THEORY OF FLIGHT

(FINALS)
Topics to be covered

 Aircraft controls

 Aircraft Stability

 Aircraft performance

 Stalls and spins

 Aircraft controls
 Aircraft can move around or in three axes
 In order to move, some type of control
mechanism must be in place
 Three primary main control surfaces:
Ailerons (roll)
Elevator (pitch)
Rudder (yaw)
Ailerons
 Control surfaces attached to
the outboard trailing edge of
the wing
 Move in opposite directions
 When the control column is
moved to the right, the left
aileron goes down (increasing
lift) and the right aileron goes
up (decreasing lift), this
causes the plane to roll to the
right
Elevators

 Hinged to the trailing

edge of the horizontal
stabilizer
 Move up or down when
the pilot pulls the column
back or pushes forward
 Controls the pitching
motion of the airplane
 Rudder

 Attached to the vertical

stabilizer and moves the
aircraft left and right through
a motion called yaw
 Controlled by the rudder
pedals at the pilots feet
 Causes the rudder to deflect
and a force is created at the
tail
Axes of the Aircraft
 Axes of an Aircraft
 LONGITUDINAL AXIS – the axis of an airplane that extends
through the fuselage from the nose to the tail, passing through
the center of gravity.
 LATERAL AXIS – an imaginary straight line drawn
perpendicularly across the fuselage
- passes through the center of gravity from wing tip to
wingtip.
 VERTICAL AXIS – the axis of an airplane extending vertically
through the center of gravity
- passes through the center of gravity from top to bottom
 Movement of an Aircraft
 ROLL – the motion of
an aircraft about its
longitudinal axis
 PITCH – the motion of
an aircraft about its
lateral axis
 YAW – the movement
of the aircraft about its
vertical axis
 Aircraft Stability
 Tendency of an aircraft to return to its original position
once disturbed without intervention by the pilot
 Types of aircraft stability:
-Static stability
-Dynamic stability
-Longitudinal stability
-Lateral Stability
-Directional stability
 Main types of Aircraft Stability
 STATIC STABILITY - stability is the initial tendency for an
aircraft to return to its original position once disturbed
 DYNAMIC STABILITY – refers to the time required from
an airplane response to its static stability
 LONGITUDINAL STABILITY – involves the pitching
motion or tendency of an airplane about its lateral axis
 LATERAL STABILITY – stability about an airplane
longitudinal axis extend nose to tail
 DIRECTIONAL STABILITY – is the stability about the
vertical axis
AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE
 Left Turning Tendencies

Torque

 In North America,
propellers turn
clockwise when viewed
from the pilot seat
 The reaction from this
spinning causes the
plane to roll counter-
clockwise (to the left)
Left Turning Tendencies
Asymmetric Thrust (P-
Factor)
 At high angles of attack, the
down going blade meets
the air at a higher angle of
attack than the up going
blade
 This creates an imbalance
of force and the aircraft
yaws to the left
 Left Turning Tendencies

Slipstream
 As air is pushed back
from the propeller, it
flows back in a
corkscrew pattern
Climbing
 The ability for an aircraft to climb is dependant on the
ability to create excess thrust
 There are three types of climbs that we use:
Best rate of climb
Best angle of climb
Normal climb
Best angle vs. best rate
 TYPES OF CLIMBS
 BEST ANGLE CLIMB – is the
ratio between distance travelled
over the ground and altitude
gained
 BEST RATE CLIMB – is an
aircraft vertical speed the rate of
positive altitude change with
respect to time or distance
 NORMAL CLIMB – is a rate of
climb that should be used in any
prolonged cruise climb
STALLS AND SPINS
 Stall
 A stall occurs when the wing cannot produce sufficient
lift to maintain flight
 In order to produce enough lift, the airflow over the wing
must be smooth
 When the angle of attack increases to a certain point,
the airflow becomes turbulent and separates from the
wing
 This angle is known as the critical angle of attack
Stall
Factors Affecting the Stall

 Weight: As weight increases, stalling speed increases

 C of G location: The further forward the C of G is, the higher
the stall speed
 Turbulence: Vertical gust can cause the critical angle of attack
to be exceeded
 Turns: Increasing the angle of bank increases loading and stall
speed
 Flaps: Deploying flaps will decrease stall speed
 Contaminants: If the wing is dirty or has ice on it, it will disrupt
airflow and increase stall speed
 Spin
 Defined as auto-rotation that develops after an
aggravated stall
 If yaw is introduced during a stall, the inside wing will
produce less lift and stall, causing it to drop
 As the wing drops, it’s angle of attack is increased,
causing it to stall further and increase drag, which
creates more yaw
 The nose then drops and auto-rotation sets in
Summary

 Today we’ve covered:

 Aircraft controls

 Aircraft Stability

 Aircraft performance

 Stalls and spins

THANK YOU