INTRODUCTION to

FLIGHT
Presented by:

Engr. Alex P.
Baccay
11.10.14

Flight
A

travel

space

in

through
a

transportation.

air

form

or
of

Flight Categories
Subsonic
Supersoni
c

First Powered Flight

Wilbur

and

Orville Wright
at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina
on December
17, 1903.
WHAT THE FACT : It lasted a total of 98 seconds on four
flight attempts.

The First Powered

Aircraft
the difficulty in handling our
machine is due to rudder*
being in front, which makes it
hard

to

keep

course

...The

always

in

on

level

machine

is

unstable

equilibrium...I do not think it

is necessary to lengthen the
machine but to simply put
the rudder behind instead
before...
*elevator
Letter from Orville to Wilbur
September 24, 1909.

Aircraft and Airplane

Aircraft
any vehicle capable of flying.

Airplane
a heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed
wing and engine powered.

Categories of an Aircraft
Lighter-than-air Aircrafts

Hot Air Balloons

Airship / Blimp / Dirigible

Categories of an Aircraft
Heavier-than-air Aircrafts

Rotary Wing Aircraft (helicopter)

Fixed Wing Aircraft (learjet)

Airplane Categories
Ultralight/Light Sports Aircraft (LSA)
flying of lightweight, 1 or 2 seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some
countries differentiate between weight shift and 3-axis aircraft,
calling the former "microlight" and the latter "ultralight .

Airplane Categories
Normal / Utility
a general-purpose light aircraft or helicopter, usually used
for transporting people or freight, but also for other duties
when a more specialised aircraft is not required or available

Airplane Categories
Aerobatic / Sports
a small aircraft that is simple to fly and which meets
certain regulations set by a national aviation authority
restricting weight and performance.

Airplane Categories
Transport / Commercial
part of civil aviation (both general aviation and scheduled
airline service) that involves operating aircraft for hire to
transport passengers or cargo.

Four Forces Acting on

Flight

Major Components of an
Airplane

Major Components of an
Airplane
Fuselage
- the central body of an
airplane that is designed to
accommodate

crew,

passengers and cargo. It

also provides all structural
connections of the other
airplane components.
Truss type fuselage
structure

Major Components of an
Airplane
Fuselage Types
TRUSS is a rigid framework made up of
members such as beams, struts, and bars to
resist deformation by applied load.
SEMI-MONOCOQUE consist of a framework of
vertical and longitudinal members covered with
a structural skin that carries the large
percentage of the stresses.
MONOCOQUE it involves the construction of a
metal tube or cone without structural member.

Major Components of an
Airplane

FUSELAGE
Fuselage Parts
Bulkhead the vertical members of the fuselage frames.
Structural partitions that runs perpendicular to the
longerons.
Frame - lateral fuselage or nacelle member giving crosssectional shape which is often circular. Also known as
FORMERS or RINGS that maintains the uniform shape of the
structure.
Stringers (for semi-monocoque) the longitudinal
members serves for stiffening the metal skin and prevent it
from bulging or buckling under severe stresses.
Gusset or Gusset Plates to reinforce the intersecting
structural members and to transfer stresses from one
member to another.
Longeron the main longitudinal member of a fuselage or

FUSELAGE

FUSELAGE

FUSELAGE

FUSELAGE

WING SECTION

Wing Section
- wings are airfoils attached to the fuselage and the main lifting surface
that supports airplane in flight

WING SECTION
WING TYPES:
CANTILEVER no external bracing is needed
SEMI-CANTILEVER uses external bracing (strut,
wires, etc.)

WING SECTION
Wing Section Parts
Spars it is the principal structural members of the wing.
Ribs used to give the shape of the wing and to transmit
the load from the skin to the spars.
Wing Tip smooth out the wing tip airfoil to give wing a
finish look.
Fairing/Fillets used to smooth the airflow over the
angles formed by the wings and other structural units with
the fuselage, shaped rounded panels or metal skin are
attached
Tie rod (Tension rod) members taking tensile load.
Strut members taking compression load

WING SECTION

WING SECTION

Wing
Configurations

WING SECTION

Wing Planforms

EMPENNAGE
Empennage
-

the entire tail group of

an aircraft and consists

of the fixed surfaces
(horizontal and vertical
stabilizers)
movable

and
surfaces

(rudder, elevator, trim

tabs).

EMPENNAGE

EMPENNAGE

Empennage
Configuration

POWERPLANT

Powerplant
-

the powerplant powers

the propulsion unit of

the aircraft to produce
thrust especially in flight
and to power its other
system components.

LANDING GEAR
Landing Gear
-

the principal support of the

airplane when parked, taxiing,

taking off or landing.

LANDING GEAR

Landing Gear

Axes of an Aircraft

Primary Controls of an
Airplane

AILERON
the two ailerons are typically interconnected so that
one goes down when the other goes up: the down-going
aileron increases the lift on its wing while the up-going
aileron reduces the lift on its wing, producing a rolling

Primary Controls of an
Airplane

RUDDER
hinged to trailing
edge of the vertical
stabilizer

to

turn

about its vertical axis

(yaw).

Primary Controls of an
Airplane

ELEVATOR
attached to the trailing edge of the
horizontal stabilizer use for control on pitch
up and pitch down at its lateral axis.