The TDUck flight school!

[mau92]

Disclaimer: I'll try to be as clear as possible, and I'll try to explain with my gained knowledge as both, real pilot and aeronautical engineering student. Have in mind that English is not my first language and I'm trying my best for you to understand me. I'm open to any criticism that makes this section good!

 

So as some of you showed interest in flight simming but not too many experience, I had the idea of doing this. What is this? I'm planning on doing a series of posts trying to explain from, how planes fly to Navigation and all things concerning all the aspects in the middle.

I'll try to avoid all of hardware and software config, but I'll try to find links of general interest. Let's get started!

Today: The Basics.

What do we need first?

-A copy of your favorite flight sim (FSX, FS9 and Xplane are the most spread sims out there)

-An internet connection (for reading this :P downloading real-time weather, flying online (IVAO/VATSIM), see charts, etc)

-Your favorite plane (It can be payware, freeware, default, home-made, or whatever)

-Scenery (not critical, but if you like watching outside the window it is. But hey, we are here for flying, not for the views

NOTE: If using FSX you are going to need the latest update, known as SP2. If you are using gold edition or acceleration this is not necessary.

 

Now we have all the digital stuff, let's get into the real world for a second and let's learn some physics.

Everybody's question: Why planes fly?

Yes, you guessed right... It's not magic. Well, if it's not magic, why planes like being in the air?

The answer is simple and complicated at the same time. The simple answer is physics, the complicated aerodynamics. It's my "mission" to convert the complicated stuff into simple things for you guys to understand.

We all know that the entire world is submerged in that invisible fluid (!) that keep us and everything else alive, that fluid is known as air. Air is a mix of gases, and even though we don't see it, we feel it (ever tried going at 100km/h on your car with your head out of the window?) and because we do, it means that we can use it in our favor and that's when aerodynamics come into the game.

Even noticed the shape of a wing slice? If you didn't then I tell you that wings are shaped into a tear-drop-kind-of-shape, and why is this? You may ask. It's to use the air in our favor.

 

Wing profile

 

And this what produces the magical force that pulls us up into the air, from now on, the magical force will be called Lift.

 

Stop what you are doing and pay attention!

Imagine our plane flying, the air is passing around it and the thing just goes forward.

As air splits around the wing (notice that the upper part has a bigger hump, remember this) it starts to work, but how?

Take 2 pieces (molecules) of air, as they reach the wing on its leading edge, they have to separate. One will take the upper part, and the other the lower part of the wing. So this 2 pieces of air have to reach the trailing edge (the "end" of the profile) at the same time and, in order to do this, one of them MUST go faster. Which one will go faster? The one that has a longer way to go, that means that the "piece" of air on the upper part of the profile is the one going faster. By doing this, a lower pressure section is created there (Magnus effect, google it), that means that we have higher pressure on the bottom of our profile and means that lift appears (going upwards) and pulling us up and into the skies.

3 factors change lift: Speed, curvature and angle of attack (AOA).

Here, you can see it (don't care about the lower part of the image)

 

And that is how planes fly. Now you can go ahead and tell your parents, friends girlfriend or impress that hot girl/boy at the bar or disco ;) This concept of lift is very important, because it's not only why planes fly but also why planes turn and/or go up or down.

 

 

How do we control them?

 

Have the upper image in mind.

In order to make a turn we'll have to "rotate" the plane around its longitudinal axis. This movement is called Roll and we do it by moving the ailerons on the outer part of the wing. Imagine we want to turn right, then right aileron will be pulled up, thus creating less lift. The left ailero will go down, generating more lift and making that wing go up. And there you go, that's how you turn to the desired heading.

Now we want to go up or down, in a similar way as before we'll have to make our plane roll towards lateral axis. This is called Pitch and we change it by moving the elevator, on the back of the plane (from now on, empennage). For example we want to go up (climb) then the elevator will go up, again creating less lift on the tail. This will produce the tail to "fall" down, and the nose will go up and we'll ascend (remember Angle of attack? well, this is how we change it)

The yaw axis works in a similar way but with the rudder, also located on the empennage. We'll use this just to correct the plane when landing, but we won't go further now.

All of this is thanks to the yoke (roll and pitch) and rudder pedals (for yaw) (yes, planes DO have pedals!) located in the cockpit.

 

Well, you have an idea on how planes fly and how to tell them where you want to go. In the following weeks/days we'll jump into the cockpit.

Hope you enjoyed this very first part and of course, stay tuned for more!

 

Regards,

Mauricio

[mau92]

Disclaimer: I'll try to be as clear as possible, and I'll try to explain with my gained knowledge as both, real pilot and aeronautical engineering student. Have in mind that English is not my first language and I'm trying my best for you to understand me. I'm open to any criticism that makes this section good!

 

Now that you guys (and girls) know how planes fly and how they move it's time to jump into the cockpit (yay!). So...

 

Today: Cockpit Layout

 

Great! You are now siting inside a plane and all you can see are dials, needles, numbers and all kind of un-understandable information.

We'll use as example the Cessna 172, one of the most common trainers out there. Everybody who has a Pilots License will fly, had flown or flies one. And once you fly it you understand why everybody else does, it's very easy to control, its speeds are similar to its smaller sister, the C150, which is as you imagined, very easy to fly.

 

 

What we need too learn about what we are seeing. Every panel, despite some details, are very similar across any maker/model. Why? Because it has some logic built in it. The panel are designed in a way that the pilot can always have in sight all those flight-related indicators without much effort.

These indicators are arranged in what's called the "Basic T" and is composed by:

-Attitude indicator, also known as "artificial horizon". It will indicate, as you imagine, the plane's attitude. And this is Nose up/down and bank angle. IMPORTANT: It won't tell us if the plane is going up/down nor if it's making a turn!

-Gyro: Located, for the image above, below the Attitude Indicator. This will tell us the plane's heading and works like a compass, then... Isn't a compass enough? The answer is yes, but this instrument has an advantage being the most important that it's easier to read and understand, and is a bit more precises when doing turns as it doesn't continues the movement once we stop the turn. The downside is that we have to calibrate it with the compass before taking off and while flying (every 15 min, but we'll see it on the next "episode" (!) ) This instrument will tell us if we are turning or not!

-Airspeed indicator: On attitude indicator's left. Basically tells us how fast we are going, taking as reference the air surrounding the aircraft. This means that we can have an airspeed indication while on ground, with brakes applied if there's a enough headwind to provoke an indication (strangely happens, never happened to me). So... Why so many colors and markings? I'll tell you. The Green Arc shows the safe operating limits of the aircraft, being the lowest point the stall speed (Remember lift? Well, at that speed we don't generate enough lift to keep the airplane in the air) and the highest the maximum operative speed. The White Arc surrounding the green one is the safe flaps speed. If you extend them outside this area there's a chance to break them. What happens if we get into the Yellow Arc? Well, we have to reduce the speed back to green arc. If we don't do so, there's a big chance to produce damage to the structure. The Red mark is the VNE or "Never exceeding speed", there a really big chance that the plane tears apart if you get to this point. Have in mind that Indicated Airspeed (IAS) will be different to ground speed. This will become handy when planning your flight.

-Altimeter: Not too much to say. The shortest needle indicates Tenths of thousands of feet (x10000), the medium thousands of feet (x1000) and the longest hundreds of feet (x100). This instrument will tell you if you are going up/down.

 

So while flying we'll be always watching this (and outside) to know what the plane is doing or going or how fast it's going.

The "secondary" set of instruments are:

-Vertical Speed Indicator (V/S): Located below the Altimeter. This instrument tell us how fast we are ascending or descending in feet per minute. Of course, if your plane has this, you'll look at it to know if you are going up or down but it's not mandatory to be equipped so you better learn the old way.

-Turn coordinator: This instrument will tell you if your turn is coordinated (really? you don't say!). A coordinated turn is... Imagine a Nascar Oval with big banks in its turns. If our plane is coordinated (while turning press the rudder pedal on the same side you are doing your turn. Eg. Banking right, right pedal), then it will be like a Nascar Racing Car turning on that curve. But! If the turn is not coordinated, the plane can drift away its course, yeah just like Ken Block recording one of his Gymkhana videos.

So if the ball is not centered (the glass tube on the lower part of the gauge) then you have to "step on the ball", in other way, pressing the rudder pedal on that side. You can Google what "2min turn" means.

 

The gauges on the lower left are engine status (oil press, oil qty, fuel, temperature, fuel flow, Exhaust gas temperature (EGT), Vacuum (important for Attitude indicator and Gyro), Volts... you get it). It's important to watch the engines parameters on flight, they'll give us a clue on engine's performance and general health. For example a drop on oil pressure might mean failing valves, if this happens you better find a near airport or a good field to land because you might get on fire or your engine might quit. But engines are reliable nowadays. Under V/S indicator it's the Engine RPM, always keep it below the red line while flying, and take a look on the manuals for optimum RPM range (Normally something around 2250-2400 RPM).

 

Between radio stack and basic instruments are the Radio NAV instruments. We'll get to them later ;).

The Radio Stack is... well you get it. There you change comm frequencies, nav frequencies, transponder...

 

Here you can see a real C150 panel and how the basic instruments are arranged.

 

Vista del piloto por Mauriciooo!, en Flickr

 

And here you can (almost) see a real, and different 172 panel.

 

172 sobre la Plata por Mauriciooo!, en Flickr

 

Now that you know where, what and how to look at a panel it's time to start the engine and jump into the skies. But first you'll have to learn how to navigate... And it won't be now ;)

 

Hope you enjoyed and see you on the next episode!

Don't hesitate to ask!

[mau92]

Disclaimer: I'll try to be as clear as possible, and I'll try to explain with my gained knowledge as both, real pilot and aeronautical engineering student. Have in mind that English is not my first language and I'm trying my best for you to understand me. I'm open to any criticism that makes this section good!

 

So, now you know what all those needles are there for... Why don't we go somewhere?

 

Today: Navigation

Navigation is more than just going from point "A" to point "B", so it might take more than just one post.

 

Let's get the hands dirty, basically we have 2 types of navigation: Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Where's the difference, you may ask. The main difference is that in IFR you can fly "blind", and by this I mean without the need of looking outside the window. Whilst, in VFR you must have at least 5km of visibility and the cloud top at 1000ft. If conditions lack in any of these, then you CAN'T take off.

 

So, as its name suggest, in VFR we fly looking out of the window, searching for references on ground like a river, a road, railways, towns, lagoons... You get it. But, have in mind that we have, let's say, 3 types of VFR flying: "pure" VFR, estimate and mixed.

In "pure" VFR we fly following ground references. This is the way the first brave aviators flew as they didn't have VOR, ADF, GPS and so. The most advanced way of navigation in that time was stellar navigation! Commonly used when crossing oceans or in trans-con flights.

But going back on topic, in planes such as the Piper PA11 this is the only way to navigate, you only have an RPM gauge, a speed indicator, an altimeter, a compass and, of course, windows. When preparing a flight with VFR charts, have in mind that: towns must have grown, rivers might be dried out, roads can be highways, railroads are just ramparts, lagoons can be lakes... The landscape changes! But luckily we have google earth, and this will give us an up-to-date snapshot of how it looks right now. But, in Flight Simulator we won't have this problem, though roads are quite detailed down there even on default terrain.

On Estimate VFR, we fly using our compass and navaids such as VFR and/or ADF. But navigating this way requires you to seat your as* on the chair, take a plotter and link every waypoint (generally towns) and get the correct heading and distances. For FS, visiting SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts is more than enough. it will make your life easier, you still have to correct your heading for winds aloft or you will end up anywhere else. This last thing is extremely important if legs are long. Later I'll explain how to use VOR and ADF.

On mixed VFR... Well we'll use both of the methods shown above. Maybe we can follow a road that will lead us to a town, and then go straight through a corn field (where we won't have any strong reference) to cut some miles and get earlier to eat the $100 burger. And after that waypoint we can fly directly to a VOR where the airfield is. Also you can use 2 VOR stations to know triangulate your position. For example, you don't know where that little town you are using as waypoint is, but you know (because you were smart enough to plan it) that it's located on an intersections between 2 radials of 2 different stations. Once you get to that intersections and you confirm visually that the town is down there, you'll know that you are not lost.

 

Here, you can see my charts, plotter and logbook (non related to navigation).

Cosas by Mauriciooo!, on Flickr

 

Un año de vuelos by Mauriciooo!, on Flickr

 

 

So this is as far as I'll get in navigation for today. On the next issue we'll see IFR navigation (though basic, maybe).

 

Hope you enjoyed!