Understanding Flight, Second Edition

Discover how planes get—and stay—airborne Now you can truly master an understanding of the phenomenon of flight. This practical guide is the most intuitive introduction to basic flight mechanics available. Understanding Flight, Second Edition, explains the principles of aeronautics in terms, descriptions, and illustrations that make sense—without complicated mathematics. Updated to include helicopter flight fundamentals and aircraft structures, this aviation classic is required reading for new pilots, students, engineers, and anyone fascinated with flight. Understanding Flight, Second Edition, covers: Physics of flight Wing design and configuration Stability and control Propulsion High-speed flight Performance and safety Aerodynamic testing Helicopters and autogyros Aircraft structures and materials Contents 8 Introduction 14 Chapter 1 Principles of Flight 22 Physical Description of Lift 22 Newton's Three Laws 24 Air Bending Over a Wing 26 Downwash 30 The Adjustment of Lift 33 Angle of Attack 34 The Wing as a "Virtual Scoop" 37 Putting It All Together 40 Power 41 Induced Power P[sub(i)] 42 Parasite Power P[sub(p)] 43 The Power Curve 44 Effect of Load on Induced Power 46 Drag 47 The Wing's Efficiency for Lift 49 Wing Vortices 52 Circulation 54 Ground Effect 57 Lift on a Sail 58 Wrapping It Up 60 Chapter 2 Wings 62 Airfoil Selection 62 Wing Incidence 63 Wing Thickness 63 Leading Edge and Camber 64 Wing Planforms 66 Wing Loading 66 Aspect Ratio 67 Sweep 69 Taper 73 Twist 76 Wing Configuration 77 Dihedral 77 High Wings vs. Low Wings 80 Wingtip Designs 83 Winglets 83 Canards 85 Boundary Layer 86 Boundary-Layer Turbulence 88 Form Drag 90 Vortex Generators 91 High-Lift Devices 92 Flaps 94 Slots and Slats 100 Deflected Slipstream and Jetwash 102 Wrapping It Up 103 Chapter 3 Stability and Control 106 Static Stability 106 Longitudinal Stability and Balance 107 Horizontal Stabilizer 108 Trim 111 Flying Wings 112 Horizontal Stabilizer Sizing 114 Directional Stability 114 Dynamic Stability 116 Phugoid Motion 117 Dutch Roll 118 Spiral Instability 119 Stability Augmentation 119 Handling 120 Fly by Wire 121 Wrapping It Up 122 Chapter 4 Airplane Propulsion 124 It's Newton's Laws Again 125 Thrust 125 Power 127 Efficiency 128 Propellers 130 Multibladed Propellers 131 Propeller Pitch 132 Piston Engines 135 Turbine Engines 137 Compressor 139 Burner 143 Turbine 144 The Turbojet 146 Jet Engine Power and Efficiency 147 The Turbofan 147 The Turboprop 150 Thrust Reversers 152 Thrust Vectoring 153 Afterburners 154 Wrapping It Up 157 Chapter 5 High-Speed Flight 160 Mach Number 160 Remember: Lift Is a Reaction Force 162 Compressible Air 162 Shock Waves 163 Wave Drag and Power 166 Transonic Flight 167 Wing Sweep 172 Area Rule 173 Hypersonic Flight 176 Skin Heating 177 Wrapping It Up 180 Chapter 6 Airplane Performance 182 Lift-to-Drag Ratio 184 Glide 185 Indicated Airspeed 186 Takeoff Performance 188 Climb 190 Ceiling 194 Fuel Consumption 196 Maximum Endurance 197 Maximum Range 199 Cruise Climb and Efficiency 200 Turns 202 Stall-Speed Limit 204 Structural-Strength Limit 204 Power-Available Limit 205 Landing 207 Wrapping It Up 209 Chapter 7 Aerodynamic Testing 212 Wind-Tunnel Testing 212 Subsonic Wind Tunnels 213 Closed-Circuit Wind Tunnels 217 Wind-Tunnel Data 221 Tail On and Tail Off 226 Supersonic Venturis 226 Supersonic Wind Tunnels 227 Hypersonic Testing 230 Flight Testing 231 Flight Instrument Calibration 232 Power Required 234 Takeoff and Landing 236 Climbing and Turning 237 Flight-Test Accidents 238 Wrapping It Up 238 Chapter 8 Helicopters and Autogyros 240 The Rotor 242 Tip-Path Plane 243 Flapping 244 Feathering 246 Lead Lag 247 Rotor Controls 247 Swashplate 247 Gyroscopic Procession 248 Tail Rotor 250 Helicopter Flight 250 Lift Asymmetry 251 Balancing of Forces 253 Retreating-Blade Stall 254 The Power Curve 255 Ground Effect 258 Running Takeoff 258 Efficiency for Lift 259 Autorotation 260 Vertical Autorotation 262 Forward Autorotation and Landing 264 Helicopter Height-Velocity Diagram 265 Autogyros 266 Wrapping It Up 269 Chapter 9 Structures 270 Wings and Bridges 271 The Wing Box 278 Composites 280 Understanding Composites 281 Fatigue 282 Wrapping It Up 283 Appendix A: Basic Concepts 284 Airplane Nomenclature 284 The Airplane 284 Airfoils and Wings 286 Axes of Control 288 The Turn 289 The Four Forces 290 Mach Number 291 Kinetic Energy 292 Air Pressures 292 The Pitot Tube 295 Appendix B: Misapplications of Bernoulli's Principle 296 Index 304 A 306 B 306 C 307 D 307 E 308 F 308 G 308 H 308 I 309 J 309 K 309 L 310 M 310 N 310 P 310 Q 311 R 311 S 311 T 312 U 313 V 313 W 313 X 314 Y 314

Get to the heart of how planes fly

Never before has it been so easy to grasp how planes fly!
Of keen importance to pilots, essential to engineers, and intriguing even to the earthbound, the principles of flight are often parroted but widely misunderstood. Now you can be among those who truly get it.

The simplest way to master an understanding of the science of flight.

This enlightening book helps you bypass common distortions, misconceptions, and half-truths and genuinely understand how aeronautics works.

This book gives you brain- and gut-level understanding of what gets you up there and keeps you up there!
*Explains flight in simple, intuitive terms
*Spares you misinformation and confusion—this book gets it right and tells it right
*100 high-impact illustrations show you lift, propulsion, and design at work
*Provides practical insights pilots can use for improved performance and safety
*Demonstrates the why's and how's of wing shape, plane construction, flight testing, and high-speed flight
*Written by pilots (one a physicist and the other a professor of aeronautics)
*Perfect for beginning pilots

Flight Training

"Among student pilots, there are varying degrees of enthusiasm for the science of aerodynamics. Some prefer knowing the equations behind the principles, but many are content to learn just enough to keep the airline sunnyside up. Instructors find a quandary here: They don't want to bury an uninterested student in complexities, so they may gloss over important principles in order to keep things brief. In doing so, they risk introducing misconceptions. In fact, depending on their own training, they may not possess the depth of knowledge to explore these concepts with students who are intrigued by the math describing the motion.

Both parties can be satisfied with a new book, Understanding Flight, by David E. Anderson and Scott Eberhardt. Anderson, a scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Eberhardt, an associate professor of aerodynamics and astronautics at the University of Washington, are both private pilots. After laying the groundwork by introducing a few simple concepts-the right ones-they go on to develop a different way of thinking about how airplanes fly. Later chapters delve into high-speed flight and aerodynamic testing. The math is basic enough for any high school graduate to understand and examples pepper the book..."

Discover how planes get--and stay--airborne Now you can truly master an understanding of the phenomenon of flight. This practical guide is the most intuitive introduction to basic flight mechanics available. Understanding Flight, Second Edition, explains the principles of aeronautics in terms, descriptions, and illustrations that make sense--without complicated mathematics. Updated to include helicopter flight fundamentals and aircraft structures, this aviation classic is required reading for new pilots, students, engineers, and anyone fascinated with flight. -- Publisher description 'Understanding Flight' addresses the science of flying in terms, explanations, and illustrations that make sense. The book clarifies a diverse range of topics, such as design, propulsion, performance, high-speed flight, and flight testing