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11 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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4 Basic Aero-Dynamic Forces
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Lift- What makes it want to rise in the air
Thrust- Pushes it forward Gravity Or Weight- Pulls the airplane back torward the earth Drag- Slows the airplane down |
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Wings
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-The amount of lift that the aircraft generates depends on the size and shape of the airplanes wings.
-If you have a chance to look at a wing from its side, you'll notice that the upper side is a lot morecurved then the bottom side. |
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2 Popular Explanations for Flight
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-The Longer Path Explanation
-The Newtonian Explanation |
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The Longer Path Explantion
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-The longer path explanation states that the top surface of a wing is more curved than the bottom surface,
-Air particles that approach the leading edge of the wing must travel eiter over or under the wing |
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The Newtonian Explanation
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Issac newton theorized that air molecules behave like individual particles, and that the air hitting the bottom surface of a wing behaves like shotgun pellets bouncing off a plate
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Angle of Attack
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-The angle of attack is the physical angle he wing presents to oncoming air, it controls the thickness of the slice of air the wing is cutting off.
-Because it controls the slice, the angle of attack also controls the amount of lift that the wing generates |
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Flaps
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Airplane wings have moveable sections called flaps.
During takeoff and landing, the flaps are extended rearward and downward from the edge of the wings. This alters the shape of the wing, allowing the wing to turn more air, and thus create more lift. The downside of this is that the drag on the wings also increases, so the flaps are put away for the rest of the flight. |
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Slats
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Slats perform the same function as flaps but they are attached to the front of the wing instead of the back.
They are also deployed on takeoff and landing. |
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Rotating Surfaces
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With what we know about wings and lift, it makes sense that a cylinder would not make any lift when immersed in a moving fluid.
Usually the air would just flow around the cylinder evenly on both sides, and keep going. Really, the downstream air would be a bit turbulent and chaotic, but there still would be no lift created. |
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Horizontal and Vertical Stabilizers
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The tail of the airplane has two small wings, called the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, that the pilot uses to control the direction of the plane. Both have large flaps on them that the pilot controls with the control stick to change their lift characteristics.
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The Main Wings and Flaps
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The plane's main wing is 40 feet long from end to end, and about 4 feet wide. On the inner part of the wing, there are flaps used during takeoff, landing and other low-speed situations. On the outer ends, there are ailerons used to turn the plane and keep it level.
The flaps are actuated by electric motors in the wing. |
