CHAPTER ] Mechanics Flying and mechanics The flight and manoeuvres of an aeroplane provide glorious examples of the principles of mechanics. However, this is not a book on mechanics. It is about flying, and is an attempt to explain the flight of an aeroplane in a simple and interesting way; the mechanics are only brought in as an aid to understanding. In the opening chapter I shall try to sum up some of the principles with which we are most concerned in flying. Force, and the first law of motion An important principle of mechanics is that any object that is at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by some force, and any object that is moving will continue moving at a steady speed unless acted upon by a force. This state- ment is in effect a simple statement of what is known as Newton's First Law of Motion, There are two types of forces that can act on a body. They are: (1) externally applied mechanical forces such as a simple push or pull (2) the so-called body forces such as those caused by the attraction of gravity and electromagnetic and electrostatic fields. External forces relevant to the mechanics of flight include the thrust produced by a jet engine or a propeller, and the drag resistance produced by movement through the air. A less obvious external force is that of reaction. A simple example of a reactive force is that which occurs when an object is placed on a fixed surface. The table produces an upward reactive force that exactly balancesMECHANICS OF FLIGHT the weight. The only body force that is of interest in the mechanics of flight is the force due to the attraction of gravity, which we know simply as the weight of the object. Forces (of whatever type) are measured in the units of newtons (N) in the metric ST system or pounds force (Ibf) in the Imperial or Federal systems. In this book, both sets of units are used in the examples and questions. Mass The mass of an object can be loosely described as the quantity of matter in it, ‘The greater the mass of an object, the greater will be the force required to start it moving from rest or to change its speed if it is already moving. Mass is measured in units of kilograms (kg) in the SI metric system or pounds (Ib) in the Imperial and Federal systems. Unfortunately, the same names are commonly used for the units of weight (which is a force), and this causes a great deal of confusion, as will be explained a little later under the heading Units. In this book, we will always use kilograms for mass, and newtons for weight. Momentum The quantity that decides the difficulty in stopping a body is its momentum, which is the product of its mass and the velocity of movement. ‘A body having a 20 kg mass moving at 2 m/s has a momentum of 40 kg m/s, and so does a body having a 10kg mass moving at 4 m/s. The first has the greater mass, the second the greater velocity, but both are equally difficult to stop. A car has a larger mass than a bullet, but a relatively low velocity. A bullet has a much lower mass, but a relatively high velocity. Both are difficult to stop, and both can do considerable damage to anything that tries to stop them quickly. To change the momentum of a body or even a mass of air, it is necessary to apply a force. Force = Rate of change of momentum. Forces in equilibrium If two tug-of-war teams pulling on a rope are well matched, there may for a while be no movement, just a lot of shouting and puffing! Both teams are exerting the same amount of force on the two ends of the rope. The forces are therefore in equilibrium and there is no change of momentum. There are,MECHANICS 3 Pull applied ‘Aerodynamic by towing resistance aircraft force 1000 N 1000 N Fig 1.1 Forces in equilibrium however, other more common occurrences of forces in equilibrium. If you push down on an object at rest on a table, the table will resist the force with an equal and opposite force of reaction, so the forces are in equilibrium. Of course, if you press too hard, the table might break, in which case the forces will no longer be in equilibrium, and a sudden and unwanted acceleration will occur, ‘As another example, consider a glider being towed behind a small aircraft as in Fig, 1.1. If the aircraft and glider are flying straight and level at constant speed, then the pulling force exerted by the aircraft on the tow-rope must be exactly balanced by an equal and opposite aerodynamic resistance or drag force acting on the glider. The forces are in equilibrium. Some people find it hard to believe that these forces really are exactly equal. Surely, they say, the aircraft must be pulling forward just a bit harder than the glider is pulling backwards; otherwise, what makes them go forward? Well, what makes them go forward is the fact that they are going forward, and the law says that they will continue to do so unless there is something to alter that state of affairs. If the forces are balanced then there is nothing to alter that state of equilibrium, and the aircraft and glider will keep moving at a constant speed. Forces not in equilibrium In the case of the glider mentioned above, what would happen if the pilot of the towing aircraft suddenly opened the engine throttle? The pulling force on the tow-rope would increase, but at first the aerodynamic resistance on the glider would not change. The forces would therefore no longer be in equilib- rium. The air resistance force is still there of course, so some of the pull on the tow-rope must go into overcoming it, but the remainder of the force will cause the glider to accelerate as shown in Fig. 1.2 (overleaf), which is called a free- body diagram. This brings us to Newton’s second law, which says in effect that if the forces are not in balance, then the acceleration will be proportional to force and inversely proportional to the mass of the object: a=Fm