Test Module A

Prof. dr. ir. Jacco Hoekstra

Ir. Jos Sinke
Tim van Leeuwen
Delft University of Technology

B. Tome - CC - BY
 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 1
The Wright Brothers are remembered for their first flight. They were first with:
A) A controlled flight with a heavier than air vehicle.
B) A heavier than air vehicle flying with engine power.
C) A controlled and powered flight with a heavier than air vehicle.
D) A powered and controlled flight of an air vehicle.
Which answer is right?

Exercise 2
You are given four statements about the NACA airfoil with code “XYZZ”:
A) The X stands for the camber as percentage of the wing chord length.
B) The Y indicates the thickness of the airfoil.
C) When ZZ is 00, then the NACA-code is non-realistic.
D) When XY is 00, then the airfoil is a symmetric airfoil.
Which answer is wrong?

Exercise 3
What is a lift-drag polar?
A) The curve showing the lift coefficient as function of the drag coefficient.
B) The curve that indicates the lift and drag coefficients as function of the angle of attack.
C) The curve that describes the Lift and the Drag forces as function of the angle of attack.
D) None of the previous three alternatives a, b or c is true.
Which of the statements above is true?

Exercise 4
Explain why most aircraft for civil aviation cruise at high altitude (about 10 km) and high speed
(about M = 0.8). Which alternative is correct?
A) High altitude because of reduced weight; high speed to limit wing surface area.
B) High altitude because of low drag; high speed to generate sufficient lift.
C) High altitude because of low density; high speed to reduce travel times.
D) High altitude because of low pressure; high speed also possible due to low pressure.

Exercise 5
Which one of the following statements about “beams” is false?
A) Most structural elements of a wing, like spars, ribs and stringers, are beamlike elements.
B) In a truss (beam) the diagonal struts are used to transfer vertical forces.
C) The flanges of a sheet metal beam are used to transfer shear forces.
D) A beam has three main elements: two flanges and a web plate.

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 6
Which one of the following statements about “composites” is true?
A) Typical examples of composites are Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) and metal alloys.
B) In FRPs the resin’s functions are to support and protect the fibres, and to transfer the loads
from fibre to fibre.
C) In FRPs the fibres are responsible for the strength of the composite in all directions.
D) In FRPs the fibres and resin both contribute (more or less equally) to the stiffness of the
composite.

Exercise 7
For an anisotropic material the material properties depend on
A) The direction in which the material is tested.
B) The applied test method for property determination.
C) The dimension of the component.
D) The composition of the material.
Which one is correct?

Exercise 8
What measure(s) can be taken to reduce the drag at transonic and supersonic air speeds? (Multiple
answers can be possible for this question)
A) Reduce the tip chord of the wing.
B) Increase the sweep angle of the wing.
C) Reduce the thickness of the airfoil.
D) Increase the aspect ratio of the wing.

Exercise 9
An aircraft with a wing area of 29 m2 flies with a velocity of 300 km/h, at an altitude where the
air density is 0.92 kg/m3 . Its angle of attack is 7◦ . Figure 1 shows the lift and drag coefficients
for the wings of this aircraft.

Figure 1: Lift and drag coefficients for the aircraft in exercise 9.

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Calculate the lift force for this aircraft. The best answer is:
A) 960 kN
B) 74 kN
C) 0.89 kN
D) 23 kN

Exercise 10
Mention the four names of production processes matching the descriptions:
A) . . . . . . = the production process for metals in their liquid state
B) . . . . . . = the production process for metal sheets when loaded beyond their yield stress
C) . . . . . . = the assembly of multiple components
D) . . . . . . = positioning yarns or rovings around a cylindrical mandrel

Exercise 11
When we compare three different materials (a steel alloy, an aluminium alloy and a composite
material), what is the worst option for an aircraft application loaded in tension? (You may use
the data of Table 1)

Table 1: Table with material properties of steel, aluminium and composite.

Material Steel alloy Aluminium alloy Composite

Stiffness (E-modulus) 210 GPa 72 GPa 80 GPa
Density 7.8 kg/dm3 2.7 kg/dm3 2.2 kg/dm3
Strength 1260 MPa 280 MPa 410 MPa

A) Steel alloy
B) Aluminium alloy
C) Composite material

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 12
In the picture below you see a Gulfstream IV. Below this picture some data on this aircraft is
given.

Figure 2: A Gulfstream IV in landing configuration. Image courtesy of S. Byles, CC - BY - SA

- Number of engines: 2
- Wing surface: S = 88.3 m2
- Diameter of engine inlet: d = 1.1176 m
- Oswald efficiency: e = 0.67
- Span: b = 23.7 m
- Mass: m = 30000 kg
- (ISA) Air density at cruise altitude: ρ = 0.42 kg/m3
- Cruise speed: VT AS = 460 kts
- Zero-lift drag coefficient: CD0 = 0.015

For the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) please use:

- Gravitational acceleration: g = 9.80665 m/s2

- Gas constant for air: R = 287.00 J/ kgK
- Sea-level pressure: p0 = 101325 Pa
- Sea-level temperature: T0 = 15◦ C
- Sea-level density: ρ0 = 1.225 kg/m3

Please answer the following questions:

A) Calculate the cruise altitude of this Gulfstream IV (in feet).

B) Calculate the required available power per engine (in MW) for the cruise at the given cruise
speed and atmospheric conditions.

C) Calculate the mass flow in one engine (in kg/s) for the given cruise condition.

D) For now assume the total aircraft thrust to be 20 kN and the mass flow per engine to be
90 kg/s. (Note: these are different numbers than the true answers to the previous questions).
Calculate the jet exhaust speed (in metres per second) for the given cruise condition.

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E) The propulsive efficiency of a jet engine is defined as:

Power available for thrust

ηth =
Rate of change in kinetic energy of jet for the mass flow
Suppose the answer to the previous question was that the exhaust velocity of the jet is 380 metres
per second. (Note: this is again a different number than the true answer to the previous question.)
Calculate the propulsive efficiency of the jet engine of the Gulfstream for this cruise flight and the
given jet exhaust velocity (in percent).

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 13
The picture below shows the Moller Skycar, a concept of a flying car for four passengers.

Figure 3: The Moller Skycar. Image courtesy of Andy Zeigert, CC - BY - NC - SA

This flying car incorporates two ’main’ wings (one in front of the other) and one horizontal tail.
The following data are known:
- Wing area wing 1 and wing 2: S1 = S2 = 8.10 m2
- Average chord: c̄ = 0.970 m
- Mass: m = 1088 kg
- Distance c.g. to tail surface: lH = 6.00 m
- Distance c.g to a.c. wing (same for 1 and 2): lw = 3.00 m
d
- Angle of attack of wing 2: α2 = 0.90α (so dα = 0.10)
d
- Angle of attack of horizontal tail: αH = 0.87α + ih (so dα = 0.13)
The center of gravity is located exactly in the center with exactly the same distance to both wings.
Both wings have a CLαw of 0.100 per degree, but the CLαH of the airfoil of the horizontal tail
surface is 0.095 per degree.
For the total wing surface area use S = S1 + S2 . Watch carefully which surface area you use for
coefficients which concern the specific airfoil of one wing!

Please answer the following questions:

A) A young engineer has come up with a back-up system, which is to be used in case of an engine
failure. He has devised a system consisting of a pressure vessel containing helium (MHe = 4.0
g/mol) and a folded balloon. In case of an engine failure, the helium is let out of the pressure
vessel and fills the balloon, which in turn lifts the entire skycar concept. The engineer has designed
his device to work at an air density of 0.86 kg/m3 . His contraption in total weighs an additional
90 kilograms on top of the original mass of the skycar.
Compute the required volume (in cubic metres) of the balloon to keep the skycar in the air in this
condition. Use Mair = 28.97 g/mol.
B) In the pressure vessel the helium is kept at a pressure of 5.42 bar and a resulting density of
0.92 kg/m3 . Compute the temperature the helium gas is stored at (in ◦ C). (Remember that the
universal gas constant has a value of R = 8.314 J/(mol · K)).

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C) In the figure below a schematic diagram of this skycar is shown. The forces in the vertical
direction and the moments around the pitch axis have been indicated schematically.

LH
Lw1 Lw2
Mac Mac
c.g.

lw W lw
lH

Figure 4: A schematic drawing of the skycar concept, with the forces in vertical directions, moments
around the pitch axis and relevant lengths indicated.

Using this diagram, derive a relation for Cmα in which only the quantities c, lw , VH , CLαw and CLαH
are used, together with ordinary numbers. Hint: To derive the required expression, first derive the
non-dimensionalised moment equation for this configuration.

D) Suppose the equation for Cmα is given by

lw
Cmα = 0.11 · CLαw − 1.7 · CLαH · VH
c
(This is not the answer to the question above, but for now we assume it is).
What is in this case the required area of the horizontal tail surface to ensure longitudinal static
stability?

E) In reality a slightly larger tail surface area is chosen than the one computed in the previous ques-
tion. What is/are the operational advantage(s) the user will experience when using this aircraft?
(Multiple answers can be correct)
a) The larger tail will produce more lift, relieving the lift production of the wings. This reduces
their drag and increases the range.
b) The pilot has to worry less about positioning his payload, as the range of allowed centre of
gravity positions is larger.
c) The aircraft becomes more stable and hence easier to fly.
d) The aircraft becomes easier to fly, as the larger tail surface makes it more agile.

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 AE1110x - Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Exercise 14
The picture below shows a Beechcraft King Air B200, a twin-engined turbo-prop aircraft, which
has a wing area of 28.2 m2 .

Figure 5: A Beechcraft King Air B200. Image courtesy of J. Gunner, CC - BY

Suppose that in the flight manual of this aircraft it reads:

"With a weight of 10,500 lbs (= 4762.72 kg) the stall speeds are:
Flaps 0%: 99 kts
Flaps 100%: 78 kts
These stall speeds are given in equivalent airspeeds (EAS)."
Please answer the following questions:
A) Calculate the maximum lift coefficient CLmax without and with full flaps.
B) Calculate the stall speed in true airspeed (TAS, in metres per second) without flaps at an
altitude of 30,000 ft.
C) On a warm day, the outside air temperature is 25 ◦ C and there is a low pressure area over the
Netherlands, so the pressure is actually 998 hPa at sea level.
What is the stall speed (TAS, in knots) without full flaps on this day at sea level? And what is on
this day the stall speed (TAS, given in Mach number) with full flaps at sea level?

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