Short briefing on the flight[b/]
[u][b]Forces of flight[/u]
An aircraft needs to forces to fly: lift to keep it up and thrust to propel it forward. Lift overcomes the plane's weight, and thrust overcomes the drag caused by air flowing past the plane. When an aircraft is cruising, lift is equal to weight and thrust is equal to drag.
Lift
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<--Thrust (AIRCRAFT) -->Drag
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v
Weight
[u]Flying controls[/u]
An aircraft is steered through the air by way of three main control surfaces - the elevators on the tailplane, the ailerons on the wings and a rudder under the fin.
Elevators - make the aircraft's nose tilt up and down.
Ailerons - make the aircraft roll from side to side.
The rudder - maks the aircraft 'yaw' left or right.
[u]Aero engine types[/u]
An aircraft's engines drive it through the air by producing thrust. Different types of engine produce thrust in different ways. Piston and turbo-prop engines drive propellers that screw into the air, just as a ship propeller bites into the water. Turbo-jet and turbo-fan engines produces a fast moving stream of gas that pushes the aircraft forwards.
Piston enginesThese work in the same way as car engines. Petrol and air vapour are mixed in the engines cylinder's and they cause an explosion. The explosions push the pistons, which turn a shaft. The shaft then turns the propeller.
Turbo-prop enginesThe simplest type of jets. A turbo-jet engine with a propeller is called a turbo-prop engine. A motor turns the compressor and the propeller, which provides the main engine thrust.
Turbo-jet enginesAir is drawn in and compressed, then sent to a chamber where fuel burns. The gases produced are shot out of the back of the engine, which pushes the aircraft forwards, like a deflating balloon.
Turbo-fan enginesA hybrid of turbo-jet and turbo-props, the turbo-fan engine sucks in air, which is combined with the backdraft from the fan, and also sends air around the engine, producing the same effect as a propeller.