How does an airplane work?

1. How does an airplane work?

2. The Sky: • The atmosphere behaves like a fluid. When imagining how to control a plane in the sky, think of how you control something under water. • Air pressure is key. Air always moves from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure. • Air can push. If air is moving and something is in the way, it can move it.

3. Control Surfaces • Once an airplane is in the air, it can be moved in desired manner using different surfaces. • All of these surfaces are controlled by the pilot from the cockpit. • There are three planes of space to worry about when flying a plane unlike a car. (What directions or planes do we need to consider?)

5. The big three: • Roll: Is one wing higher or lower than the other? Is the plane flying “flat”? • Pitch: Is the nose of the plane pointing up or down? • Yaw: What direction is the nose pointing? This is the only thing we worry about when driving a car.

6. Controlling Pitch: • In order to dive or climb in an airplane you can use several tools: -Horizontal stabilizer and elevator -Flaps can change angle of attack

7. Pitch Control (continued): • Elevator is the movable surface on the tail of an airplane that makes the plane go up or down (attached to the horiz. stablilzer). • The horizontal stabilizer is flat “tail” of the plane that keeps the aircraft from randomly going up or down.

8. Flaps • Flaps can be used to increase or decrease lift by making the wing surface larger or smaller. This can help the plane climb or descend. • Flaps can also be used to control roll (if one is up and the other is down) • Flaps can even be used to steer ie. control yaw (if one is up or down).

10. There are lots of different types of flaps:

11. When are flaps used? • Flaps down mean increased lift as the air has even further to go over the top of the wing. • Flaps up mean decreased lift as the air has further to go on the bottom of the wing • Flaps down allow the plane to fly slower without stalling • Flaps are usually down at takeoff and landing.

12. Yaw control • Moving the plane on level side to side • The primary tool for yaw control is the rudder • The rudder works just like a rudder on a boat

13. Yaw is the vertical axis

14. Vertical Stabilizer • The vertical stabilizer or tail plane helps keep the plane from swinging side to side (it acts like the keel on a boat)

15. Roll Control • Ailerons are small flaps on the ends of the wings that force the wing to go up or down which causes the plane to roll • This can help in steering the aircraft

17. Where are all of these surfaces controlled from? • The cockpit allows the pilot to monitor and control all of these surfaces.

18. The yoke • The yoke is like a steering wheel that works in three dimensions.

19. Elevator control • Fore and aft pitch is controlled by the rudder which is worked in the cockpit with pedals.