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RAF Principles of Flight

The document summarizes key principles of flight, including Bernoulli's principle, Newton's third law of motion, different types of aerofoils, factors that influence lift and drag, the role of thrust and weight in level flight, wing design elements like chord, angle of attack, flaps and slats, aircraft stability and trim, and stalling. It provides diagrams to illustrate concepts like aerofoil shape, axes of rotation, types of flaps, and factors affecting stability.

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Captain Trebor
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347 views14 pages

RAF Principles of Flight

The document summarizes key principles of flight, including Bernoulli's principle, Newton's third law of motion, different types of aerofoils, factors that influence lift and drag, the role of thrust and weight in level flight, wing design elements like chord, angle of attack, flaps and slats, aircraft stability and trim, and stalling. It provides diagrams to illustrate concepts like aerofoil shape, axes of rotation, types of flaps, and factors affecting stability.

Uploaded by

Captain Trebor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Principles of Flight

Leading Cadet revision


Bernoulli’s Principle and Newton’s Third Law of Motion

• The speed of the air at point b


is greater than that at point d
• According to Bernoulli’s
Principle the faster moving air
causes a decrease in pressure
• The higher air pressure under
the wing causes it to be pushed
up, generating lift

• Newton’s Third Law of Motion –


every action has an equal and
opposite reaction
• Tilted wings push air down, so
air pushes wing up
Aerofoils
• A is a general purpose aerofoil,
has a balance between lift and
drag
• B is a high lift aerofoil, produces
a lot of lift at the cost of a lot of
drag
• C is a high speed aerofoil,
produces less drag at high
speed but less lift is produced
• D is a symmetrical aerofoil,
most often used for helicopters
as centre of pressure doesn’t
move much
Lift and weight
• The lift on a wing acts through
the centre of pressure
• On non-symmetrical aerofoils
the angle of attack can cause
the centre of pressure to
change
• If the air density over the wings
decreases the lift decreases
• If the speed decreases the
pressure envelope decreases
• Lift operates at 90 degrees to
the relative airflow
Lift and weight (cont.)
• On a general purpose airfoil most of the lift
(80%) occurs on the top of the wing as that is
where it is curved the most
• Lift is proportional to the square of the
airspeed – if speed doubles, lift quadruples
• For an aircraft to be in level flight the lift must
equal the weight – 0 resultant force
Thrust and drag
• Due to Newton’s Third Law the reaction to
the rearward movement of air produced by a
jet engine causes a forward movement called
thrust
• Friction from air molecules causes drag,
which opposes motion
• Drag is also proportional to the square of the
airspeed
• For an aircraft to decelerate drag must be
greater than speed
Chord and angle of attack
• The yellow line is the chord, which is an
imaginary line draw between the leading
edge and trailing edge of the wing
• The angle of attack, a, is the angle of the
wing relative to the airflow
• The angle of attack at which the wing
stalls is called the critical angle
• For a general purpose aerofoil the
optimum angle of attack is around 15
degrees
Axes of Rotation
• The lateral axis of rotation runs
from wingtip to wingtip and if
affected by elevators – known
at pitching
• The longitudinal axis of rotation
runs from nose to tail and is
affected by ailerons – known as
rolling
• The normal axis of rotation runs
vertically through the centre of
gravity and is controlled by the
rudder – known as yawing
• All axis of rotation pass through
the centre of gravity
Flaps and slats
• A = slat
• B = slot
• C = aerofoil
• D = flap

• Flaps allow the landing speed of an aircraft to be


lowered by increasing lift
• They also help to slow the aircraft down as they
increase drag
• Slats smooth out the air passing over the wing
which increases slow speed handling at the
expense of extra drag
• These devices decrease the stalling speed of
the aircraft
Typed of flaps
• A = simple
flap
• B = split flap
• C = slotted
flap
• D = Fowler
flap
Stability
• Stable aircraft go back to level
flight when disturbed by things
like turbulence
Dihedral (top), and anhedral
• The tailplane provides stability in
the pitching and yawing planes –
a larger tailplane makes the
plane more stable
• The stability in the rolling plane is
affected by anhedral, which
decreases stability, and dihedral,
which increases it
Trim
• Trim is affected by trim
tabs
• Trim tabs cancel out
unwanted forces to allow
the plane to maintain a
constant attitude without
pilot intervention
Stalling
Factors affecting stall
a) Increasing power decreases the stall speed
b) Turning tightly increases the stall speed
c) Decreasing the weight reduces the stall speed

The size of the fin does not have much effect on stalling speed as it does
not produce much lift

When the wing stalls the airflow is disrupted, which causes a large
decrease in the lift produced
https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/5f7b5a81c2e7a7001d0078f6/challenge/5f7b657c9805b1001da685da

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