How aircraft fly

The word “aircraft” means any kind of aircraft or vehicle which air can support. Airplanes, helicopters and gliders are heavier–than-air craft. They are supported by the dynamic action of the air upon their aerodynamic surfaces. Free and captive balloons and airship are supported by their own buoyancy*. They are called lighter–than–air craft. Rockets do not need air for support. They use the power of their reaction engine to propel them through space, and are called “spacecraft”.

All heavier-than-air craft use aerodynamic surfaces or airfoils to develop the necessary supporting force. These airfoils* are usually in the form of fixed or rotary wings. In order to develop the required lift, the airfoils must move through the air with sufficiently high speed. This speed is imparted to the aircraft by the thrust of its powerplant. The thrust may be developed by rotating the pulling or pushing propellers, or by throwing back masses of air by means of gas turbine engines.

To change the attitude and direction of flight aircraft use control surfaces or controls. These comprise the rudder, the elevator, and ailerons. The rudder is used to deflect the movement of the aircraft to the left or to the right. The elevator makes the aircraft climb or dive. The ailerons produce rolling movement.

The aircraft must also be able to see and hear. Aircraft sensors are those devices, such as radars, direction finders and position plotters*, communication equipment, attitude gyros, air speed indicators and others, which enable the crew to know position, orientation and speed of aircraft.

* buoyancy – аэростатическая подъемная сила

* airfoil – аэродинамическая поверхность

* position plotter – прокладчик пути

Some words about pilot training

The professional training system must be based on the criteria of the reliable flight deck activity in piloting and operating the airborne systems.

The main criteria of basic pilot training is timely and faultless procedure execution in anticipated flight conditions and in abnormal situations.

Professional training of flight personnel faces the problem to organize the instruction process so as to provide acquisition of the necessary knowledge only and enable logical execution of a great number of procedures.

The formation of professional intellect is a complex process. The creation of professional intellect cannot be achieved as a result of observations of some phenomena without serious thinking over them. One of the pecularities of professional intellect acquisition is that the trainee should individually study the correlated functioning of aircraft systems in case of failures, the instruments readings and position of the controls.

Special-purpose simulators used at the stage of simulator training contributes to more extensive acquisition and strengthening abilities and skills both as crew members and in teamwork. The phase of so called “pre-simulator” phase starts with the study of airport systems functioning principles and specific nature of their operation in anticipated conditions and abnormal situations. The necessity of special technical aids of instruction for “pre-simulator” training is due to the existing time gap between the process of studying various airborne systems interaction in anticipated and abnormal situations and the process of developing skills required for operating these systems. In the instruction devices at the phase of “pre-simulator” training similarity is not considered to be obligatory. It is considered that instruction effectiveness to a great extent is the function of the action image which the trainee uses rather than similarity of an instruction device. Graphic displays of up-to-date universal computers are widely used in the process of basic (theoretical) training of aviation specialists.