I’ve been observing with some interest the level of knowledge on this site, and it seems to range from average to pretty good depending on the content. The responses to my technical teasers were sometimes amusing and sometimes very well informed. I know that getting information on technicalities can be difficult, and sometimes difficult to understand, which makes life difficult when trying to read books about aircraft. So nephews, would you like me to start a series of posts on technical/theory of flight issues, to inform and improve knowledge generally? I could for instance explain terms like “Aspect Ratio” explain the difference between “Angle of Attack” and “Angle of Incidence” and tell you why a Phantom has a “Stabilator” on the back end and a Tornado has “Tailerons”. I don’t want to teach granny to suck eggs, or to insult the intelligence of the informed, so I won’t be asking anyone to embarrass themselves by asking awkward questions. Let me know what you think, and if you have any niggling little questions to which you don’t have the answer, well ask, and I’ll see if I can come up with an understandable explanation.
Uncle KeithMac…..
By: Rabie - 2nd April 2002 at 19:48
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
cheers – everyday is a school day
rabie :9
By: neilly - 31st March 2002 at 18:51
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
A good place to start with, the basics. Good scans, too.
Neilly
By: tonydyer - 31st March 2002 at 14:32
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
Please Uncle Keith, tell us the old story about the aerodynamic derivatives being attacked by a Laplace transformation!!!!
8o))) (Note 3 double chins, I ate all the Easter Eggs!!)
By: keithmac - 30th March 2002 at 22:56
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
OK. It seems that at least 4 of you are interested, so I’ll make a start. If this proves to be too basic, let me know. I decided to start with basic flying controls, because you’ll all probably have an idea about them, but might not be familiar with some of the terminology.
An aircraft moves in 3 dimentions about three Axes of rotation, The Normal or Vertical axis, the Longitudinal Axis and the Lateral Axis. It is controlled about these 3 axes by the Rudder, Ailerons and Elevators. Have a look at the attached diagrams and you’ll get an idea of what I’m saying. These controls are pretty standard on most aircraft, but there are variations which I’ll deal with on another post.
Attachments:
By: Christer - 30th March 2002 at 18:24
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
I´m all ears (eyes)!
Christer
By: neilly - 30th March 2002 at 00:47
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
I think it’s a great idea. I, for one, read a lot, but sometimes the authors of books, articles etc. assume we’re total conversant with all & everything to do with aeroplanes, flight etc. So it would be nice to have somethings put into lay-man terms.
Cheers,
Neilly
By: Rabie - 29th March 2002 at 23:17
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
great idea
rabie :9
By: kev35 - 29th March 2002 at 22:10
RE: A bit of Technical Education.
Not a bad idea. I know there are huge gaps in my knowledge, (particularly on technical issues). I understand the theory of flight but from there on a lot of it’s just guesswork (not all of it educated apparently).
You’ve probably noticed i’m more interested in the history and also in the people who flew the aircraft we love to talk about today. Someone once said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing so If you’re willing to help, please feel free to educate me.
Thanks
kev35
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March 29, 2002 at 9:12 pm