18ASO101T

ELEMENTS OF AERONAUTICS
What is an aircraft ?

In general, all man-made contrivances which

fly, that is to say which are kept in the air by
forces produced by the air, are called aircraft
History of Aviation

- Imitation of Birds &

Ornithopters
- Lighter than air vehicles &
Hot air balloons
- Sir George Cayley’s
contribution
- Otto Lillienthal’s contribution
- Wright Brothers contribution
IMITATION OF BIRDS

Since the dawn of human

intelligence, the idea of
flying in the same way as
birds has possessed
human minds.
 All early thinking of human flight centered on the
imitation of birds.

 Many stories from mythology

• For example, Greek myth of Daedalus and his son
Icarus escaped from a prison by flying in air using
wings fastened with wax
 For centuries,
humans wanted to
fly. At first, they
tried to fly like
birds.

They fixed on wings

and flapped them like
birds, hoping to fly.
But humans are too
heavy and not strong
enough to keep
flapping big wings.

Humans who tried this met with

sometimes disastrous and always
unsuccessful consequences in
leaping from towers or roofs and
flapping vigorously.
Motivation From Birds Flight

 In time, the idea of strapping a pair of wings

to arms fell out of favor.

 It was replaced by the concept of wings

flapped up and down by various mechanical
mechanisms, powered by some type of
human arm, leg, or body movement. These
machines are called ornithopters.
Leonardo da Vinci and his Flying Machines

• born in Italy in 1452

• Sketched vast numbers of ornithopters toward the

end of the 15th century
Ornithopter Helical air screw
Parachute

Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0_htkvCVpE
LIGHTER THAN AIR VEHICLES

 Human efforts to fly literally got off the ground on

November 21, 1783, when a balloon carrying Pilatre de
Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes ascended into the
air and drifted 8 Km across Paris for about 25 minutes.
 The balloon was inflated and buoyed up by hot air from an open fire
burning underneath.
 design and construction of the balloon were those of the
Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne

 conceived the idea of using the “lifting power” of hot air rising
from a flame to lift a person from the surface of the earth –
Principle of Buoyancy

 It was the first time in history that a human being had been
lifted off the ground for a sustained period.

 Very quickly after this, the noted French physicist J. A. C.

Charles built and flew a hydrogen-filled balloon
• So people were finally off the
ground!

• Balloons were the only means

of human flight for almost 100
years.
AIR SHIP
An airship or aerostat is
"lighter-than-air aircraft"
that that gains its lift
through the use of a lighter
gas
An airship stay aloft by gas
which is less dense than
the surrounding
atmosphere.
It can be steered and
propelled through the air
using rudders and
propellers or other thrust
mechanisms.
Hindenberg Air ship (1936-37)
• On 4 March 1936 LZ 129 Hindenburg (named after
former President of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg)
made its first flight. The Hindenburg was the largest
airship ever built.

• It had been designed to use non-flammable helium,

but the only supplies of the gas were controlled by
the United States, which refused to allow its export.
So, in what proved to be a fatal decision,
the Hindenburg was filled with flammable hydrogen.

• On 6 May 1937, while landing in Lakehurst after a

transatlantic flight, the tail of the ship caught fire,
and within seconds, the Hindenburg burst into
flames, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and
1 member of the ground crew

• Rigid airships were largely abandoned after the

Hindenburg's 1937 crash and an increased military
preference for Airplanes
Modern Aerostats used in studying atmosphere. Ground surviallance,
Radar etc…
 SIR GEORGE CAYLEY (1773 – 1857)

• Modern airplane has its origin in a design set forth by

George Cayley in 1799
• Before Cayley’s time, thought of mechanical flight
had been oriented toward the flapping wings of
ornithopters, where the flapping motion was
supposed to provide both lift and propulsion.
• Cayley is responsible for breaking this unsuccessful
line of thought; he separated the concept of lift from
that of propulsion
• Cayley’s design is the first concept to include
 A fixed wing for generating lift
 Another separate mechanism for
propulsion/Thrust
 A combined horizontal and vertical tail for stability

• Engraved his concept of a fixed wing aircraft on a silver

disk in 1799
The silver disk on which Cayley engraved his concept for a fixed wing
aircraft, the first in history, in 1799. The reverse side of the disk shows the
resultant aerodynamic force on a wing resolved into lift and drag
components, indicating Cayley’s full understanding of the function of a
fixed wing.
 George Cayley’s Glider (1804)

It represented the first modern-configuration airplane of

history, with a fixed wing, and a horizontal and vertical tail
that could be adjusted.
• He stated that the basic principle of a flying machine is:
to make a surface support a given weight (Wing)
by the application of power to the resistance of air
(Engine)

• He noted that a surface inclined at some angle to the

direction of motion will generate lift and that a cambered
(curved) surface will do this more efficiently than a flat
surface.
Cayley’s triplane from 1849—the
boy carrier.
George Cayley’s human-carrying glider, from Mechanics’
Magazine, 1852
• The first heavier-than-air craft capable of
controlled free-flight were gliders.

• George Cayley built and flew the world’s first

human-carrying glider which landed abruptly
after gliding several hundred yards
Whirling Arm Apparatus for Testing WIngs

Wind Tunnel
OTTO LILIENTHAL (1848 – 1896)
THE GLIDER MAN
INVENTORS OF MODERN AEROPLANE

First heavier than air,

powered, manned
and sustained flight on
17 December 1903

Wilbur Wright (1867 – 1912) and Orville Wright (1871 –

1948)
 Glider III (1902)
Glider I (1901)
INVENTORS OF MODERN AEROPLANE
INVENTORS OF MODERN AEROPLANE
 Developments in WW-I
• The civil air transport started after WW I parallel
in different areas
• The Wright brothers, Orville (1871–1948) and
Wilbur (1867–1912), were two Americans who
were inventing and building the world’s first
successful airplane and making the first
controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-
air human flight, on December 17th, 1903.
• The brothers’ fundamental breakthrough was
their further development of three-axis control,
which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft
effectively and to maintain its equilibrium.
• In 1909, Louis Bleriot, a French aviator, made the
first airplane crossing of the English Channel.
• Within only 10 years, a lot of new flying machines
were developed, very different concepts, different
tail configurations, multiple wings, different
propulsive engines and engine integrations. Also
the national bodies/governments started to get
interest in these flying vehicles. National research
started and national military sponsors appeared
on the scene.
Developments in WW-I
 Developments in WW-I
• During World War I (1914–1918), it is reported that over 80
000 flying vehicles have been constructed and have been
used However it is also agreed by all specialists, that the
flying vehicles have not been a decisive element during
this war despite this enormous investment in air vehicles
and despite the big progress within 15 years from the first
flight in 1903 to the end of the 1st World war.
• The Junkers F 13 was the world’s first all-metal transport
aircraft, of more than 5 tons developed in Germany by
Hugo Junkers at the end of World War I.

• In 1918, the biggest bomber aircraft of WW1 (Gotha

bomber and Handley Page bomber) had a take-off mass
 Junker F13
• The Junkers F 13 was the world’s
first all-metal transport aircraft,
developed in Germany by Hugo
Junkers at the end of World War I.
It was an advanced cantilever-
wing monoplane, which could
accommodate four passengers.
• Hugo Junkers, the creator of F 13,
had the vision that there is a big
chance to use the aircraft as
transportation means.
• Surprisingly, the F 13 has all the
typical characteristics of today’s
aircraft. It has already a single
cantilever wing, a classical tail, two
engines with propellers, and a
reasonable fuselage cabin.
 Junker F13
• a nearly perfect configuration for air transport has already
been developed with all the typical characteristics of a
transport aircraft, as we know them today:
– an unobstructed cabin,
– a front cockpit,
– a fuselage to accommodate the payload (not yet pressurized!)
– a classical tail plane for control and stability,
– one engine mounted in front of the fuselage (certification rules
were not yet invented!)
• The F13 has been only slightly successful, as the market
was not yet ready and the acceptance and infrastructure
for air transport had still to be developed. Nevertheless 360
units from the F13 were built.
Gotha G.V. – Heavy Bomber
Handley Page Type O - Bomber
 Developments after WW-I
• Passengers did not really believe on the reliability of the air vehicles and
the demand from the public for commercial air transport was not strong
enough.
• A big push for air transport started in 1925 in the US where the
government withdraw the air mail from the official “post office” and
outsourced it to private competitors in order to reduce cost. This was a
first push to reduce mail travel time.
• A next step followed in 1926, with the US “Air Commerce Act”, which put
air navigation, licensing of pilots and air vehicles as well as the
investigation of air accidents under governmental control. This was a first
step in pushing a “safety system” in place.
• Direct mail routes from Europe to Africa and South America were opened
in 1930. In 1930 appeared the Boeing “Monomail” model, which had
already a retractable undercarriage and was aerodynamically a very
proper design, reducing fuel consumption considerably
 Developments after WW-I
• The next step was expected from the “high
altitude aircraft”, which should fly above the
normal clouds (thus improving travel comfort)
and also increasing air speed without major
fuel burn increase. New engine concepts (air
charger for piston engines) and better and
more reliable instrumentation to fly through
clouds were developed and helped this
purpose. Around 1935 the first long range
aircraft appeared on the market.
 Developments during WW-II
• In 1939, World War II started in Europe and all engineering efforts were
related to military air vehicles. Speed and range increase and better
manoeuvrability were the dominating factors for aircraft development.
The first jet engines appeared in Germany with the ME 262,
 Developments during WW-II
• The first swept wing concepts for high
speed flights were developed in 1937 by
DVFLR (A. Busemann), allowing higher
speeds up to Mach Number of 1, the speed
of sound!
• The military aircraft became the dominant
factor in the superiority of World War II,
with speed and manoeuvrability as
dominating performance characteristics.
• Compared to the propeller driven aircraft,
the jet aircraft increased the speed by
nearly a factor of 2, leading to considerable
time reductions in the intercontinental
routes.
 De Havilland DH106 Comet 1
• The big change in civil air transport—jet age—started with the COMET,
developed from the British company de Havilland. This new transport
aircraft allowed a better way of flying, especially the time reduction for
long range routes, were very quickly accepted from the passenger side.
• However, some completely unexpected aircraft accidents during the cruise
phase of Comet I led to a very critical situation for air transport.
• it was discovered that fatigue characteristics of the fuselage material were
a main reason for these air disasters. The lessons learnt revealed that the
windows in the fuselage, designed as rectangular elements, were one
major cause, where after several air cycles some cracks started to develop,
leading to fuselage disintegration and a total aircraft loss during cruise
phase.
• After the failure from Comet, the American manufacturers Boeing and
McDonald-Douglas developed their jet engine powered aircraft, the B-707
and the DC-8 about in parallel and both became fairly successful on the
market.
De Havilland DH106 Comet 1
The most notable lesson learned
from the Comet disaster is that
viewing windows are no longer
designed square but with
rounded edges to reduce any
stress concentrations. Another
immediate lessons is that crack-
stoppers are now placed
between frame-cutouts that take
the shape of circumferential
stiffeners that break-up the
fuselage into multiple sections
and thus prevent the crack from
propagating from one window to
the next.
Boeing 707 and Douglas DC8
 TOPICS

- Archimedes Principle
- Hot Air Balloons
- Air Ships
- Gas Balloons
 ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE
It states that a fluid will exert an upward force on an object
immersed in it equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by
the object.
 ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE

An object less dense than a fluid will

float in the fluid.

Also known as Buoyancy.

 GAS BALLOONS
Gas balloons are inflated with a gas of lower
molecular weight than the ambient atmosphere.

Types of gases:
Hydrogen – Sports, unmanned scientific and
weather balloons.
Helium – Airships and most manned
balloons.
Ammonia – Used less due to its caustic
qualities and limited lift.
Methane – Lower cost lifting gas, but less lift
than He or H2
GAS BALLOONS
Classification of Airplanes
General Classification
 Detailed Classification
Aircraft classification can be made based on several
categories/specifications
– Type of Lift generation
– Type of lifting surface
– Type of Power plant/Engine
– Speed
– Number of wings
– Mode of takeoff and Landing
– Role
– Based on number of engines
– Propeller location
– Wing location
– Wing Planform shape and angle
– Tail configuration
– Other
Type of Lift generation

• Lighter-than-air aircraft
 These refer to aircraft that can rise and remain
suspended by using contained gases that are lighter
than air.
 The typical gases used for lighter-than-air aircraft
include hydrogen, helium, and heated air.
 Examples are Hot air balloons, Airships, Aerostats

• Heavier-than-air aircraft
– aircraft that needs a mechanism (like wings) to push the
aircraft upwards
– Examples are Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, ornithopter
etc
Type of lifting surface

• Fixed
Wing
Type of lifting surface

• Rotary
Wing
Helicopters Quadcopters
Type of lifting surface

• Ornitho
pters Festo Smart Bird
Type of Powerplant/Engine

• Propeller driven airplane

Type of Powerplant/Engine

• Jet powered airplane

Type of Powerplant/Engine

• Jet powered airplanes can be further

classified as
 Turbojet
 Turbofan
 Turboprop
Type of Power plant/Engine

• Other Engines
– Ramjet engine
– Scramjet engine
– Rocket engine
Based on Speed

• Airplanes are classified based on their

Cruise Mach number

Mach number
Ratio of the object speed to the speed of
sound in the medium the object is flying
 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑉
Mach number 𝑀 = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎

𝑎 =by 𝛾𝑅𝑇
where, the speed of sound is given

Where, 𝛾 is the Ratio of specific heats (for air, 𝛾=1.4)

𝑅 is the Gas constant (for air, 𝑅=287 J/KgK)

𝑇 is the Temperature of the medium

Speed of Sound in air at Standard Temperature and Pressure is 𝑎 = 340 m/s

Based on Speed
• Mach number M < 1 – Subsonic
• Mach number M = 1 – Sonic
• Mach number M > 1 – Supersonic
• Mach number M > 5 – Hypersonic

Example of Supersonic Airliner – Concorde

Operates at Mach 2
Number of wings

 Monoplane  Biplane
Mode of takeoff and Landing

• Normal
• Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL)
• Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL)
• Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL)

An example of VTOL
Based on Role/Purpose

• Passenger Transport
• Business jets
• Cargo Transport
• Experimental aircraft
• Trainers
• Fighters
• Bombers
• Medical / Rescue Aircraft
• Spy / Reconnaissance Aircraft
 Based on number of engines
• Single Engine
HAL Tejas
 Based on number of engines
• Twin Engine
Sukhoi Su-30 of IAF
 Based on number of engines
• Multi Engine
Propeller location

• Puller configuration
Propeller location

• Pusher configuration
Wing location
Wing Planform shape and angle

• BASED ON WING PLANFORM SHAPE

- STRAIGHT

- TAPERED

- ELLIPTICAL
 HAL Tejas

Delta Wing
Wing Planform shape and angle

• BASED ON WING ANGLE

Tail configuration
Wing Sweep

Backward Swept
PARTS OF AN AIRPLANE
 Change Pitch
(Up-Down)

Increase the Drag

(To provide Aerodynamic
Brake)
 Winglet

Aileron
A380 wing has 3 ailerons, 8 spoilers, 8 slats and 3 flaps
MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A PISTON ENGINED AIRPLANE
MAJOR COMPONENTS OF AN AIRPLANE WITH TURBOPROP ENGINE
MAJOR COMPONENTS OF AN AIRPLANE WITH JET ENGINE
 AXES OF AN AEROPLANE

Lateral axis

y
Pitch

Roll
Yaw
x
Longitudinal axis z
Vertical axis
FORCES AND MOMENTS
ACTING ON AN AIRPLANE
Forces Acting On An Airplane
Thrust
the forward force produced by the powerplant/propeller or rotor in the
direction of flight path. It opposes or overcomes the force of drag. As a
general rule, it acts parallel to the longitudinal axis.

Drag
A rearward, retarding force caused by disruption of airflow by the wing, rotor,
fuselage, and other
protruding objects. Drag force acts opposite to the flight path

Lift
is a force that is produced by the dynamic effect of the air acting on the airfoil
(wing section). It acts perpendicular to the flight path

Weight
the combined load of the aircraft itself, the crew, the fuel, and the cargo or
baggage. Weight is
a force that pulls the aircraft downward because of the force of gravity. It
acts vertically downward through the aircraft’s center of gravity (CG)
 Moments acting on the airplane

Moment about the lateral axis is Pitch Moment about the longitudinal axis is Roll
Moment about the vertical axis is Yaw
 Flight control systems

• Aircraft flight controls are the means by which a pilot controls the direction
and attitude of an aircraft in flight

Aircraft flight control systems are divided into :

- Primary flight controls

- Secondary flight controls

Primary flight controls are required to safely control an aircraft during flight and consist
of ailerons, elevators and rudder.

Secondary flight controls are intended to improve the aircraft performance characteristics
or to relieve excessive control loading, and consist of high lift devices such
as flaps and slats as well as spoilers and trim tabs.
 Primary Flight
Controls

Control Surfaces
• Ailerons
• Elevator
• Rudder
 ELEVATOR
The elevator controls
the pitch

 On the
horizontal tail,
the elevator
tilts up or
down,
decreasing or
increasing lift
on the tail.

 This tilts the

nose of the
airplane up and
down.
Elevators tilted
upwards – Pitch
up/Nose up
Elevators tilted
downwards – Pitch
down/Nose down
 AILERON
The Ailerons Control Roll
 On the outer rear edge
of each wing, the two
ailerons tilt in opposite
directions, up and
down, decreasing lift on
one wing while
increasing it on the
other.
 This causes the airplane
to roll to the left or
right.
 To turn the airplane,
the pilot uses the
ailerons to tilt the wings
in the desired direction.
Left Aileron tilted
down
and
Right Aileron tilted
up – Airplane rolls
towards right
Left Aileron tilted up
and
Right Aileron tilted
down – Airplane rolls
towards Left
 RUDDER
The Rudder Controls
Yaw

 On the vertical
tail, the rudder
swivels from side
to side, pushing
the tail in a left or
right direction.

 A pilot usually
uses the rudder
along with the
ailerons to turn
the airplane.
Rudder tilted left –
Left Turn

Rudder tilted Right

– Right Turn