Review of last Lecture

Propellers
Part of power plant
The part that directly produces thrust
Thrust increases with speed and with pitch
Low average pitch – take off, high average pitch - cruise
Constant average pitch, variable average pitch
Other systems for the reciprocating Engine
Fuel systems, danger during refueling
Oil systems – lubricates, seals, cleans. Prevent heating
Cooling – Air cools outside, oil prevents heating inside
Exhaust system – reciprocating engine, turbine engine
Electrical systems – include magnetos??? No.
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 Chapter 4

Aerodynamics
For
Flying
Chapter 3, Jeppesen
Chapters 3 and 4, Kroes and Rardon

2
 Overview of the Chapter
Four forces in flight –
LIFT, WEIGHT, THRUST, DRAG
Basic physics involved in these forces
Important features and concepts involved with
LIFT
Three factors contributing to LIFT
How pilot can control LIFT
WEIGHT, THRUST
DRAG

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 Four forces involved in flight

LIFT – WEIGHT – THRUST – DRAG

4
The four forces involved in flight
For an airplane to fly 4 forces are involved:-
WEIGHT – the gravitational force that pulls the
plane downwards towards the center of the
earth.
LIFT – the upward force that lift up the plane
against its weight.
THRUST – the force that propels the plane
forward. This forward movement also results in
the lift with the help of the wings.
DRAG – the backward force opposing the
forward movement of the plane. It comes from
the resistance of the air due to the forward
movement. 5
 Equilibrium State
When LIFT = WEIGHT the plane stays at a
constant height
When the DRAG = THRUST the plane flies
at a constant speed
When the above two conditions occur the
plane is said to be in EQUILIBRIUM, and it
will stay at a constant height and travels
straightly forwards at a constant speed
(straight and level flight at constant speed).
(Fig in next slide) 6
Equilibrium State

7
 Some physical definitions
A force is a physical entity which has a tendency to
move objects.
When a force is acting on a surface, the amount
acting on a unit area of the surface is called the
pressure. Pressure = Force / Area
Velocity (speed) of a moving object is its change of
position in unit time. Velocity = Distance / Time
Acceleration of an object is its change of velocity in
unit time. Acceleration = V2 – V1 / Time
If it is un-accelerated (acceleration = 0), that
means its velocity remains constant (V2 = V1 ).

So, what is the acceleration when the four forces are in equilibrium?
How about the velocity?
8
 Force representation
Every force has a magnitude (strength) and
a direction. Thus it can be represented by
an arrow (called a vector). The length of the
arrow represents the strength of the force
and the direction of the arrow represents the
force direction.
C
A

Here force C has the same magnitude

B as Force B but has different direction.
Force A differs from force B in both
magnitude and direction.
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 Components of a force (1)
A force represented by an arrow (red) acting on an
object (circle): (Head)
(Tail)
A force (red) can be broken up into two
components (e.g., blue & green in fig.). The rule:-
Head of 1st component (blue) overlaps with head of
original vector (red),
Head of 2nd comp (green) overlaps with tail of 1st comp
Tail of 2nd component overlaps with the tail of original
vector.
1st 2nd

10
Original
 Components of a force (2)
The effect of the two force components
(represented by the blue & green dashed arrows)
acting together is exactly the same as the single
original force (solid red line) acting on the object.
2nd
Original
=
1st

We say that the “Vector Sum” of 1st and 2nd equals

the Original. I will use Bold Letters and Underscore
to represent Vector Sum: 1st + 2nd = Original11
 Components of a force (3)
Often, the two components are chosen so that they
are perpendicular to each other.
In such case, the two components are said to be
independent of each other, because each of them
CANNOT be broken down further to include a sub-
component that is parallel to (i.e., in the same
direction of) the other component.

B C
C
A

A
B
A = B + C (Vector sum) 12
 Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion
Air flight (and all motions of objects) is
governed by Newton’s three laws of motion:
1st Law (Inertia) – An object at rest remains at
rest and an object moving remains moving at
the same speed and the same direction (unless
acted upon by a force).
2nd Law (F=ma) – When an object is acted upon
by a force, its acceleration is directly
proportional to the strength of the force and
inversely proportional to its own mass. (a=F/m)
i.e., Force = mass * acceleration
3rd Law (Action=Reaction) – For every (force)
action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
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 Lift
Due to 3 factors:
(1) Bernoulli’s Principle
(2) Downwash
(3) Impact (by headwind)

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 Bernoulli’s Principle
From Newton’s laws, a Swiss mathematician,
Daniel Bernoulli, deduced a theorem that
can apply to all fluids (including air):
Bernoulli’s Principle – As the velocity of a
fluid (air) increases, its pressure decreases
An experiment shown in Fig 3-3 illustrates
Bernoulli’s principle.
This principle is one of the 3 major reasons
why well-designed wings can help lift the
airplane.
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Illustrating Bernoulli’s Principle (Fig 3-3)

Velocity Velocity Velocity

Pressure Pressure Pressure

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LIFT (1) - Bernoulli’s Principle (1)
The wing of an airplane is called an airfoil . An
airfoil is any surface that provides aerodynamic
force when it interacts with moving air.
Fig 3-4 (next slide) shows the detailed design of a
wing of an airplane and the surrounding air while
the plane is flying.
Notice that the curvature of the upper surface of
the wing is more curved than the lower surface.
The longer distance air has to travel along the
upper surface than along the lower surface implies
a higher air velocity over the upper surface relative
to the velocity over the lower surface. 17
Airflow around wing in flight (3-4)

18
 LIFT (1) - Bernoulli’s Principle (2)
From Bernoulli’s principle, this means that
the air pressure on the upper surface of the
wing (directed downwards) is lower (less)
than the pressure on the lower surface
(directed upwards).
As a result of this pressure difference, a LIFT
force is applied to the wing by the moving air.
This lifting force is one of the main forces
lifting the airplane in the air.
Upper surface curved  longer distance  higher speed 
thus has less pressure than lower surface  a lifting force 19
 LIFT (2) - Downwash
Notice also in Fig 3-4 that after the air
passes over the curved upper surface of the
wing there is a downward movement of the
air stream at the trailing edge of the wing.
This downward air stream is called the
downwash.
By Newton’s 3rd law, action = reaction, this
air downwash also produces an upward
lifting force to the wing.
This is a second source for the LIFT.
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LIFT (3) – Impact (1)

From: Rod Mahado’s Private Pilot Handbook

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 LIFT (3) – Impact (2)
In the previous figure, the airflow can come
from the hand moving to the left (e.g., if the
person is in a car moving leftwards) which is
similar to an airplane moving forward towards
the left.
If the hand is flat (parallel to the airflow) the
air has little effect on the hand. However if the
hand has an angle relative to the airflow like in
the figure, the airflow will produce an upward
and backward force on the hand.
This is also true with the wing of an airplane.
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 LIFT (3) – Impact (3)
In the figure on the next slide (Fig. 3-5) the
front of the wing is called its leading edge.
The imaginary line joining the leading edge
and the trailing edge is called the chord line
of the wing.
Fig 3-5 also shows that a relative wind
stream is formed in a direction
approximately parallel and opposite to the
flight path.

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Chord Line and Angle of Attack (from 3-5)

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 LIFT (3) – Impact (4)
The angle between the chord line and the direction
of the relative wind is called the angle of attack.
When the angle of attack is positive (the wing tilting
slightly upwards in the front, making an angle with
the relative wind), the air stream strikes at the lower
surface of the wing, resulting in a force on the wing
that has an upward (and a backward) component.
This upward component provides the third LIFT to
the wing – Impact Lift.
When the angle of attack (AoA) increases this lift
also increases (up to a certain value). (When AoA = 0,
impact lift = 0.)
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Summary:
Three factors contributing to Lift
Thus there are three factors contributing to
the LIFT force on a plane:
1. The pressure difference between the
upper and lower surfaces of the wing due to
“Bernoulli’s principle”.
2. Reaction to the “Downwash” at the trailing
edge of the wing.
3. Air stream of the relative wind striking the
lower surface of the wing when there is a
positive AoA, resulting in an “Impact” lift.
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Kites

27
Lift and the Angle of Atack

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 LIFT & Angle of Attack (1)
The amount of LIFT increases as the angle
of attack increases, to a certain maximum.
If the angle of attack continues to increase
beyond this ”critical angle of attack” the
lifting force, instead of keep increasing,
decreases rapidly instead. (Fig. 3-7)
Each plane has its own critical angle, usually
o
around 15 .

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LIFT & Angle of Attack (2) - Lift Equation
2
V
L  CL    A
2
The above is the Lift equation relating the Lift
(L), the coefficient of lift (CL), the density of air
(ρ, pronounced as “rho”), the airspeed (V), and
the surface area of the airfoil (A), i.e., the wing.
CL is a function of the angle of attack as shown
in the next slide (Fig 3-7). Thus we can see:
L ∝ CL
L ∝ V2 30
LIFT vs. Angle of Attack (3-7)

31
 LIFT & Angle of Attack (3)
When the angle of attack goes considerably
beyond the critical angle of attack the plane will
stall, that is, the plane will start to lose its lift.
In a stall the plane will start to go down.
However because of the design of the center of
gravity, the head will go down more, result in a
decrease in the angle of attack. (Thus might
automatically recover from the stall.)
The onset of a stall is gradual. When you feel a
stall is coming (or warned by a stall warning
device) you must immediately decrease the angle
of attack to restore smooth airflow. 32
 Pilot Control of Lift
V2
L  CL    A
From the lift equation 2
How can the pilot control the lift?
Change the angle of attack with the elevator.
Change the airspeed with the throttle. Lift is
proportional to the square of the airplane’s
speed when other factors remain unchanged.
Using the flap. For some type of flaps, applying
it would increase the wing area. The flap also
increases the AoA. 33
 High Lift Devices – the Flaps
The flaps can increase the lift efficiency of
the wing even at low speed.
As shown in Fig 3-13, when the flap goes
down, the chord line changes in a direction
which increases the angle of attack.
Another type of flaps, called the Fowler flap,
not only flips down, but also extends out
(Fig. 3-17). Extension of the flap enlarges
the total surface area (A) of the wing,
resulting in a further increase in lift.
34
Flipping the flap down enlarge angle of attack (3-13)

35
Fowler Flap flips down and extends out (3-17)

36
 Weight
A second force acting on the plane is its weight.
It is due to gravity acting on all parts of the plane
pulling the plane towards the center of the earth.
The point where the entire weight concentrates is
called the “center of gravity” (CG).
The weight of a plane depends on the plane
model, the equipment installed, passengers, crew
members, cargos and mail, and the fuel load.
During the course of a flight the weight decreases
as fuel is consumed. The lift to counterbalance
the weight has to be reduced accordingly (if
equilibrium is to be maintained).
37
 Thrust (1)
The third force acting on the plane is the
thrust, which is produced by the propeller
(or the air jet from the turbine engine)
and moves the plane forward.
At take off, the thrust is larger than the
drag, resulting in a net forward force that
accelerates the plane (increases its speed,
due to Newton’s 2nd Law), and also
increases its height (altitude).
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 Thrust (2)
During cruising (un-accelerated, straight and
level flight) thrust exactly counterbalances the
drag, and the plane moves with a constant
speed due to Newton’s 1st law.
If you increase the throttle the plane
accelerates again because the thrust is larger
than the drag again.
However, as speed increases the drag might
also increases. Eventually thrust and drag
become equal again and the plane travels at
constant speed again (but faster than before).
39
 Drag
The 4th (and last) force acting on the
plane is the drag.
Drag is due to resistance of the air. This
resistance acts in a direction opposite to
the movement of the plane and limits its
movement.
There are two kinds of drag – parasite
drag and induced drag.

40
 Parasite Drag
Parasite drag is due to any objects sticking
out the smooth surface of the plane and
interfere with the smooth airflow around
the pane. There are three types:
Form – e.g., windshield
Skin – e.g., rivets and roughness of skin
Interference – discontinuities at angles and joints of
the fuselage
Parasite drag is proportional to the square
of the airspeed around the plane.
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 Induced Drag
Induced drag is generated mainly by the airflow
impact on the bottom of the wings as it creates
lift.
Since the useful impact of the airflow is
approximately perpendicular to the lower surface
of the wing, it can be resolved into a vertical
component upwards, which is the impact lift.
However, it has a backward component parallel
to the direction of the relative wind.
This backward component is the induced drag.
(Airflow at the tail edge and the tip of the wing
also causes air currents, and add to this drag.)
42
 Total Drag
Fig 3-24 plots the Parasite Drag, the Induced
Drag, and their sum (Total Drag) versus
airspeed when the plane is flying at constant
speed (cruising).
Note that the induced drag decreases with
airspeed in such case.
At the point where total drag is a minimum, the
ratio Lift/Drag is at a maximum. This point is
called (L/D)max and is a favorable point for the
airplane’s cruising performance as it is most
fuel-efficient. 43
Parasite, Induced, & Total Drag Forces (3-24)

44
 Total Drag
Different from parasite drag, the induced drag
decreases with increasing airspeed during straight and
level flight at constant speed (Cruising) as shown in
the previous figure as well as the next figure.
At lower cruising speeds, the airplane has to assume a
larger AoA to produce enough lift to counter-balance
the weight.
When the AoA becomes larger, the head wind
produces a larger impact force and a larger impact lift,
but it also produces a larger backward component, i.e.
a larger induced drag.
Slower speed  larger AoA to maintain enough lift  larger backward
component of headwind impact force  larger induced drag
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Induced & Parasite Drags (at Straight & Level flight)

46
 Review of Chapter

Four forces involved in flight

Any force can be resolved into two components,
and any two forces can be combined into one
Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion
Three factors that contribute to the LIFT force
Bernoulli’s principle
Downwash at wing’s tail edge
Impact lift when AoA is positive
Relationship between Lift and AoA
Relationship between Drag and cruising speed
47