Flying Secrets

 

©Douglas Walker Daniel 2008, 2009

 

Table of Contents

 

Acknowledgements                                                                                                 v

Foreword                                                                                                                xi

 

Chapter One                             Basics                                                                   1

                   Flying Story about Crosswind Landings                                               1

          Why you need an intuitive understanding of basic principles                             2

                   Energy                                                                                                  3

                   Velocity                                                                                                4

                   Vectors                                                                                                5

                   Mass and weight                                                                                   8

                   Momentum                                                                                           8

                   Viscosity                                                                                              9

                   Conservation                                                                                        10

                   Force                                                                                                   11

                   Basic Forces of Aviation                                                                       13

                   Power                                                                                                  14

                   Wind                                                                                                    15

                   Lift                                                                                                       15

                   Angle of Attack                                                                                    16

                   Thrust                                                                                                   16

                   Drag                                                                                                     17

                   Shape                                                                                                   18

          Summary                                                                                                       19

 

Chapter Two                             Airplane in Flight                                                 20

          Straight and Level Flight                                                                                 20

                   Pitch                                                                                                     22

                   Yaw                                                                                                     22

                   Roll                                                                                                      22

          Techniques used to Fly Straight and Level                                                       23

          How Flight Controls Work                                                                             24

                   Elevator                                                                                                24

                   Ailerons                                                                                                24

                   Rudder                                                                                                 25

          Deviations from Straight and Level Flight                                                        25

                   The Effects of Power Reduction                                                            25

                   The Effects of Lowered Landing Gear                                                   26

                   The Effects of Extended Flaps                                                               26

                   The Effects of Flying Slow                                                                    26

                   The Effects of Full Power in a Slow Flight, Landing Configuration          27

                   Flying Story about High Altitude Landing                                             28

          Summary                                                                                                       29

 

Chapter Three                           Aerodynamics                                                      30

          Surface Pressure and Wind                                                                            30

                   Bernoulli                                                                                               30

                   Coandǎ                                                                                                30

                   Flying Story about Home Built Airplane                                               31

                   Wind                                                                                                    31

                   Boundary Layer Formation                                                                   32

                   Boundary Layer Thickness                                                                    32

                   Drag and Boundary Layers                                                                   33

                   Boundary Layer Shape                                                                         33

                   Viscous Drag and Boundary Layer Thickness                                        34

          Lift and Drag                                                                                                  34

                   Angle of Attack                                                                                    37

                   Aspect Ratio                                                                                        38

                   Pitching Moment                                                                                   39

                   Experimental Data                                                                                40

          Summary                                                                                                       41

 

Chapter Four                             Airfoils and Wings                                               42

                   A New Look at Lift                                                                              42

                   Experimental Data                                                                                44

                   Air Pressure is lower On the Wing’s Top Than Bottom                          46

                   Where Does the High Pressure Air Try to Go?                                      46

                   Lift, Drag and Pitching Moment Change with Angle of Attack                47

                   Camber                                                                                                48

                   Center of Pressure                                                                                48

                   Lift Enhancing Devices                                                                          50

                   Control Surfaces                                                                                   54

                   Flutter                                                                                                  55

                   Vortex Generators                                                                                56

          Summary                                                                                                       57

 

Chapter Five                             Air and Air flows                                                    58

                    Air                                                                                                       58

                   Speed of Sound                                                                                    59

                    Air Flow                                                                                               60

                   Flying Story about Navy Jet                                                                60

          Summary                                                                                                       61

 

Chapter Six                               Pitch Stability                                                       62

                   Pitch Oscillations                                                                                  62

                   Flying Story about Homebuilt Biplane                                                  64

                   Importance of Pitch Stability                                                                 64

                   Pitch Stability in Stalls                                                                           64

          Summary                                                                                                       74

 

Chapter Seven                           Yaw and Roll Stability                                         75

          Yaw stability                                                                                                  75

          Roll stability                                                                                                   76

                   Dihedral                                                                                               77

                   Roll’s Influence on Yaw and Pitch                                                         79

          Summary                                                                                                       80

 

Chapter Eight                            Flight Dynamics                                                   81

          One Control at a Time                                                                                    81

                   Elevator                                                                                                81

                   Rudder                                                                                                 81

                   Ailerons                                                                                                82

                   Spoilers                                                                                                83

                   Flaps                                                                                                    83

                   Throttles and Propellers                                                                        85

                   P-factor                                                                                                87

                   Propeller Efficiency                                                                               88

          Maneuvers                                                                                                     90

                   Coordinated Flight                                                                                90

                   Coordinated Turns                                                                                90

                   Uncoordinated Flight – Forward Slips, Side-Slips, and Skids                91

                   Slow Dutch Roll (SDR)                                                                        93

                   Ground effect                                                                                       94

          Summary                                                                                                       95

 

Chapter Nine                             Takeoffs                                                               96

          Airport Traffic Patterns                                                                                   96

                   Basic Pattern                                                                                        96

                   Entry                                                                                                    96

                   Departure                                                                                             97

                   Taxiing                                                                                                 97

          Normal Takeoffs                                                                                            99

                   Clear the Pattern First                                                                           99

                   Taxi into Position and Hold                                                                   99

          Other Takeoffs                                                                                               100

                   Crosswind                                                                                            104

                   High Altitude                                                                                        106

                   Flying Story about Poor Planning                                                        106

                   Flying Story about Poor Technique                                                     106

                   Short Field                                                                                           109

                   Soft Field                                                                                             112

                   Rough Field                                                                                          112

                   Partial Power                                                                                        113

          Summary                                                                                                       114

 

Chapter Ten                              Airspeeds and Airspeed Indicators                     115

          Airspeed indicators                                                                                        115

          Airspeeds                                                                                                      116

                   L/D                                                                                                      117

                   Best Angle of Climb Airspeed (Vx)                                                       119

                   Best Rate of Climb Airspeed (Vy)                                                         119

          Summary                                                                                                       120

 

Chapter Eleven                          Climbs and Descents                                           121

          Climbs                                                                                                           121

          Descents                                                                                                        126

                   Fuel Management                                                                                 126

                   Typical Descent                                                                                    127

                   Cylinder Head Temperature                                                                  129

                   Carburetor Heat                                                                                   131

                   Mixture                                                                                                131

          Summary                                                                                                       134

 

Chapter Twelve                         Turns                                                                    135

                   Coordinated Turns                                                                                135

                   Steeper Banks Require More Lift to Maintain Altitude                           136

                   Higher Airspeed Results in a Bigger Turn                                               136

                        at Constant Angle of Bank

                   Rate of Turn                                                                                         137

                   Making Tight Turns Safely                                                                    138

                   Flying Story About Tight Turns                                                           140

          Summary                                                                                                       141

 

Chapter Thirteen                        Stalls                                                                     142

          Anatomy of a Stall                                                                                          142

                   Attached Boundary Layer                                                                     142

                   Separated Boundary Layer                                                                   143

                   Delayed Stall Onset                                                                              144

                   Minimizing the Effects of Stall                                                                145

                   Stall Warning                                                                                        146

                   Stall Characteristics of Canards                                                             147

                   Critical Angle of Attack and Stall Speed                                                147

                   Particularly Dangerous Stalls                                                                 148

          Stall Recovery                                                                                                148

                   Single-engine Technique                                                                        149

                   Recovering from a Multi-engine Stall                                                     150

          Learning how to recover from stalls                                                                151

          Summary                                                                                                       153

 

Chapter Fourteen                      Developing Landing Skills                                  154

          Pre-landing Exercises above Traffic Pattern Altitude                                        154

          Pre-landing Exercises Close to the Ground                                                     156

                   Safe Practice Area                                                                                156

                   Ground Track Maneuvers                                                                     157

                   Rectangular Pattern                                                                               157

                   S-turns                                                                                                 159

                   Turns-around-a-point                                                                           161

                   Flying the Traffic Pattern                                                                       162

                   Projecting the Glide                                                                              164

          Pre-landing Exercises over a Runway                                                             166

          Summary                                                                                                       168

 

Chapter Fifteen                          Normal Landings                                                 169

                   Things Don’t Always Go As Planned                                                    169

                   Full ‘Up’ Elevator Exerts Maximum Down Force on Brakes                  174

                   Why Did Things Go Wrong?                                                                 174

                   Landing the Cub                                                                                   175

                   Taxiing in a Strong Wind                                                                       177

                   Situational Awareness                                                                           178

                   Airspeed Control                                                                                  178

                   Projected Glide Point Control                                                               178

                   Very Low Slow Flight                                                                           178

                   Precision Cross-Controlling                                                                  178

          Summary                                                                                                       179

Chapter Sixteen                         More about Landings                                          180

          Things going wrong                                                                                        180

                   Ballooning                                                                                            180

                   Bouncing                                                                                              182

                   Mushing                                                                                               182

                   Ground looping                                                                                     183

 

          Kinds of Landings                                                                                          185

                   Crosswind                                                                                            185

                   Full Stall                                                                                               186

                   Attitude                                                                                                186

                   Wheel                                                                                                  187

                   Power                                                                                                  187

                   Soft and Rough Field                                                                            188

                   Short Field                                                                                           188

          Summary                                                                                                       189

Chapter Seventeen                    Flying Myths                                                        190

 

Glossary                                                                                                                  193