~ Aviation Management ~

Ch. 2 Summary Checklist [Private Pilot]

- The fuselage houses the cabin, or cockpit, and serves as the attachment point for the other major airplane components.

- Wings may be attached at the top, middle, or lower portion of the fuselage and are contoured to take maximum advantage of the lifting force created by the passing airflow.

- The empennage consists of the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizer which act to steady the airplane and maintain a straight path through the air.

- Trim devices are used to help minimize your workload by aerodynamically helping you move a control surface, or maintain the surface in a desired position.

- Landing gear employing a rear-mounted wheel is called conventional landing gear.

- When the third wheel is located on the nose, the design is referred to as tricycle gear.

- Brake pressure may be applied equally or to varying degrees by pressing on the top of each rudder pedal.

- The engine works to turn the propeller, generate electrical energy, create a vacuum source for some flight instruments, and, in most single-engine airplanes, provide a source of heat for the pilot and passengers.

- The propeller translates the rotating force of the engine into a forward-acting force called thrust that helps to move the airplane through the air.

- Most of the pertinent information about a particular make and model of airplane, including operating limits, can be found in the pilots operating handbook (POH) and FAA approved airplane flight manual (AFM). 

- The continuous energy-creating process in almost all reciprocating airplane engines is referred to as the four-stroke operating cycle. The steps in this cycle are: the intake of the fuel/air mixture, the compression by the piston, the ignition and expansion of the gases, and the venting of the burned gases.

-Engine speed for aircraft equipped with a fixed-pitch propeller is displayed on a tachometer in revolutions per minute (r.p.m.).

- A constant-speed propeller is adjustable from the cockpit. A manifold pressure gauge is used on these types of airplanes to monitor engine output by displaying the pressure inside the engine in inches of mercury (In Hg.).

- The carburetor mixes incoming air with fuel and delivers it to the combustion chamber.

- The operating principle of float-type carburetors is based on the difference in pressure at the venturi throat and the air inlet.

- The fuel/air mixture can be adjusted from the cockpit with the mixture control.

- Carburetor ice may be caused by fuel vaporization and decreasing air pressure in the venturi which causes a sharp temperature drop in the carburetor.

- Carburetor ice is more likely to occur when temperatures are below 21 degrees celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and relative humidity is above 80%. To combat the effects of carburetor ice, engines with float-type carburetors employ a carburetor heat system which is designed to eliminate ice by routing air across a heat source before it enters the carburetor. 

- One of the most significant advantages of the fuel injection system is the relative freedom from the formation of induction icing.

- Sea-level performance can be obtained even at high altitudes using either a super-charging or a turbo-charging system.

- The ignition system is made up of magnetos, spark plugs, interconnecting wires, and the ignition switch.

- Detonation occurs when fuel in the cylinders explodes instead of burning smoothly.