@Aeronautics

 Structure of an Airplane At the end of this block of study, you should be able to:     Label the parts of an airplane.     Describe the five types of stress which act on an aircraft in flight and give an example of   where each applies to an airplane.   Describe both truss and semimonocoque types of fuselages.     Describe the basic structure of a wing.     Explain the structure and function of the empennage.     Identify the three types of landing gear.  Most aircraft are composed of the fuselage (body), wings, empennage (tail assembly), landing gear, and power plant (see figure 1-1). Locate these parts in the diagram as they are discussed. Sections in this Chapter: Section 1.1 - THE FUSELAGE STRUCTURE Section 1.2 -  WINGS Section 1.3 -  EMPENNAGE Section 1.4 -  LANDING GEAR Section 1.5 -  POWER PLANT Section 1.6 -  REVIEW EXERCISE ...

 Power Plant    The power plant may be an engine and propeller combination or a jet engine. The most commonly used power plant in personal aircraft is the gasoline engine, which will be studied in detail later in this chapter. It is mounted in position against a fire wall in the front section of the airplane. The fire wall provides separation of the power plant from the remainder of the fuselage. The engine cowling is the metal covering which encases the engine and its accessories, streamlining the plane and conducting air around the engine cylinders for cooling. Because the action of the pistons is an up-and-down movement, this engine is called a reciprocating engine or a piston engine. In multiengine aircraft, the engines are usually mounted on the leading edges of the wings.   The jet engine gives the airplane a thrust (push forward) because of the jet exhaust gas coming out of the back of the engine. The moving part of this engine is a turbi...

 Landing Gear    Airplanes require landing gear for taxiing, takeoff, and landing. The earliest airplane of all--the Wright  Flyer --used skids as its landing gear. Soon, wheels were attached to the skids. Since that time, various arrangements have been used for wheels and structures to connect them to the airplane. Today, there are  three common types of landing gear: conventional, tricycle, and tandem  (see figure 1-8).     Conventional landing gear  consists of two wheels forward of the aircraft's center of gravity and a third small wheel at the tail. This type of landing gear is most often seen in older general aviation airplanes. The two main wheels are fastened to the fuselage by struts. Without a wheel at the nose of the plane, it easily pitches over if brakes are applied too soon. Because the tailwheel is castered--free to move in any direction--the plane is very difficult to control when landing or taking of...

Empennage     The empennage, commonly called the tail assembly (see figure 1-7), is the rear section of the body of the airplane. Its main purpose is to give stability to the aircraft.  The fixed parts are the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer or fin. The front, fixed section is called the  horizontal stabilizer  and is used to p revent the airplane from pitching up or down .   The rear section is called the  elevator  and is usually hinged to the horizontal stabilizer. The elevator is a movable airfoil that  controls the up-and-down motion of the aircraft's nose.    The vertical tail structure is divided into the  vertical stabilizer and the rudder . The front section is called the  vertical stabilizer and is used to prevent the aircraft from yawing back and forth .  The principle behind its operation is much like the principle of a deep keel on a sailboat. In ligh...