisticated electronic equipment up on the flight deck, and he uses
this to navigate towards radio beacons, which are located on the ground.

5. P: - How can it be safe to fly through all this cloud?

CA: - Don’t worry, sir/madam, Our Captain is using radar and the latest radio navigation systems.

6. P: - What if something breaks down?

CA: - All the important pieces of aircraft systems are at least duplicated, sir/madam.

7. P: - What would we do if the worst came to the worst?

CA: - Relax, sir/madam. All cabin crew are highly trained. And, in any case, I’m sure nothing is going
to go wrong. So just sit back in your seat and enjoy the flight.

Vocabulary:

bang громкий удар

to extend (to lower) landing
gear, to have wheels down выпускать шасси
to retract landing gear, to have
wheels up убирать шасси
to bend сгибать
to design разрабатывать
flexible гибкий
to steer управлять, вести (судно)
sophisticated сложный
radio beacon радиомаяк
radar локатор
if the worst came to the worst в худшем случае

Aircraft interior layout, furnishings and systems

The following terms are used to describe aircraft furnishings and

systems:

Aircraft Left or Port Left side of the aircraft when facing forward.
Aircraft Right or Starboard Right side of the aircraft when facing forward.

CABIN The interior of the aircraft where passengers are seated.

COCKPIT (FLIGHT DECK) The area of the aircraft where all the controls and navigational
equipment are located and where the pilots sit.

CALL LIGHT A light signaling the cabin crew to respond to a passenger’s

needs.

COMMUNICATION Lights, bells or audio systems that allow crewmembers to

SYSTEMS communicate with each other or to communicate with
passengers

EMERGENCY EXIT Designated as a way out of the aircraft in the event of an

emergency.

MANUAL INFLATION Handle or strap at the top of a slide that is pulled to inflate the
HANDLE slide when the exit is opened in an emergency

GALLEY Area on aircraft where food and beverages are stored and
prepared.

JUMPSEAT This is where cabin crew members have to sit for take-off and
landing.

LIGHTING AND These systems provide light and power to the cabin and for
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM the galleys.

AUXILIARY POWER UNIT Alternate or back up source of power located in the tail of the
(APU) aircraft and is used to provide internal power while the
aircraft is on the ground

GROUND POWER UNIT A portable unit attached to the aircraft when on the ground
(GPU) that provides power to the aircraft when the engines or APU
are not operating.

OVERHEAD BINS Compartments installed above the seats and used to place
(OVERHEAD LOCKERS) passengers’ belongings.

AIR SYSTEMS These systems provide breathable air, appropriate cabin

pressurization, heating and cooling for the aircraft.

PASSENGER SERVICE Located above the passenger seats, it contains all or part of
UNIT the following: reading lights, air outlets, oxygen outlet, cabin
crew call button, emergency oxygen mask and ‘No Smoking’
and ‘Fasten Seat Belt’ signs.

WATER SYSTEMS These systems provide potable water for consumption in the
galleys and hot and cold water to the lavatories.

In-flight Entertainment Refers to the equipment, which allows for passengers to

Equipment (IFE) watch movies, listen to music or play electronic games.

1.
2.
 GENERAL AVIATION, GROUND AND AIRPORT OPERATIONS TERMINOLOGY

Vocabulary:

apron, ramp перрон

parking stand, parking place стоянка, место парковки
gate выход к самолету через телескопический трап
jetway телескопический трап («рукав»)
boarding stairs трап
passenger embarkation, disembarkation посадка, высадка пассажиров
ATC (Air Traffic Control) УВД, управление воздушным движением
to taxi рулить (о самолете)
to tow буксировать
to push back, push-back буксировать хвостом вперед, буксировка
tow-unit, tug буксировщик
tow-bar буксировочное водило
taxiway рулежная дорожка
runway взлетно-посадочная полоса, ВПП
to taxi to holding position рулить на предварительный старт
to line up занимать исполнительный старт
to depart, departure вылетать, вылет
to take off, take-off взлетать, взлет
take-off run разбег
to climb, to ascend набирать высоту
climb, climbing, ascending набор высоты
to level off переходить в горизонтальный полет
to reach assigned/cruising altitude занимать назначенную/крейсерскую высоту
to divert, diversion отклоняться, отклонение от маршрута
alternate airport, divertive airport запасной аэродром
adverse weather неблагоприятная погода
traffic congestion скопление бортов
holding pattern зона ожидания
to approach the destination приближаться к пункту назначения
to descend снижаться
descent, descending снижение
final посадочная прямая
to make a missed approach procedure, уходить на второй круг, выполнять повторный
to go around заход
to land, landing садиться, посадка
landing run пробег
to arrive, arrival прибывать, прибытие
to vacate the runway освобождать ВПП

“Jargon” or slang

One of the common challenges that you will encounter is the “jargon” or slang that is used in the airline industry.
Some terms might have slight variations from airline to airline or country to country.
The table below lists the some examples of expressions used by the cabin crew.

Expressions What does it mean?

The block* out for a flight is 1215, the wheels After the blocks were removed and the aircraft
up time is 1245. left the gate, the aircraft taxied for 30 minutes
_____________ before it was cleared for take-off.
*blocks, chocks – rubber or wooden stops that are used
to keep the aircraft from rolling when parked

Our ETA into JFK I 1945 local. The flight is scheduled to arrive at New York’s
JFK airport at 7:45 pm local time.

We blocked in at 0730 local. The flight arrived at the gate at 7:30 am.

ATC diverted us to LGW because of fog. Air Traffic Control could not allow the flight to
land at the originally scheduled airport because
of fog and the flight was directed to land at
London’s Gatwick Airport.

The Captain said we’ll be holding for the next Air Traffic Control cannot give clearance for
0:30 minutes because of congestion at CDG. the flight to land at Charles De Gaulle Airport
because of heavy air traffic into the airport.
The Captain has been directed to fly in at a
specific altitude and in a circle pattern
“holding” at that altitude and in that flight
pattern for the next 30 minutes.

The plane is scheduled at 1300 and turns in The plane is scheduled to arrive at 1:00 pm and
0:45 minutes. departs again in 0:45 minutes.

There are 20 “throughs” on the flight to There are 20 passengers who will remain on
Frankfurt. the flight that makes a stop between the
origination of the flight and destination in
Frankfurt.

Flight 7 originates in JFK and makes an Flight #7 leaves John F Kennedy Airport in
intermediate stop in ORD and terminates in New-York, makes a stop in Chicago O’Hare
LAX. Airport and then continues on and ends in Los
Angeles.

“I’m a non rev on the standby list for the flight I’m using a reduced rate benefit, or non
to YUL” revenue ticket to take a flight to Montreal.

Phonetic Alphabet

The phonetic alphabet is the common name for the international telephony spelling alphabet. Code words are
assigned to the letters of English alphabet to spell out parts of a message or call signs that are critical or might be
hard to recognize with voice communication.
LETTER CODE WORD

A Alfa
B Bravo
C Charlie
D Delta
E Echo
F Foxtrot
G Golf
H Hotel
I India
J Juliette
K Kilo
L Lima
M Mike
N November
O Oscar
P Papa
Q Quebec
R Romeo
S Sierra
T Tango
U Uniform
V Victor
W Whiskey
X X-Ray
Y Yankee
Z Zulu
0 Zero
1 One
2 Two
3 Tree (Pronounced)
4 Four
5 Fife (Pronounced)
6 Six
7 Seven
8 Eight
9 Niner (Pronounced)