Aircraft System

Reverse thrust
- Clamshell (hot stream)
large metal plates are deflected hydraulically into the jet
efflux, changing its direction by about 135 degrees.
The materials need to be heat resistant due to the operating
environment
- Cascade (Cold stream)
Consists of a system of blocker doors, which is hydraulically
deflected into the direction of the fan airflow. The airflow
then escapes through the rearward facing cascade vanes,
exposed by a translating sleeves moving rearward
What is fly-by-wire
- Electronically managed flight control system, which uses the
computers to make aircraft easier to handle while enhancing the
safety
- It replaces the mechanical linkage between the cockpit control
and control surfaces by lighter electrical wires, instead of using
the mechanical cables ad pulleys in the conventional control
system
- At the heart of the system are computers that convert the pilots
commands into electrical impulses and determine how to move
the actuators at each control surface to provide the expected
response.
- Commands from the computers are input without pilots
knowledge to stabilize the aircraft.
Describe the fly-by-wire system on B777
- The primary flight control system supplies manual and automatic
aircraft control in pitch, roll, yaw and protection against
overstressing, stalling, overspeed
- Position sensors on the control column, rudder pedal and
speedbrake lever convert movement into electrical signals which
are sent to each of the four black boxes called actuator control
electronics (ACEs)
- The signals from these ACEs are then sent to the three primary
flight computers (PFCs).
- The PFCs then receives information from other aircraft systems
regarding the airspeed, outside air data, attitude, angle of attack,
engine thrust.
- Modified signals are then sent back to the actuator control
electronics and from there are sent to the hydraulic actuators to
move the control surfaces
Describe the two-way digital bus in B777
The two way digital bus has been adopted as a new industry
standard, ARINC 629, which permits the airplane system and

the associated computers to communicate with one another

through a common wire path instead of separate one way
wire connections.
This further simplifies the assembly and saves weight, while
increasing reliability through reduction in the amount of
wires and connectors

Describe the EGPWS on B777

It displays the potentially threatening terrain and gives
audible alert upto one minute in advance of the possible
terrain conflict, instead of the traditional 10 to 15 seconds in
the previous systems
It features the proprietory digital terrain map, which is
continuously compared to the aircraft position data with
navigation system.
How does jet engine works?
Air is first drawn by the compressor into the engine intake.
One stage of compressor consists of a ring of rotating blades
(rotor), followed by one ring of stationary blades (stator).
The rotating blades propel the air through the stator blades
with a resultant increase in pressure.
The pressure increase across each stage is comparatively
small so that a number of stages are required to produce
the necessary pressure.
The hot, pressurized air from the compressor then enter the
combustion chamber and mixed with a steady stream of fuel
and ignited.
The expanding exhaust flow from the combustion chamber
channels throught the stationary guide vanes that direct the
flow into the turbine blades.
The turbine rotates under the force of the airflow impinging
on the turbine blades and in turn rotates the compressor via
the connecting shaft.
The air continues to expand as it flows through the
convergent duct of the jet pipe and exhaust from the engine
as high speed jet.
What is intake momentum drag?
The thrust produced by a stationary aircraft is called the gross
thrust.
As the forward airspeed increases, the air velocity at the intake
increases too, while air velocity at the exhaust remains constant.
The difference of the two velocities decreases as the airspeed
increases. For the engine it feel likes the air velocity represents a
force that opposes thrust. This is called intake momentum draw and
it decreases overall thrust with increase in airspeed
What is Ram Effect?

As the forward speed increase, stagnation pressure at the engine

intake increases too, as, leading to a larger mass of air per unit
volume. The thrust loss due to intake momentum drag, more or less
equals the thrust gained by ram effect. Thus, jet thrust is considered
to be more or less constant as speed varies.
Why high bypass turbo fans experience more in take
momentum drag, benefit less from ram effect?
What is the use of Exhaust Gas Temperature?
It is the gas temperature at the turbine. The measurement is taken
by probes close to the turbine and it is displayed in the cockpit on
the EGT gauge.
It is an important parameter , for avoiding the overstressing the
engine on startup, accelerating or decelerating and cruising. High
EGT for a short time may destroy the turbine. Excessive EGT for a
long time may shorten engines life.
What is compressor stall?
It is a disruption or breakdown of airflow within the compressor. As
the compressor is designed to perform ideally under a specific angle
of attack, mass of airflow, pressure ratio and rpm, if one of these
gets disturbed, the angle of attack of the compressor blades
exceeds the critical angle of attack, leading to a separation of
airflow over the compressor blades in the same way as over the
aerofoil.
Can be caused by:
1. Foreign object damage
2. Worn, dirty or contaminated compressor components
3. Aircraft operation outside of the engine design envelop.
Compressor stall can be identified by:
1. Thrust loss
2. An increase in EGT
3. Engine vibration
4. RPM fluctuation

What is auto igniters?

In order to guard against possible flame out upon a compressor stall
or disrupted airflow. Auto ignitors may b used. They are
automatically turned on to provide spark into the combustion
chamber.
What is Compressor surge?
Surge is a phenomenon where the airflow through the compressor
becomes choked and sometimes reverses in direction, it is identified

by:
- Large increase in EGT;
- An instantaneous noise;
- Possible flame out;
It takes place at low rpm and triggered by air attempting to expand
from the combustion chamber towards the compressor. First the
later compressor stages stalls, causing airflow to decrease. This in
turn causes a further expansion of the air up to the first compressor
stage, where the air is relieved and normal engine operation is
restored.
Bleed air valves are fitted at some compressor stages, in order to
relieve the excessive pressure.
Describe the simple hydraulic system.
Jack or actuator
- Used to convert hydraulic pressure into mechanical energy
- Comprises of a cylinder in which is fitted with a piston and piston
rod or ram.
- This piston is fined with seals which prevent the hydraulic fluid
from leaking from one side of the piston to the other.
- A normal jack has two end connections through which hydraulic
fluid is fed under pressure from a control valve.
Reservoir
- It supplies a reserve of hydraulic fluid and compensate for minor
leakage in the system and provides a storage space for the
returning fluid
- When a selection is made at the control valve, fluid is then drawn
by the pump from the reservoir
Pump.
- Most larger aircraft will have a pump driven by the aircraft engine
called the Engine Driven Pump
- The hand pump draws fluid from the reservoir and direct it to the
control valve. The hand pump is designed to give a continuous
flow of fluid, that fluid is being used to convert, through the jack,
the hydraulic pressure into the mechanical energy. Most aircraft
hand pumps are double acting type to ensure a continuous flow
is provided.
Control Valve
- It may be mechanically operated by the pilot or electrically
operatred
- It directs the fluid from the hydraulic pump to the end connection
of the jack selected in order to move the jack in the desired
direction.
- At the same time, the control valve connects the returning fluid
to the common return hence controlling the displaced fluid at the
same time.

Some control valves have a neutral selection which provides a

facility to be able to stop the jack in any desired position.

What is Ram Air Turbine?

- It is a small turbine that is installed in an aircraft and used as an
emergency hydraulic or electrical power source.
- It generates power from the airstream by ram pressure due to
the speed of the aircraft
What is Magneto Ignition?
- Components:
Magneto
Distributor
High tension leads
Two spark plugs per cylinder
- Magneto
Use a strong magnet rotating inside a coil
The magnetic field generates a voltage in the coil which is
transformed into a higher voltage by a secondary coil with
much more windings than the primary coil.
A breaker contact in the primary coil circuit interrupts the
flowing current and this interruption causes the magnetic
field to collapse thereby generating a very high voltage in
the secondary coil.
This peak voltage is then conducted to the spark plugs by
the distributors and high tension leads.
- Distributor
Guide the high energy voltage to the correct spark plug
through one of the high tension leads
As each cylinder fires every two revolution of the crankshaft,
the rotor in the distributor must rotate at half the crankshaft
speed
-

Self contained ignition system

Each cylinder has two spark plug, which each plug having a
separate magneto system
Provide redundancy should a magneto fail
Better engine performance
Twin sparks provide two flame fronts within the cylinder, reducing
the time required for the fuel charge to burn, therefore burning
more fuel at a lower temperature and pressure.
During the start of the engine, the crankshaft rotates very slowly
(around 120RPM) and the magnetos at 60RPM.
Impulse coupling: a device used to retard the ignition timing to
almost at TDC and an acceleration of the magnet in the magneto.
When the engine fires and runs idle the impuse coupling
detaches.