Aerospace EducationModule 2

Aircraft Systems and Airports

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• Chapter 1 – Airplane Systems• Chapter 2 – Airports• Chapter 3 – Airport to Airport - Aeronautical Charts• Quiz• Credits

Chapter 1

“Airplane Systems”

Reciprocating Engines

Reciprocating engines,also known as internalcombustion engines,power aircraft that usepropellers to power themthrough the air. Internalcombustion engines arethe same type of enginesused in automobiles.

Reciprocating engines convert chemical energy into mechanical energy. Aviation engines generally have a four stroke operating cycle. In this cycle an engine first takes in air and gasoline, then compresses it, ignites it (the power stroke), and then forces the exhaust out of the combustion chamber before drawing the piston back down to draw in more gasoline and air.

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Reciprocating Engines

Reciprocating Engines

Aviation engine cylinders are arranged in multiple ways depending on different airframes used. Most aircraft use 1 of 4 different arrangements.

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Jet Engines

Jet engines have many similarities to a reciprocating engine, they both have intake, compression, and ignition cycle. What the engine does during these cycles varies greatly however.

During the intake cycle on a jet engine, the fan section pulls air into the engine. This air then moves into the compression section and is compressed. The now compressed air then moves into the burner section and is sprayed with fuel and ignited. This combustion in turn spins the turbine and draws more air into the engine. The hot gasses are then expelled out of the rear of the engine to create thrust

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Jet Engines

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Powerplant ControlsMost aircraft have only 2 engine controls, the throttle and mixture control. The throttle controls how much fuel-air mixture flows into the engine during the intake cycle. The mixture control determines the ratio of fuel to air is created by the carburetor. As the aircraft climbs higher and higher, there is less and less air, and the aircraft therefore needs a lower ratio of fuel to air to function properly.

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Flight and Engine Instruments

There are 2 main engine instruments, the tachometer, which measures engine revolutions per minute, and the oil gauge, which displays oil temperature and pressure.

The oil gauge is critical to the aircraft engine because if the engine gets too hot or if there is too little oil pressure, the engine will not be properly lubricated nor will it be properly cooled, which can lead to severe engine damage if not corrected. The tachometer shows engine speed , which also shows propeller speed.

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Flight and Engine Instruments

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Flight and Engine Instruments

Altimeters measure altitude by working much in the same way as a barometer, by measuring the air pressure. Before take-off, pilots set the local air pressure and as the aircraft climbs, the air pressure drops. The altimeter measures this drop in air pressure to determine altitude.

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Flight and Engine Instruments

The vertical velocity indicator (VVI) measures an aircraft’s rate of climb using the same principles as the altimeter. In other words, the VVI measures how fast the aircraft is going up or down.

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Flight and Engine Instruments

The airspeed indicator measures an aircraft’s forward motion, much like a speedometer on a car. The airspeed indicator works using the pitot tube to measure the pressure caused by the air being forced into by the aircraft’s forward motion. This pressure is compared to the static air pressure and is shown as your indicated airspeed. Contents

Flight and Engine InstrumentsTwo other important aircraft instruments are the heading and attitude indicators. Both instruments operate using a gyro. When spinning, a gyro’s rotors resist movement due to the laws of motion. The attitude indicator uses the gyro’s tendency to stay horizontally level in relation to the aircraft in order to give a measure of the aircraft’s roll. The heading indicator uses the gyro’s tendency to always spin to the north to give a measure of the aircraft’s heading, becoming an artificial compass. Contents

Flight and Engine Instruments

The final flight instrument is the turn coordinator and inclinometer. The turn coordinator gives a pilot a basic indication of the aircraft’s roll using the onboard gyros. The inclinometer gives the pilot an indication of whether or not his aircraft is slipping or skidding in a banking maneuver.

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Chapter 2

“Airports”

Airport Layout

There are two basic airport layouts, controlled and uncontrolled. A controlled airport has some sort of operating control tower. At a controlled airport, the pilot must receive clearance before taxiing, taking off, landing, and must follow all other instructions from the air traffic controllers in the control tower.

At an uncontrolled airport, pilots must take extra care to look for other aircraft and listen to radio communications to determine when it is safe to perform any action.

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Airport LayoutThere are six different types of signs present at airports. The six categories are:

• Mandatory Signs: Red background with white letters/numbers. Denote entrances to runways, taxiways, critical areas, or prohibited areas.

• Location Signs: Black with yellow letters/numbers and yellow border without arrows. Identify taxiways, runways, boundary of a runway, or an instrument landing system (ILS)critical area.

• Direction Signs: Yellow signs indicating designations of taxiways leading from an intersection.

• Information Signs: Yellow signs with black letters which give information on areas that cannot be seen by the tower, noise abatement, and applicable radio frequencies.

• Destination Signs: Yellow signs with black lettering and distinctive black arrow. Give direction to special locations such as FBOs, military, etc.

• Runway Distance Remaining Signs: Large black signs with white numbers telling pilots runway distance remaining.Contents

Airport Layout

Airport Layout

Many airports have lighting which enables pilots to make night-time landings. These lights have been standardized by the FAA’s regulations. The lights are controlled by multiple sources such as the control tower, a timer, or even by the pilot from his cockpit using a radio at some uncontrolled airports.

There are 11 different types of lights that can be found at airports. Those types are: runway edge lights, threshold lights, end of runway lighting, REIL lights, in runway lighting, ALS’s, VASI’s, tri-color VASI’s, PLASI’s or PAPI’s, taxiway lighting, and airport beacons.

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Airport Layout• Runway Edge Lights: White lights

outlining the edges of runways, amber on instrument runways during the last half of the runway. Classified by intensity capabilities (LIRL, MIRL, and HIRL)

• Threshold Lights: Green lights on each side of the white line designating end of the threshold of a runway. A row of green lights indicates beginning of landing portion of a runway on a runway without a threshold.

• End of Runway Lights: Red lights marking the end of the runway you are facing.

• REIL: High intensity white strobes placed on each side of the runway to mark the threshold.

• In Runway Lighting: Touchdown Zone Lights, (TDZL), Runway Centerline Lights (RCLS), and Taxiway Turnoff Lights. TDZLs are two rows of transverse light bars around the centerline in the runway touchdown zone. RCLSs are centerline lights spaced 50 feet beginning 75 feet from the landing threshold. Taxiway turnoff lights are lights steadily emitting green.Contents

Airport Layout

• ALSs: Approach Lighting Systems are present at most airports with precision landing systems. Primarily a means to transfer from instrument flight to visual flight for landing.

• VASIs: Visual Approach Slope Indicators are the most common visual glide path system. Give pilots visual indication of proper approach angle during landing. Consists of light units arranged in bars, can be 2 or 3 bars.

• Tri-Color VASIs: Single light giving three separate indications. Pilots above recommend glide path see amber lights, pilots below it see red lights. Pilots on the correct glide path see green lights.

• PLASI/PAPIs: Two colored visual approach involving pulsating red and white lights. Pilots above the correct glide path see pulsating white lights, slightly below see steady red lights, below the glide path see pulsating red lights. Pilots on the correct glide path see steady white lights.Contents

Airport Layout

• Taxiway Lights: Blue lights which outline taxiways. Some airports have green lights along the centers of taxiways.

• Airport Beacons: Lights which guide pilots to airports at night. Pilots can see flashing colors from a distance. Civilian airports have alternating green and white lights. Water airports have alternating white and yellow lights. Heliports have green, white and yellow beacons. Military airports have white-white-green beacons.

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Airport Layout

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Airport Layout

Because wind direction and speed is a major factor in flight, especially takeoffs and landings, airports provide a way for pilots to determine this information. Air traffic controllers can provide this information at controlled airports. Most airports however, do not have towers. Many uncontrolled airports have weather information available on certain radio frequencies.

Others give pilots wind information using wind indicators, such as a wind sock, wind tee, or a tetrahedron. Wind socks provide a rough measurement of wind speed and point in the direction the wind is coming from. Wind tees and tetrahedrons do not provide a measurement of wind speed and point into the wind.Contents

Airport Layout

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Airport Layout

Pilots operating in and out of or around controlled airports need to maintain radio communications with the ATC facility. For this reason, it is extremely important pilots can operate standardized radio equipment and have an understanding of radio communication practices.

Radio operators use the phonetic alphabet in place of letters to ensure that the receiver of a communication understands what the transmitter is trying to say.

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Airport Layout

• A: Alpha, “Al-fa”• B: Bravo, “Bra-vo”• C: Charlie, “Char-lee”• D: Delta, “Del-tah”• E: Echo, “Eck-o”• F: Foxtrot, “Fox-trot”• G: Golf, “Golf”• H: Hotel, “Hoh-tell”• I: India, “In-dee-a”• J: Juliet, “Joo-lee-et”• K: Kilo, “Kee-lo”• L: Lima, “Lee-ma”• M: Mike, “Mike”

• N: November, “No-vem-ber”• O: Oscar, “Os-car”• P: Papa, “Pa-pa”• Q: Quebec, “Qwah-bec”• R: Romeo, “Row-me-oh”• S: Sierra, “See-air-ah”• T: Tango, “Tayn-go”• U: Uniform, “You-nih-form”• V: Victor, “Vick-tor”• W: Whiskey, “Wiss-kee”• X: X-Ray, “Ecks-Ray”• Y: Yankee, “Yank-ee”• Z: Zulu, “Zoo-oo”Contents

Airport Layout

Taxiways and runways all have different ways of indicating themselves and where they go. Taxiways are labeled by which runways they lead to. Runways are indicated by the first two digits of their compass heading. For example, if a runway runs along 110°and 290°, it would be runway 11/29.

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Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, is the governing agency when air traffic is involved. In order to govern air traffic and ensure the skies are safe for pilots to fly in, the FAA holds certain standards which airports must follow. The FAA also sets the rules pilots must follow by flying Contents

Phases of Flight

There are 11 phases of flight in the flight profile from pre-flight to post-flight. Those phases are: pre-flight, taxiing, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, landing, taxiing, shutdown, and post-flight.

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Chapter 3

Airport-to-AirportAeronautical Charts

Sectional Charts

The most commonly used aeronautical chart is the sectional chart. Sectional charts have a scale of 1:500,000 inches, or approximately 8 statute miles (6.85 nautical miles).

Sectional charts are based on the principle of a Lambert Conformal Conic Projection and the locations are positioned according to lines of latitude and longitude.

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Sectional Charts

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Sectional Charts

Sectional charts display more than just airports and cities. They also display many, many landmarks from power lines to highways. Because the charts show such a huge number of objects, the legend is very extensive.

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Sectional Charts

Sectional charts display a large amount of information about an

airport using specific symbols and labels indicated on the chart legend.

Magenta airports are uncontrolled whereas blue airports are controlled.

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Sectional Charts

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Quiz

Question 1

What instrument uses a gyroscope to operate?

A) AltimeterB) Attitude IndicatorC) Heading IndicatorD) Both B and C

Correct!

Both the attitude and heading indicators use gyroscopes to function. Altimeters measure air pressure to function.

Next Question

Incorrect

Both the heading and attitude indicators use gyroscopes to operate. The altimeter measures air pressure to function.

Next Question

Question 2

When fossil fuels are used to create thrust, it is…

A) The process of converting mechanical energy into chemical energy

B) The process of converting chemical energy into mechanical energy

C) Bernoulli’s PrincipleD) Newton’s First Law of

Motion

Correct!

The combustion of fossil fuels to create thrust is the process of converting chemical energy into mechanical energy.

Next Question

Incorrect

The combustion of fossil fuels to create thrust in an engine is the process of converting chemical energy (the fossil fuels) into mechanical energy.

Next Question

Question 3

Runway numbers 11 and 29 are…

A) 110° and 290° trueB) 110° and 290° magneticC) 11° and 29° trueD) 11° and 29° magnetic

Correct!

Runway 11/29 is 110° and 290° magnetic.

Next Question

Incorrect

Runway 11/29 is 110° and 290° magnetic.

Next Question

Question 4

What kind of airport has a beacon which flashes white-white-green?

A) Civilian AirportB) HeliportC) Aircraft CarrierD) Military Airport

Correct!

A beacon which flashes white-white-green is a military airport.

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Incorrect

A beacon which flashes white-white-green indicates a military airport.

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Question 5

A sectional aeronautical chart has a scale of…

A) 1 Inch to 1 Nautical MilesB) 1 Inch to 500,000 MilesC) 1 Inch to 5,280 FeetD) 1 Inch to 8 Statute Miles

Correct!

1 inch on a sectional aeronautical chart is approximately 8 statute miles.

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Incorrect

1 inch on a sectional aeronautical chart is equal to approximately 8 statute miles.

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Question 6

A statute mile is…A) 4,000,000 FeetB) 6,076 FeetC) 5,280 FeetD) 5,280 Meters

Correct!

A statute mile is equal to 5,280 feet.

Credits Contents

Incorrect

A statute mile is equal to 5,280 feet.

Credits Contents

Credits

• Created by Ryan Stanley• Based on Aerospace Dimensions Module 2:

Aircraft Systems and Airports

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