CHAPTER 3: LIFT

The total
pressure in an
ideal airflow
is equal to
dynamic pressure plus static
pressure, and is a constant.
Figure 3.15 Dynamic pressure: Airflow Figure 3.16 You can feel dynamic pressure
striking a plate. for yourself.

directions - pressure energy is referred to in most text books for pilots as static
pressure. So, if we think of all the energy in a moving mass of air as being pressure,
we can re-state Bernoullis Principle for airow as follows:

Total Pressure = Dynamic Pressure + Static Pressure = Constant

In a horizontal
ideal airflow
around a
wing, when
dynamic pressure increases,
static pressure decreases, and
vice versa.

Figure 3.17 Measuring static pressure around a wing.

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CHAPTER 8: PROPELLER THRUST

Helix Angle.
As the propeller rotates and advances through the air (following the line of Effective
Pitch), the actual path that the blades follow describes a helix. The Helix Angle
is the angle between the Plane of Rotation of the propeller and the path of the
Effective Pitch.

Figure 8.13 (Top) and 8.14 (Bottom) showing the helix angle.

PROPELLER THEORY.

Two Theories of Propeller Thrust?

So far, you have learnt (and, if you have stood behind a propeller-driven aircraft
with its engine running, have doubtless experienced) that a propeller accelerates a
large mass of air rearwards, thus generating thrust in accordance with Newtons
2nd and 3rd Laws. You have also read in the denitions above that propeller blades
are aerofoils and are set at a given angle to the plane of rotation and so meet the
air at an angle of attack. Furthermore, you will recall from an earlier chapter, in
this Principles of Flight book, that aerofoils which meet the relative airow at certain
angles of attack generate an aerodynamic force called lift by virtue of the pressure
distribution above and below the aerofoil. Rotating propeller blades, then, would
seem to be able to generate thrust in the form of a horizontal lift force in
accordance with the theories of the Swiss scientist Bernoulli, and as illustrated in
Figure 8.16.

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 CHAPTER 12: FLIGHT CONTROLS AND TRIMMING

Adverse yaw
is eliminated
by coordinated
use of rudder
and aileron. That is, applying
rudder in the same direction as
aileron.

Figure 12.11 Adverse yaw has been eliminated. Here the aircraft is rolling to the left without
adverse yaw. The balls position in the middle shows that the aircraft is in balance.
In short wing-span, high-powered aircraft, adverse yaw is not very pronounced,
but pilots must be ready to balance rolling movements with coordinated aileron and
rudder, as required. In long-wing span, low-powered aircraft such as motor-gliders,
adverse yaw is very pronounced and a high level of aileron and rudder coordination
is required, to eliminate adverse yaw.

USE OF THE FLYING CONTROLS IN TURNING FLIGHT.

Having learnt what are the primary and secondary effects of controls, this is
a convenient point for you to consider how the ying controls are used to enter,
maintain and exit a turn. Before continuing, you may wish to read again the section
on turning ight in Chapter 9.

You will recall that, in order to turn, the pilot applies an appropriate amount of bank in
the direction in which he wishes to turn.

Figure 12.12 A PA28 established in a turn to the left, with the ailerons centralised.

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 CHAPTER 3: LIFT

Figure 3.10 Bernoullis Principle: The total energy of an ideal fluid is constant.

Bernoullis Principle may be illustrated by an experiment conducted with water

under pressure in a pipe. (See Figure 3.10) If we were to take a water pipe connected
to the mains and closed off by a tap, and drill a small hole in the side of the pipe, we
would see a jet of water of a certain length spurt out from the hole. The length of
the jet would depend on the pressure in the pipe. If we were to open the tap a little
so that the main water stream began to ow, we would notice that the jet of water
spurting from the hole grows shorter. The more we opened the tap to increase the
velocity of ow of the main jet, the shorter would become the jet of water spurting
from the hole.

With the tap closed, there is no water ow along the pipe so the kinetic energy of
the water is zero and all the energy in the water consists of pressure energy. As
the tap is progressively opened, water begins to ow from the tap with increasing
velocity, and the jet of water spurting from the hole gets shorter. This is because,
with the tap open, the water now possesses kinetic energy by virtue of its velocity,
or more accurately, the rate of ow of its mass. As the velocity of the water ow
increases, its kinetic energy also increases, and so, Bernoullis Principle teaches
us that, the waters pressure energy decreases and the jet grows shorter. If the tap
is closed again, the waters kinetic energy will decrease and its pressure energy
rise, causing the jet from the hole to increase in length again. The total energy of
the water remains constant throughout the experiment.

Aerodynamicists have discovered that Bernoullis Principle of pressure variation

with velocity change can accurately predict the lift force developed by a wing, in the
same way as Newtons Laws can. When
compared to
The measurement of steady, horizontal airow around a wing, which is at a small the speed of
positive angle of attack to the airow, irrespective of whether the wing is of at-plate the freestream
airflow, the air flowing over
or aerofoil cross-section (see Figure 3.11, overleaf), shows that, when compared to
the upper surface of a wing
the velocity of the free airstream, the air owing over the upper surface of a wing increases in speed while the
increases in speed while the air owing under the lower surface of the wing decreases air flowing under the lower
in speed. surface of the wing decreases
in speed.
In accordance with Bernoullis Principle, where the kinetic energy of the air is
highest the pressure energy of the air is lowest and where the kinetic energy is

43