~ Aviation Management ~

Ch. 3 Summary Checklist [Private Pilot]

- During flight, the four forces acting on the airplane are lift, weight, thrust, and drag.

- The four forces are in equilibrium during unaccelerated flight.

- Lift is the upward force created by the effect of airflow as it passes over and under the wing.

- According to Bernoulli's principle, the increase in speed of air on the top of an airfoil produces a drop in pressure and this lowered pressure is a component of total lift.

- The reaction to downwash from the top surface of the wing and the airstream striking the wing's lower surface causes an upward reaction in positive lift according to Newton's third law of motion.

- Planform, camber, aspect ratio, and wing area are some of the design factors which affect a wing's lifting capabilities.

- A stall is caused by the separation of airflow from the wing's upper surface. For a given airplane, a stall always occurs at the critical angle of attack, regardless of airspeed, flight attitude, or weight.

- Total lift depends on the combined effects of airspeed and angle of attack. When speed decreases, you must increase the angle of attack to maintain the same amount of lift.

- Flaps increase lift (and drag) by increasing the wing's effective camber and changing the chord line which increases the angle of attack. Flap types include plain, split, slotted, and Fowler.

- Weight is the force of gravity which acts vertically through the center of the airplane toward the center of the earth.

- Thrust is the forward-acting force which opposes drag and propels the airplane. 

- Drag acts in opposition to the direction of flight, opposes the forward-acting force of thrust, and limits the forward speed of the airplane.

- Parasite drag is caused by any aircraft surface which deflects or interferes with the smooth airflow around the airplane. Parasite drag normally is divided into three types: form drag, interference drag, and skin friction drag. If airspeed is doubled, parasite drag increases fourfold.

- Induced drag is generated by the airflow circulation around the wing as it creates lift. Induced drag increases with flight at slow airspeeds as the angle of attack increases.

- The phenomenon of ground effect occurs close to the ground where the earth's surface restricts the downward deflection of the airstream for the wing, decreasing induced drag.

- Most training aircraft are designed to display both positive static and positive dynamic stability.

- All aircraft movement takes place around the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical axes, all of which pass through the center of gravity. 

- Longitudinal stability relates to movement about the airplane's lateral axis. Longitudinal stability is influenced by the relationship between the center of pressure and the center of gravity as well as the effects of power changes and the design of the horizontal stabilizer.

- Stability around the aircraft's longitudinal axis is referred to as lateral stability. Wing dihedral, sweepback, keel effect, and weight distribution are design features that affect an airplane's lateral stability.

- Directional stability, or stability about the vertical axis, of most aircraft is maintained by the vertical tail.

- Dutch roll is most likely to occur on aircraft with weak directional stability and strong lateral stability.

- Aircraft with strong directional stability and weak lateral stability are susceptible to spiral instability.

- A stall will always occur when the critical angle of attack, or CLmax, is exceeded. This can occur at any airspeed and in any configuration or attitude.

- A spin will not develop unless both wings are stalled. A normal, erect spin results in the airplane entering a nose-low authoritative descent with one wing stalled more than the other. 

- In climbing flight, one component of weight acts