The Canadian Aviation Regulations define an aeroplane as “a power-driven heavier-
than-air aircraft deriving its lift in flight from aerodynamic reactions on surfaces that
remain fixed under given conditions of flight".
There are numerous ways to classify an aeroplane:
fixed wing
o high wing
o low wing
Engine
o single-engine if it has only one engine, or
o multi-engine if it is two or more engines.
Landing gear - Landing gear aka undercarriage of an aircraft is used for
taxiing, takeoff, and landing. Wheeled landing gear is the most common, with
skis or floats needed to operate from snow/ice/water. Retractable
undercarriages fold away during flight, which reduces drag, allowing for faster
airspeeds.
o Landplanes
Conventional
retractable landing gear.
o Ski landing gear
o Sea/Water
[Link] of an Aeroplane
The essential components of an aeroplane are:
The fuselage or body.
The wings or lifting surfaces.
The tail section (empennage), or canard.
The propulsion system, i.e. engine(s) with or without propeller(s).
Undercarriage or landing gear.
The airframe is the term used to describe the complete structure of an
aeroplane, including the fuel tanks and lines, but without instruments and
engine installed. It therefore includes the fuselage, wings, tail assembly (or
canard), and landing gear. Below is an image of an airframe.
The Fuselage
The fuselage is the central body of the aeroplane, designed to accommodate
the crew, passengers and cargo. It is the structural body to which the wings,
tail assembly, landing gear and engine are attached.
TRUSS TYPE
In the early days, the fuselage was a frame made up of wooden members,
wire braced now replaced by metal. The modern truss type fuselage is made
up of steel tubes, usually welded or bolted together to form the frame.
The longerons (three, four or more long tubes running lengthways) are the
principle members and are braced, or held together, to form the frame by
vertical or diagonal members, the whole assembly being in the form of a
truss.
Fig.1.2 illustrates two types of steel tube truss type fuselage construction: N-
Girder, and Warren Truss. The covering may be fabric, metal or composite.
Fuselage Construction
Fuselage construction consists of a series of round or oval formers or
bulkheads held together by stringers (long strips running lengthwise).
The formers, or bulkheads, carry the loads, the stringers being merely
superstructure.
Aluminum structures are the most common.
Since, the covering of the monocoque fuselage must be made stiff, the
skin is capable of carrying some of the load. This is known as a
stressed skin structure.
MONOCOQUE and SEMI-MONOCOQUE
A perfect stressed skin structure would be one in which the skin, in
addition to providing the covering and forming the shape, would be
capable of carrying all the load, without any internal bracing. When no
stiffening members are used and the skin or shell is designed to resist
all of the loads, the construction is called monocoque (from the French
word meaning “shell only").
When stiffeners are provided to form the structure and resist part of
the loads, the construction is known as semi-monocoque.
Composite Fuselage
Newest aircraft designs make use of composites in their construction.
The enhanced efficiency allows airplanes of the same size and type to
go faster
These fewer parts are then bonded together using special design
adhesives creating a robust and nearly true monocoque structure.
Fig. 4 shows how a typical composite aircraft would look prior to
bonding of the separate molded composite pieces that form the entire
fuselage.
The Wing -The wing may be attached in different positions on the fuselage:
High Wing - at the top of the fuselage. High wing airplanes may be
externally braced with wing struts or may be fully cantilevered.
Low Wing - at the bottom of the fuselage.
Mid Wing - in the middle, mid.
Five general systems of wing construction are now in use on modern
aeroplanes. These are:
1. Metal frame, metal covered (main strength in the covering, or skin, i.e.
stressed skin).
2. Metal frame, metal covered (main strength in the frame).
3. Metal frame, fabric covered.
4. Composite.
5. Wooden frame, fabric covered, or plywood covered (found mostly in
classic and antique aeroplanes).
Components of Wings:
The main members in a wing are the spars. These are beams, running the length
of the wing from wing root to wing tip, which carry most of the load. The spars
are intended to stiffen the wing against torsion or twisting.
Some wings are constructed with two or more spars (multispar) and some with
only one main spar (monospar).
The ribs run from the leading to the trailing edge.
Airfoil is a structure with curved surfaces designed to give the most favorable
ratio of lift to drag in flight, used as the basic form of the wings, fins, and
horizontal stabilizer of most aircraft.
They are cambered to form an airfoil section and their purpose is to give the wing
its shape and to provide a framework to which the covering is fastened.
To strengthen the leading edge, nose ribs are sometimes installed between the
front spar and leading edge. These are generally known as false ribs.
Compression struts are spaced at regular intervals between the front and rear
spars. They are usually steel tubes and are intended to take compression loads.
Further internal bracing is secured by drag and anti-drag wires. These are wires
running diagonally from the front to the rear spars, the drag wires taking drag
loads and the anti-drag wires anti-drag loads, as their names imply.