Straight and Level

Exercise 6

Private Pilot’s License (A)

Long Briefing
INTRODUCTION

Aim:
To be able to fly the aircraft in balance at a constant altitude and
direction at varying speeds, power settings and
configurations.

Why this is taught and how it applies to flying:

To understand the principles involved with flying straight and
level. This applies to all aspects of flying, e.g. when flying
navigation flights, circuits, instrument flying, etc.
WHAT IS STRAIGHT AND LEVEL?

Straight flight: maintaining a straight line over the ground by
selecting a distant outside object as reference and flying towards
it.

Level flight: maintaining a constant altitude by keeping the horizon
at the proper location in the windscreen.
 Proper location or reference point in the windscreen
will depend on the sitting height of the pilot and the
type of aircraft.
 Initially determined by cross checking the altimeter and
VSI and becomes more natural with experience.

Flying straight and level you want to trim your aircraft so it is in
equilibrium.

Equilibrium is when all opposing forces acting on the aircraft are
balanced.
NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION

Newton’s First Law:

• A body at rest, tend to remain at rest. A body that is moving,
tends to continue moving – at the same rate and in the same
direction, unless acted upon by and external force.
Newton’s Second Law:
• When a force is exerted on a body to change its state of rest
or uniform motion, the acceleration so produced is
proportional to the applied force and acts in the same
direction.
Newton’s Third Law:
• To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
FORCES OF FLIGHT
• There is 4 forces which act on an aircraft during flight =
LIFT
• Lift acts equal and opposite to weight through the centre of
pressure and at 90⁰ to the relative airflow.
SPEED/ATTITUDE RELATIONSHIP

• Increase airspeed = increase lift  Decrease AoA (low attitude)

• Decrease airspeed = decrease lift  Increase AoA (high attitude)
WEIGHT

• Weight pulls the airplane downwards because of the force of

gravity.
• It opposes lift and acts vertically downward through the
center of gravity towards the center of the earth.
DRAG
• Parasite Drag (Profile): Drag which has no aerodynamic
significance to the production of lift
DRAG
• Induced drag: Drag created as a direct result of lift generation.
DRAG
• Total Drag = Parasite drag + Induced drag
DRAG: MINIMUM DRAG SPEED (Vmd)

• The minimum drag speed occurs at the lowest point of the

total drag curve .
DRAG: MINUMUM POWER (Vmp)
• Minimum power speed is the speed at where the least
amount of power is required.
DRAG: EFFECT OF LANDING GEAR AND FLAPS
• Upon application of flaps and landing gear the Profile drag will
increase, this will require an increase in power to overcome
the drag.
THRUST
• Thrust acts through the thrust line (propeller shaft).
• The amount of thrust is the component of the Power
Available and the Power Required.
EFFECT OF ALTITUDE

Less dense air means less performance of the engine, therefore
we lose power with increase in altitude.
THRUST: EFFECT OF DENSITY ALTITUDE
THRUST/DRAG GRAPH
• Max/Min Speed for Straight and Level

Min Speed for S&L Max Speed of S&L

THRUST/DRAG
• Two airspeeds for one power setting – ‘on the step’:
THRUST/POWER RELATIONSHIP
BALANCE OF FORCES

• A couple is the combination of two individual forces acting

through a common point creating one movement.
STABILITY

• Can be divided into:

– Longitudinal stability
– Lateral stability
– Directional stability
STABILITY
• Longitudinal stability refers to stability in pitch.
• The main factors affecting longitudinal stability is the position
of the CG relative to the CP
– CG at most forward limit - most stable
– CG at most aft limit - less stable
• It can be divided into the following categories:
– Static Longitudinal Stability
– Dynamic Longitudinal Stability
STABILITY: POSITIVE STATIC

• Positive Static Stability is when a body that has been displaced

tends to return to equilibrium.

After a displacement, object tends to return to its

original position

Equilibrium

POSITIVE STATIC STABILITY

STABILITY: NEUTRAL STATIC
• Neutral Static Stability is when a body after being displaced
has no tendency to return to equilibrium or to continue in the
direction of the displacement.

After a displacement, object does not return to equilibrium, nor

continues in the direction of the displacement

Equilibrium
NEUTRAL STABILITY
STABILITY: NEGATIVE STATIC
• Negative Static Instability is when a body that has been
displaced, has the tendency to continue in the direction of the
displacement.

After a displacement, object tends to continue in

the direction of the disturbance.

Equilibrium
STATIC INSTABILITY
DYNAMIC STABILITY

• Positive dynamic stability =

DYNAMIC STABILITY
• Neutral dynamic stability =
DYNAMIC STABILITY
• Negative dynamic stability =
EFFECT OF THE TAIL PLANE

• When the angle of attack on the wings is increased by a

disturbance, the CP moves forward, pitching the nose of the
airplane up and the tail down.
• The tail plane, moving down, meets the air at a greater angle
of attack, obtains more lift and tends to restore the balance.
 DESIGN OF THE TAIL PLANE

GUST

4 + 2 = 50 % change AoA 2 + 2 = 100 % change AoA

O
A oA 4 O
O A oA 2
+2

NB – the greater proportional increase in lift over the tail plane will cause it to rise resulting in
a lowering of the aircraft nose and thereby return the aircraft to the original trimmed position
LATERAL STABILITY: GEOMETRIC DIHEDRAL
LATERAL STABILITY: PENDULUM
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY: WEATHERCOCK
INERTIA

• Inertia describes a bodies resistance to change.

• Inertia is directly proportional to the mass and the velocity of
the aircraft.
• Therefore an increase in mass and /or velocity of the aircraft,
the greater its inertia.
• When a disturbing force is applied to the aircraft, there is a
time lapse before the equilibrium state is broken.
POWER CHANGES
POWER CHANGES
FLYING FOR RANGE

• DEFINITION: To attain maximum ground distance for given

amount of fuel.

• Minimum fuel burn per time period

• Aircraft must be flown as follows:
– Best Lift/Drag ratio
– “Full-throttle altitude”
– Optimum mixture setting
– Optimum pitch set on propeller (CSU engines)
– Weather considerations important
FLYING FOR ENDURANCE

DEFINITION: Attaining maximum time in flight for

given amount of fuel

• Fuel burn must be at minimum rate

• Aircraft must be flown at Vmp
– Minimum Power needed to overcome minimum amount
of drag.
HOW DO WE FLY STRAIGHT AND LEVEL?

1. Pick a reference point on the distant horizon.

a) To maintain Altitude = Nose 4 fingers below the horizon
b) To maintain Direction = Keep wing tips equal distance above the
horizon
c) To maintain Balance = Keep nose pointed towards the reference
point, balance ball in the middle
2. Combination of all 3 (maintaining altitude, direction and
balance) we will fly straight and level attitude