Introduction to Aerospace Engineering Lab Report

Nimisha Sharma
AE17B113
14 August 2018

1 AIM/OBJECTIVE
To understand basic aircraft control system using Flight Gear Simulator

2 CONTROLS
• Primary Controls
1. Ailerons
2. Rudders
3. Elevators

• Secondary Controls

1. Flaps
2. Trimming devices
3. Slat
4. Slot
5. Speed breaks

3 ROTATIONAL MOVEMENTS
• YAW- A yaw rotation is a movement around the vertical axis of a the aircraft that changes the
direction it is pointing, to the left or right of its direction of motion.
• PITCH- Rotation around the side-to-side axis is called pitch.The elevator controls pitch.
• ROLL- It is the rotation about an axis running from nose to tail of the aircraft called roll axis.
• THROTTLE- The throttle is a means of controlling an engine’s power by regulating the amount of
fuel or air entering the engine.

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 Figure 1: aircraft rotational axes

4 MANOEUVRES
• TAXIING : It is the movement of an aircraft on the ground, under its own power.
• TAKE-OFF : Takeoff is the process in which an aerospace vehicle lifts up from the ground to flying
in the air.

• TURN : The change in direction is caused by the horizontal component of lift, acting on the wings.Turning
is normally done by ailerons rather than rudder.
• LANDING : Its the last part of flight,where it returns to the ground.
• GLIDE : Gliding is a recreational activity in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft i.e. without any
thrust.
• STALL : An airplane stall is an aerodynamic condition in which an aircraft exceeds its given critical
angle of attack and is no longer able to produce the required lift for normal flight. A fixed-wing aircraft
during a stall may experience buffeting or a change in attitude.

5 FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS
• Static/Pitot-Static Instruments

1. Airspeed Indicator: The airspeed indicator tells the pilot the indicated airspeed in knots (or in some
cases, a Mach number).Airspeed is sometimes also depicted in true airspeed, which is valuable infor-
mation for flight planning.
2. Altimeter: The altimeter reflects the aircraft’s vertical height above MSL (mean sea level) corrected
for outside air pressure. The pilot sets the appropriate pressure setting and the altimeter will depict
the corresponding altitude above MSL.
3. Vertical Speed Indicator: Vertical speed is the rate of the aircraft’s climb or descent, usually depicted
in feet per minute on a vertical speed indicator (VSI). In level flight, the VSI needle points to ’0’ feet.

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 Figure 2: gyroscopic instruments

• Gyroscopic Instruments

1. Attitude Indicator: The attitude indicator is possibly the most important instrument for pilots. In
one glance, a pilot can tell if the aircraft is climbing, descending, turning or straight and level. The
instrument is meant to depict the sky (usually blue in color) and the ground (typically brown), with a
miniature airplane positioned on the artificial horizon (a white line) in level flight. In most cases, the
miniature airplane is attached to the instrument viewing case, and it moves with the airplane.

2. Turn indicator : It includes the Turn-and-Slip Indicator and the Turn Coordinator, which indicate
rotation about the longitudinal axis

6 CONCLUSION
This gives us a first hand experience on flight simulation and helped in familiarizing with flight controls and
instruments.