Aviation and Nautical nomenclature

Question 1

Fuselage

Answer 1

body of plane, holds things together, carries payload/fuel

Question 2

Engine

Answer 2

generates thrust (jet or props)

Question 3

Wings

Answer 3

generate lift

Question 4

Landing gear

Answer 4

structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi; undercarriage

Question 5

Empennage

Answer 5

the tail, vertical and horizontal stabilizer and aft section of fuselage

Question 6

Wingspan

Answer 6

max distance from wingtip to wingtip

Question 7

Rudder

Answer 7

sits on the back of the vertical stabilizer, controls the direction of the yaw ( side to side) about the aircrafts vertical axis

Question 8

Yaw

Answer 8

the motion of the longitudinal about the vertical axis; rudder controlled; push right rudder pedal moves rudder control surface into the wind stream to the right; this pushes the tail of the aircraft to the left and the nose to the right and vise-a-versa

Question 9

Aileron

Answer 9

hinged control surfaces attached to the trialing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll; turns the plane in air

Question 10

Flaps

Answer 10

on backs of wings adjacent to fuselage; they change lift and drag; when fully extended will generally produce more lift and more drag so that the plane can descend or climb at a steeper angle or a slower airspeed

Question 11

Elevator

Answer 11

on back of horizontal stabilizer; changes pitch (up and down); deflection makes the aircraft move about the pitch axis; pulling back on the controls defects the elevators upward into the airstream, this pushes the tail down and the nose up and then your climbing

Question 12

Pitch axis

Answer 12

runs from wingtip to wingtip; passes through the planes center of gravity

Question 13

Trim tabs

Answer 13

small control surfaces that permit the pilot to balance control forces in steady flight to relieve pressure on the aircrafts controls and thus, pilot fatigue; trim tabs are primarily used on the elevators but often exist on the ailerons and/or rudder

Question 14

canard

Answer 14

an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the tail section is ahead of the main wing; instead of having your vertical and horizontal stabilizers you have a horizontal stabilizer at around the cockpit; there are lifting canards and control canards depending on the plane

Question 15

winglet

Answer 15

little vertical stabilizers on the wingtips that increase the lift generated at the wingtip and reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices, improving the lift-to-drag ratio

Question 16

spoiler

Answer 16

located on top/middle of wings; changes lift and drag and rotates the body

Question 17

slats

Answer 17

front edges of wings; changes lift

Question 18

cockpit

Answer 18

front of plane; command and control

Question 19

horizontal stabilizer

Answer 19

horizontal win-like part of the tail; controls pitch (up and down)

Question 20

vertical stabilizer

Answer 20

vertical wing-like part of the tail; controls yaw

Question 21

lateral axis

Answer 21

imaginary line from wingtip to wingtip; moment of pitch occurs about it

Question 22

longitudinal axis

Answer 22

also called roll axis; imaginary line from nose to tail through the aircrafts center of gravity; moment of bank or roll occurs around it

Question 23

vertical axis

Answer 23

runs straight up and down through the center of gravity; the moment of yaw occurs in it

Question 24

chord line

Answer 24

line between leading edge and trailing edge of an airfoil (wing); any deflection makes aircraft move about roll axis; the tip chord is simply the end of the wings (cross section line); chord length is the distance from leading edge to the trailing edge

Question 25

airfoil

Answer 25

shape of wing or prop blade

Question 26

camber

Answer 26

the asymmetry between the top and the bottom curves of an airfoil in cross section; this shape causes the air to travel faster over the top portion of the wing and therefore causes lift; there is an upper and lower camber above and below the chord line

Question 27

mean camber line

Answer 27

line drawn halfway between the upper and lower surfaces of a wing

Question 28

positive camber

Answer 28

mean camber line is above chord line

Question 29

negative camber

Answer 29

mean camber line is below chord line

Question 30

symmetrical airfoil

Answer 30

mean camber line coincides with chord line

Question 31

center of gravity

Answer 31

all changes in aircraft altitude occur about the center of gravity

Question 32

horizontal lift component

Answer 32

the sideward force that forces that airplane from straight flight and causes it to turn; it opposes inertia or centrifugal force

Question 33

vertical lift component

Answer 33

the lift acting upward and opposing weight

Question 34

red navigation light

Answer 34

left wingtip

Question 35

green navigation light

Answer 35

right wingtip

Question 36

delta wing

Answer 36

doesn't seem to need a horizontal stabilizer since the wings stretch so far back

Question 37

elliptical wing

Answer 37

probably the same as a tapered wing; no corners; curved all the way around like a flattened oval or ellipse

Question 38

rectangular wing

Answer 38

or straight wing

Question 39

rotary wing

Answer 39

a helicopter blade or tilt rotor (osprey)

Question 40

sweptback wing

Answer 40

wings like you would see on a commercial jet

Question 41

variable sweep wing/variable geometry wing

Answer 41

a wing that may be swept back and then returned to its original position during flight; it is swept back at high speeds to reduce drag and extended for slower speeds

Question 42

airspeed indicator

Answer 42

displays the aircraft's airspeed (speed relative to the air); typically in knots

Question 43

altimeter

Answer 43

measures altitude of aircraft

Question 44

attitude indicator

Answer 44

artificial horizon; tells orientation of the aircraft relative to the earth (pitch, bank, and yaw); works through a gyro

Question 45

vertical velocity indicator

Answer 45

measures rate of climb or descent of aircraft

Question 46

heading indicator

Answer 46

displays the aircraft relative to north; a compass with the aircraft in it

Question 47

turn and bank indicator/turn coordinator/turn indicator

Answer 47

shows direction of turn and rate of turn; rate and direction of roll

Question 48

tachometer

Answer 48

shows speed at which engine crankshaft is rotating

Question 49

lift

Answer 49

upward force, a wing makes lift from relatively positive air pressure below the wing's surface and negative air pressure above the wing's surface; this happens because the top of the wing is curved and the bottom of the wing is flattish; the air flowing over the top travels a little farther than the air flowing along the flat bottom; so the air on the top must go faster; the increased velocity decreases the pressure resulting in a lower pressure eon top of the wing and a higher pressure below; then the higher pressure pushes the wing up toward the lower pressure area; lift equals weight in steady flight conditions; one of the four aerodynamic forces acting on a plane

Question 50

weight/gravity

Answer 50

downward force pulling the aircraft down towards the earth; weight equals lift in steady flight condition; one of the four aerodynamic forces acting on a plane

Question 51

thrust

Answer 51

forward force; provided by the engine; thrust equals drag in steady flight condition; one of the four aerodynamic forces acting on a plane

Question 52

drag

Answer 52

a backward retarding force made by air resistance; the resistance created by air particles striking and flowing around the plane when it's moving through the air; drag equals thrust in a steady flight condition; one of the four aerodynamic forces acting on a plane

Question 53

parasite drag

Answer 53

component of drag associated with friction

Question 54

induced drag

Answer 54

component of drag associated with lift

Question 55

steady flight condition

Answer 55

neither accelerating, decelerating, climbing, nor diving; here the forces that oppose each other are also equal to each other

Question 56

wake turbulence

Answer 56

caused by the higher air pressure under a wing escaping in an outward direction from the wingtip to the lower pressure air flowing above the wing, this escaping air will swirl upward causing vortices

Question 57

relative wind

Answer 57

wind travel equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to flight path

Question 58

stability

Answer 58

the inherent ability of a body. after its equilibrium is disturbed, to develop forces or moments that tend to return the body to its original position; the ability of an airplane to return, of its own accord, to its original condition of flight after it has been disturbed by some outside force, such as turbulent air, makes the airplane easier to fly and requires less effort to control

Question 59

angle of attack

Answer 59

the angle at which the wing meets the relative wind; the angle between the chord line and the relative wind