Drone Physics Lesson 7

Airplane Tails & Wings:
Are You in Control?

I can learn about airplane control surfaces on tails and wings, and engineering testing wherein one variable is changed while others are held constant.. ​

​Wind
u-no-le
ᎤᏃᎴ

​What is the temperature outside?
Do-i-yu-sdi  nu-ga-no-wv'i  do-yi-di-tsv-hi?
ᏙᎣᎢᏳᏍᏗ  ᏄᎦᏃᏮᎢ  ᏙᏱᏗᏨᎯ  

Temperature
nu-ga-no-wv'i
ᏄᎦᏃᏮᎢ

The wind is blowing fast.
Ga-no-lv-v-sga
ᎦᏃᎸᎥᏍᎦ

Engineering Connection

Designing aircraft control systems is more complicated than the control systems for most other transportation vehicles because not only can airplanes move left and right (yaw), but they can also pitch and roll. To master these added dimensions, engineers build ailerons, rudders and elevators to provide adequate airplane steering. Engineers build small-size models of airplanes with these control surfaces and then test them in wind tunnels to find out the capabilities of their designs. 

Vocabulary

aileron: The outward movable section of an airplane wing that is used to make a turn. An airplane's ailerons move in opposite directions (one up, one down).

cockpit: The space in an airplane fuselage for the pilot and the passengers. In some aircraft, it is just the pilot and co-pilot.

elevator: The movable horizontal section of the tail that causes the nose of the plane to move up and down.

flap: A movable section of an airplane wing closest to the fuselage. An airplane's flaps are moved in the same direction (down), enhancing the lift of the wing and enabling the airplane to fly more slowly while still creating enough lift to stay in the air.

fuselage: The central body portion of an airplane that accommodates the crew and passengers or cargo.

horizontal stabilizer: The horizontal surface attached to the aft part of the fuselage that is used to balance the airplane.

landing gear: The part of a plane that supports it while on the ground. Located underneath the airplane. Composed of wheels and shocks. Often moved inside the plane while in flight.

propeller: A rotating blade located on the front of an airplane. The engine turns the propeller, which subsequently pulls the airplane through the air.

rudder: The movable vertical section of the tail that controls lateral movement.

wing: An airplane part that provides lift and supports most (if not all) of the aircraft weight and contents while in flight.

Open Ended

Think pair share -

define the following

wings, aileron, tail, rudder, elevator, fin, flaps, fuselage, cockpit

Engineers are trained

Engineers are trained to design small-scale models and then test them to make them better. Usually they do this over and over again in order to achieve designs that perform as desired. Students can conduct their own design loop with changing variables in the hands-on activity Better By Design. One important part of this process is keeping track of each design change and its effect on the airplane's performance. Does the airplane go farther when one part of the wings is changed? Or does it fly farther when one part of the tail is modified without the wing modification?

Engineers who design airplanes

Engineers who design airplanes test their models in a powerful wind tunnel and then carefully record and analyze their results. The wind tunnel enables them to determine if they have designed an airplane that will fly in different conditions and at different speeds. The wind tunnel also helps them to distinguish how small modifications to the plane change the way it flies.

Today

Today, we are going to use a simple paper airplane design, which we will modify, and then test and record how well it flies. Then, we will change certain parts on our planes and record our observations of how each change affects the plane's flight ability.

Wing Construction

Wing construction is similar for all aircraft types. Early inventors explored and experimented with a variety of materials for airplane wing construction. Most modern aircraft have all metal wings, while many older aircraft had wood and fabric wings.

Most wing structures have two spars, the front spar and the rear spar. The front spar is found near the leading edge while the rear spar is about two-thirds the distance to the trailing edge. Depending on the design of the flight loads, some of the all-metal wings have as many as five spars. The ribs are the parts of a wing that support the covering and provide the airfoil shape. These ribs are called forming ribs, and their primary purpose is to provide shape. Some may have an additional purpose of bearing flight stress, and these are called compression ribs. Figure 2 shows the wing structure.

Tail Construction

The front, fixed section of the horizontal tail is called the horizontal stabilizer and is used to prevent 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. See Figure 1 for a diagram of aircraft control and stability surfaces.

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 (the timber at the very bottom of a boat's hull to which the frame is attached) on a sailboat which helps the boat from rolling side to side. In light, in a single-engine aircraft, it also serves to offset the tendency of the aircraft to roll in the opposite direction in which the propeller is rotating.

The rear section of the vertical structure is the rudder. It is a movable airfoil that is used to turn the aircraft. Engineers have to be aware of the construction of the wings when testing their designs. When designing and testing planes, engineers make several test flights with different wings and wing designs. The rudder and tail are also important in the design of most airplanes, almost like the tail of a kite, in that these two components also greatly affect flight capability.

Match

Match the following

• Wind

• The wind is blowing fast

• Temperature

• What is the temperature outside?

u-no-le

Ga-no-lv-v-sga

nu-ga-no-wv'i

Do-i-yu-sdi  nu-ga-no-wv'i  do-yi-di-tsv

• u-no-le

• Ga-no-lv-v-sga

• nu-ga-no-wv'i

• Do-i-yu-sdi  nu-ga-no-wv'i  do-yi-di-tsv

Open Ended

Think Pair Share

Tell me about the engineering design process. What are the steps?

Open Ended

Think Pair Share

Tell me the parts of an airplane that are important to its flight and to controlling its flight.

Match

Match the following

• cockpit

• elevator

• flap

• fuselage

• propeller

pilot

movable horizontal section of the tail

airplane wing closest to the fuselage

central body portion of an airplane

rotating blade

• pilot

• movable horizontal section of the tail

• airplane wing closest to the fuselage

• central body portion of an airplane

• rotating blade

Open Ended

For what reason do aerospace engineers use wind tunnels?

Open Ended

What part of the airplane is the fuselage?