Aircraft Definition and 23 Discussions

An aircraft is a vehicle or machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships (including blimps), gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons.The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called aviation. The science of aviation, including designing and building aircraft, is called aeronautics. Crewed aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot, but unmanned aerial vehicles may be remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Aircraft may be classified by different criteria, such as lift type, aircraft propulsion, usage and others.

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  1. AmericaPacific42

    Algorithms for quadcopters to use back-EMF to detect obstacles close?

    Would it help to study Verilog (VHDL) or Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays (FPGA) if self-crafted x64/aarch64-assembly would take too much power/be too slow?
  2. J

    Typical surface roughness heights for aircraft surfaces

    Hello! I am investigating some preliminary aerodynamics on a regional turboprop and for the drag model the surface roughness height of the airplane is required as an input. For this i do not have any data. In which range are the typical values for modern aircraft surfaces? Thanks a lot!
  3. prashantakerkar

    Calculators Biometric devices in commercial aircraft

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_device Do you feel it is useful to have Biometric verification & attendance system installed inside commercial aircrafts for aircrew staff? Thanks & Regards, Prashant S Akerkar
  4. Physicsterian

    Extending an aircraft landing gear that has gotten stuck

    Imagine an aircraft of which the its wing is connected to its landing gear by means of a hinge (joint), and then the gear suddenly gets stuck midway. If, subsequently, the aircraft makes a turn around its longitudinal axis (see picture), it seems to hold true that then the angle between the...
  5. Evanish

    Is the world really better off without hydrogen airships?

    An airship is any powered, steerable aircraft that it is inflated with a gas that is lighter than air. Hydrogen isn't the only gas usable for airships, but it is the only gas that really makes sense. That is because it has good lift to volume, is relatively inexpensive and is common as dirt...
  6. T

    How do i get the frequency of undamped motion?

    Homework Statement The single wheel of an aircraft can undergo a max of 7500N at a vertical velocity of 8 m/s on landing. The vertical spring moves in SHM and has a stiffness of 600N/mm. The systems vertical damper has a damping coefficient of 38 x 10^3 Ns.m-1 Homework Equations F=Kx...
  7. Algr

    Supersonic vs Suborbital planes?

    So I'm watching a documentary on supersonic flight, and the challenges they describe seem SO daunting that I couldn't help but wonder: Wouldn't it just be easier to fly above (most of) the atmosphere? There must be an altitude where sonic booms no longer reach the ground and wind pressure no...
  8. E

    How to Calculate Drag Load of Sticker on Fast Moving Vehicle

    Hi Great Engineers, Need you help. I am required to calculate drag load on sticker to ensure it is not peeling off in operation. The vehicle may moves as fast as 220 km/hr with rectangular sticker size of 30 cm x 40 cm, thickness 0.0635 mm on its body. Wind direction is parallel to 40 cm length...
  9. Q

    Circular motion A-Level

    Homework Statement An aircraft flies with its wings tilted, in order to fly in a horizontal circle of radius r. The aircraft has mass 4.00 x 104 Kg and has a constant speed of 250ms-1 . with the aircraft flying in this way, two forces are acting on the plane, P [lift] and W [weight which is...
  10. bigfooted

    Engineering Aircraft engine design books from 1900-1920

    I'm interested in the knowledge that was available to aircraft engineers in the period 1900-1920. specifically the thermodynamics and mechanical engineering knowledge generally available, like in how much detail were the calculations on the performance, or the cooling of engines done, how...
  11. E

    Determining the sign of control derivatives

    I'm having quite a deal of trouble trying to figure this out. Say, for example, you wanted to have a statically stable aircraft. How do you determine what the signs (positive or negative) of the control derivates need to be for this condition to be satisfied ( CXα, CZα, Cmα, Cmq, CZδe, etc) ?
  12. R

    Aircraft Propeller Blast velocity while in motion

    I am working on a range extender for full size electric aircraft. It is a turbine located under the cowling, protruding only 8 inches. On my full size static model, the turbine can produce 600 watts with the prop blast v measuring 38 mph. If we could fly the plane (we can't, no wings) at 80...
  13. UNCCME

    How are Flight Data Recorders built?

    I am curious as to the components of FDRs that allow them to sustain such g-forces and immense heat. Surely it's not just a steel box filled with paraffin wax. What alloys are used? what shapes are used in internal construction to prevent crushing/penetration? What do they insulate with and how...
  14. K

    Equilibrium velocity of a propeller-driven aircraft

    Hi - I just want to know if I'm approaching this correctly. I'm trying to calculate the equilibrium velocity of a propeller-driven aircraft when supplied a given amount of power. I'm iterating: min_velocity = 0.01 max_velocity= 200 aircraft_velocity = 5 for i in range(steps): force = 0.5 *...
  15. A

    Propeller and thrust

    Does the weight of a propeller have any effect on the thrust provided? For example, if there are are two propellers of the same size same speed but different weight, would the one with more weight have a greater or lesser thrust? also would effect do the number of blades(faces) have on the way a...
  16. H

    General-Electric GEnx turbofan engine picture label request

    Hi! I am a student who is passionate about engines and mechanics (although the major I'm pursuing is CS.I believe we must not inhibit our intellectual curiosity). The following link will take you to the picture of an uncovered General Electric Next Generation Turbofan engine used by the 787...
  17. S

    How to work out the area of an elliptical wing?

    I am planning to measure the wing area of a Spitfire aircraft. I am going to use double integral formula, but firstly I need to derive the continuous function for the region of interest. Also, How to do that? I searched the entire internet and only found out the wing span of that aircraft...
    • Superhornet
    • Thread
    • aeronautical aircraft area integration wing lift
    • Replies: 10
    • Forum: Calculus
  18. G

    Determining the acceleration of an aircraft

    Hello everyone. I'm currently doing a research on aircraft performance for my school project, which require me to design an airfoil to suit a specific mission. I'm not very familiar with the formulas used for calculating the aircraft performance and I would like to seek help from the forum...
  19. manal gull

    How to calculate these coefficient constants....?

    Now a days i am working on this paper...
  20. C

    Can closed wing aircraft take off as hydrofoil

    Mildly futuristic setting concerning technology, sparsely populated exoplanet with 3 atm. I'm looking for a cool, but very practical plane design. A photo of design that I thought about (from wikipedia) : (except that I think about a bit smaller ones) It looks as if such design had two...
  21. apashok87

    Control Loading System

    Dear All, can anybody help me with the design and development of control loading system for a fixed wing aircraft using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Thanks in advance. Regards, Ashok
  22. mootz

    Horsepower needed to lift 600 lb load, w/8 motors

    Good day Geniuses. im building a drone prototype for an agricultural project. approx. weight will be 600 lbs, using my own 8 rotor design. trying to determine rotor size and motor power required to fly such a device at 30 feet. would also be interested to determine an approximate wind speed...
  23. ChimM

    Calculating induced drag on Tapered Wing

    Homework Statement When Cl = 0.9, find the difference in induced drag for a rectangular wing of 36-ft. span and 6-ft. chord and a tapered wing of the same area, the tapered wing having a 6-ft. chord at the root, the leading and trailing edges being tangent to a circle of 2-ft. radius at the...
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