Instructors: LSU MTI’s/ROTC Officers

Date: 18 August 2012

 OBJECTIVES
1. Name the types of fuselage constructions and
describe the purpose of the individual structural units
that are used to construct a fuselage.
2. Identify the individual structural components of an
aircraft wing and state the purpose of specified parts.
3. Name and state the purpose of the main units of the
empennage.
4. State the purpose of the landing gear and the
modes of the landing gear operation.
5. State the purpose of aircraft nacelle.
6. Know the main purpose of Aircraft Station Numbers
in the service, maintenance and repair of aircraft.
 OVERVIEW
I. Five Structural Components of an “AIRFRAME”
A. Fuselage
B. Wing
C. Tail Section
D. Landing Gear Structures
E. Powerplant Structures
II. Aircraft Station Numbers
A. Fuselage Station
B. Wing Station/Butt line
C. Water line
 I. Structural Components of an
“AIRFRAME”
A. Fuselage

- The main structural unit of the Aircraft.

- The body of the Aircraft to which the
wings, landing gear, engine, and
empennage are attached.
- Provides a space for the crews,
passengers, cargo, and other items.
 I. Structural Components of an
“AIRFRAME”
A. Fuselage

- Should be designed to satisfy two (2)

major criteria:
1. Protect the passenger in the
event of a crash.
2. Efficiently tie together all
structural components that are attached
to it.
 Types of FUSELAGE

1. Truss

2. Monocoque

3. Semi-monocoque
 1. Truss Fuselage
- Is an assemblage of members forming a
rigid framework made up of members such
as bars, beams, struts and more other
materials.
- A fabric-covered truss-framed fuselage is
build for low power rating , slow speed,
and light construction aircraft.
- used by many liaison aircraft and other
light private aircraft.
 1. Truss Fuselage

Types of a Truss Fuselage

1. Pratt Truss
2. Warren Truss
Pratt Truss Fuselage
- Used in present aircraft tubular fuselage
members.
- The Longerons were connected with rigid
vertical and lateral members called struts.
- Only the diagonal members were made
of strong wire and were designed to carry
tension only.
Warren Truss Fuselage

-The longerons are connected with only

diagonal members.
 2. Monocoque Fuselage
- Constructed like a shell.
- The skin acts as the principal part of the airframe.
- Formers, frame assemblies and bulk heads are used to
give the shape but the skin carries the primary stresses.
Monocoque Fuselage
 3. Semi-monocoque Fuselage
- Constructed to overcome strength-weight problem.
- Most popular type and present in all day military aircraft.
- Consist of a framework of vertical and horizontal
members.
Vertical members:
a. Frames or bulkheads
b. Rings and/or formers
Horizontal members:
a. Longerons
b. Stringers
Semi-monocoque Fuselage
General Construction of Fuselage
1. Longerons
2. Ring/Formers
3. Bulkheads/Frames
4. Stringers
5. Skin
Bulkheads/Frames
- An oval-shape members of the fuselage which gives form
and maintain the shape of the structure.
- Heaviest cross-sectional members which carry
concentrated stress loads.
- Identified by a station numbers and are helpful in locating
repair information for a specific bulkheads.
- mostly made of aluminum alloy others are corrosion
resistant steel.
Longerons
- The principal longitudinal member which runs the whole
length of the fuselage.
- Commonly called the “backbone” of the fuselage.
- are strong and heavy which used to hold the bulkheads
and formers together in a rigid framework.

Ring/Formers
- Are the lightest cross-sectional members of the fuselage.
- It gives shape and adds rigidity and strength to the
fuselage structure.
- Used primarily for filling skin attachment between the
larger members.
Stringers
- Smaller and lighter than longerons.
- Use as fill-in and aids in riveting the skin to the fuselage.
- mostly made up of aluminum alloy.

Skin
- Smooth outer cover of the fuselage.
- heat treated aluminum alloy are commonly used.
- fiberglass, Kevlar, graphite, and honeycomb core are also
used extensively on secondary areas.
 B. Wing
- It provides lifting force when moved rapidly through the air.
- Design of the wings are depending on the aircraft’s mission.
- Wings are designated corresponding to the left or right hand
of the pilot seated in the cockpit.
- engine mounted on the wings are numbered from left to
right.

Wing Design:
- Most military aircraft are cantilever type and made up
of aluminum alloy construction.
 Types of Wing
1. Cantilever Wing
- Contains all its structural strength inside the wing structure
and requires no external bracing.
- Normally found on high performance aircraft and transport.
2. Semi-cantilever Wing
- This design obtains its strength both by internal wing design
and external support and by bracing from struts and wire.
- Usually found on light and slow aircraft designed to carry
heavy loads.

External support
 Wing Configurations
1. High wing – the wing upper surface is level with above the
top of the fuselage.
2. Mid wing – the wing is mounted mid-way up the fuselage.
3. Low wing - the wing lower surface is level with (or below)
the bottom of the fuselage.
 Types of Airplane
1. Monoplane - is an aircraft with one main set of wing
surfaces.
2. Bi-plane - is a fixed wing aircraft with two main wings.
3. Tri-plane - is a fixed wing aircraft equipped with three sets of
wings, each roughly the same size and mounted one above
the other.
 Dihedral Angle
- The spanwise upward or downward slope of the chord plane
relative to the horizontal reference plane of the aircraft.
- It reduces the tendency of the aircraft to sideslip toward the
lower wing when the aircraft is banked.

Types:
a. Positive Dihedral
b. Negative Dihedral
a. Positive Dihedral – wings angled upward and designed for
a low-speed aircraft.
b. Negative Dihedral – wings angled downward and
designed for high-speed aircraft.
 Swept Angle
- is a planform used in high performance aircraft.

Types:
a. Swept-back wing
b. Forward-swept wing
 a. Swept- back Wing
- Wings formed like an arrow head.
- Initially used only on fighter aircraft but have since become
most universal on airliner.
 b. Forward-swept wing

- is a high performance aircraft configurations.

- design includes the mounting the wings further back on the
fuselage.
- allowing an unobstructed cabin or bomb bay.
- increased maneuverability at transonic speed.
 Wing Sections

The Three sections that make up the Aircraft Wing.

a. Leading Edge Section
b. Center Section
c. Trailing Edge Section

Leading
edge
section
Center
section
Trailing
edge
section
 a. Leading Edge Section

- is the front section of the wing.

- used to streamline forward section of the wing.
- also used to house extra equipment such as:
1. landing lights
2. plumbing/fuel lines
3. thermal anti-icing systems
 b. Center Section

- Located in between the front and rear spar.

- The main structural section of the wing.
- used to store fuel and sometimes serves as housing for
landing gear
- It is also where walkway areas are located.
 c. Trailing Edge Section

- The rearmost part of the wing

- where the control surfaces are located such as:
- flaps
- aileron
- spoilers

aileron
flaps
spoilers
 Main Structural Parts of the Wing

Leading Edge

Spar

Trailing edge
1. Spar
- The principal structural member of the wing.
- It run parallel to the lateral axis or towards the tip of the
wing.
- Usually attached to the fuselage by wing fittings, plain
beams or part of truss system

2. Ribs
- Are the crosspieces that make up the framework of the
wing.
- It runs from the leading edge toward the trailing edge of the
wing.
- They are secured to the spar and gives aerodynamic shape
when covered with the skin.
- used to transmit the load from the skin to the spar.
Parts of a wing
3. Stringers (stiffeners)
- aids in attaching the skin to the wing .
- Usually found closely spaced on the underside of the upper
wing skin.

4. Skin
- Used as wing covering.
- must be strong enough to carry tension and shear stresses.
- It is the primary load-carrying member in the wing
construction.
- thickness varies from 0.016 - 0.750 inch.
 Fairings
- Auxiliary members that streamline various parts on the
aircraft to reduce drag .
- They cover the joints formed where wing section meet the
fuselage and where wing sections stabilizers mount on the
main structure.
- Often used to streamline around fittings, navigation lights,
landing gear struts and wheels.
- Not a strength member.
 C. Empennage
- Simply the tail section of the aircraft.
- It includes the aft end of the fuselage such as:
a. Stabilizers
b. Rudder
c. Elevator
- Its main purpose is to stabilize and control the aircraft.
Stabilizers
- The Stabilizing unit of an aircraft.
- Consist of a Vertical and Horizontal surfaces located on the
rear portion of the fuselage.
- It resembles wings but less complex and less integrated
- Usually full cantilever metal-covered airfoils.
Vertical Stabilizers
- Maintains the directional stability of the aircraft in flight
about its vertical axis.
- Serves as the anchorage for the rudder (controls direction).
- A dorsal fin (fairing) is installed immediately forward the
vertical stabilizer.
- improve the yaw stability and provide a streamline
between the stabilizer and the fuselage.

Dorsal fin
Horizontal Stabilizers
- Gives stability to the aircraft about its lateral axis.
- Serves as the base anchorage of the elevator (controls
pitching).
- Rear spar are much heavier than the front spar, opposite to
the arrangement of the wings.
 D. Landing Gear
- It support the aircraft during and when it is resting or moving
about on the ground.
- The undercarriage used by the aircraft when taking off or
making landing.
- It may consist of a; a. wheel or skid for land,
b. skis for snow or ice
c. floats or pontoon for water
- Oleo Strut absorbs the shock of landing and taxiing.
- Some aircraft can extend and retract landing gear by a
retraction mechanism that can be
1. electrically,
2. mechanically or
3. hydraulically actuated.
- Some are using the brakes on the wheel to stop and steer
airplanes.
- On most aircraft the tail or nose wheel may be steered.
 Types of Landing Gear
Classifications of Landing Gear:
1. Fixed Landing Gear
- is attached to the airframe so that it is held in a fixed
position.
- normally found on relatively low-speed aircraft designed for
simplicity of operation.
2. Retractable Landing Gear
- retractable wheels fold up into the fuselage, wing, or
nacelles to reduce air drag.
- wheels are retracted as soon as the plane is safely off the
ground.
Configurations of Landing Gear:
1. Conventional Landing Gear
- Consist of two main landing gears located ahead of the
aircraft center of gravity and tail wheel located near the tail of
the aircraft.
- Aircraft sits on the ground in a tail-low attitude.
Configurations of Landing Gear:
2. Tricycle Type Landing Gear
- Consist of two main landing gears aft of the center of
gravity and a nose wheel located near the nose of the
aircraft.
- Aircraft sits in an approximately level flight attitude.
Configurations of Landing Gear:
3. Tandem or Bicycle Type Landing Gear
- Have two main wheels or sets of wheels, one behind the
other.
- Outrigger wheels support the wing tips.

Oleo strut
 E. Powerplant Structures
Aircraft powerplant provide the source of thrust to move
the aircraft through the air.
- Usually enclosed in a housing called a NACELLE /Cowling
and is attached to the aircraft by an engine mount.
- a firewall is a barrier used to isolate the rest of the aircraft
from the engine.
Purpose of Nacelles
- it encloses the engine in a streamline housing to improve the
aerodynamics of the aircraft.
- To support and protect the engine and its components.
- To direct airflow into the engine for cooling and combustion
and away from the engine for proper exhaust flow.

Nacelle
Engine Firewall
- used to protect Nacelle strut (pylon) and systems from exposure
to high temperature and fire damage.
- also used to prevent the passing of hazardous quantity of air,
fluid or flame to other portions of aircraft.
- Constructed of fireproof materials such as stainless steel, incone
or titanium to provide protection against heat and corrosion.
Engine Cowling
- designed to provide proper aerodynamic flow of air into the
engine and;
- to provide access to a various parts of the engine.
- made up of sheet metal, aluminum honeycomb, composite
or other fireproof material, which are attached to each other
by screw or a quick-disconnect fasteners.

Fairing
- used to streamline a
portion of an airplane.
- improve the appearance