The Major Aircraft Components
ASCI 202 – Introduction to Aeronautical Science
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Abstract

It is amazing to think that airplanes have been around for more than 100 years. From the Wrights brothers first flight on a handmade fixed-wing aircraft to the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, the F-35 Lightning II Fighter jet. Despite their vast differences, these aircrafts have some things in common; they are run by major components and aerodynamics that make flying possible. The major components of an airplane and their functions are what make an aircraft fly into the air.

An aircraft has five major components: fuselage, wings, landing gears, empennage, and power plants. The many complex parts of an aircraft and schematics are all responsible for making the aircraft design. In an effort to understand the design, it is imperative to break down the most common basic components to reflect how they work together to make an aircraft fly into the air. The fuselage is the part of an aircraft that is designed to carry cargo, equipment, people etc. Each major component is attached to the fuselage. The most common shape of a fuselage is a cylinder like tube that was designed to decrease drag and produce a little lift. The fuselage material is made of steel/aluminum. The different shapes are welded together to create the strength and bond it needs to hold together. The shaped pieces are called trusses ("Aircraft structure -," 2006). The fuselage also contains a cockpit which is the control room of the aircraft. All action and commands happen in that section of the plane. The wings of an aircraft are attached to each side of the fuselage. They were designed to produce lift so the aircraft is able to fly and support the aircraft in flight. There are many different types of wings designs that are made specifically for a particular aircraft. On some wing designs the outer tip of the wings bend up. This upward angle design is called the dihedral (Conrad, 2010). The reason for the dihedral design is so the aircraft doesn’t roll unexpectedly during flight. The wings can be placed at the top, middle, or lower portion of the fuselage depending on the aircraft. Wings are also designed to carry fuel for the aircraft since there are tanks installed inside of them to make it possible. For example, on a C-141 aircraft, the inboard tanks in the wing are large enough that numerous people can fit in them. Carrying fuel in the wings is beneficial because it lessens the stress on the wings by counteracting the bending force it gets when the aircraft is in flight. The landing gears are another major component of the aircraft. The gears support the entire weight of an aircraft and are used during takeoff, landing, and ground operations. They are made up of struts, shock absorbing equipment, wheels, and brakes. Most planes today use what is called a tricycle landing gear arrangement. This system has two large main gear units located near the middle of the plane and a single smaller nose gear unit near the nose of the aircraft (Scott, 2002). Some gears are made to retract into the aircraft to reduce drag while others are fixed into the fuselage to increase drag and keep the aircraft lightweight. There are different types of landing gears. For example, aircraft that have to operate on frozen lakes or areas, covered with snow, may be equipped with landing gears that have skis installed. Aircraft that operate to and from areas that have bodies of water may have pontoon-type like floating devices landing gears. Depending on its mission there are landing gears are created to meet the specific needs of an aircraft. The empennage (also called tail) is located on the rear part of the aircraft. There are numerous parts of the empennage that make up this portion of the aircraft. The horizontal stabilizers provide direction stability by controlling the pitch of the aircraft. Vertical stabilizers prevent the aircraft from moving sideways by providing stability when there is a disturbance in yaw, rudders which are used to turn the aircraft with the assistance of the ailerons; this allows balanced turns. Elevators make the aircraft pitch nose up or down and causes the aircraft to rise or descend. Lastly, the trim tabs provide control inputs to maintain flight altitude. This assists the pilot in managing constant pressure on the elevator or rudder controls. The power plants are the engines of the aircraft and are what makes the aircraft move. There are numerous types of aircraft engines but two common engines are the turboprop and the turbofan. The turboprop engine, in essence is a fan that has been replaced by a propeller. The primary purpose of this engine is to provide the power to turn the propeller. It consists of an intake, compressor, combustor, turbine and a propelling nozzle. Turboprop engines are very efficient at moderate speeds because the jet velocity of the propeller is relatively low. The engines are generally used on small subsonic aircrafts and are effective at flight speeds below 450 mph. Hungarian born, Gyorgy Jendrassik worked for the Ganz wagon works in Budapest designed the very first working turboprop engine in 1938; Called the Cs-1, Jendrassik's engine was first tested in August of 1940; the Cs-1 was abandoned in 1941 without going into production due to the War. Max Mueller designed the first turboprop engine that went into production in 1942 (Bellis). Similar to Jendrassik’s creation, the turbofan engine can be found on aircraft like the F/A-18. It has a large fan at the front which sucks in air as it enters into the intake. It then passes through the gas generator made up of the compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine. This is only a small portion of the incoming air that goes into the combustion chamber. The remainder passes through a fan as is mixed with the gas-generator exhaust to produce a “hot” jet. The reason for this “hot” jet effect is to increase thrust without increasing fuel consumption (Bellis). In conclusion, all major components were specifically designed to work together in conjunction with minor parts so the innovation of flight can take place. Aircrafts hold many purposes and have helped us in every aspect of our lives from traveling to moving cargo. They have also been played a large part in wartime to logistically move troops and supplies to hostile environments. Although we are uncertain of what the future holds, we do know that aircrafts will become more technologically advanced and additional components may come into play.

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References

Aircraft structure - an introduction to major airplane components. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.free-online-private-pilot-ground-school.com/aircraft-structure.html

Bellis, M. (n.d.). Different types of jet engines. Retrieved from http://inventors.about.com/od/jstartinventions/ss/jet_engine.htm

Conrad, L. (2010, April). Virtual skies: Parts of an airplane and their functions. Retrieved from http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/aeronautics/4.html

Scott, J. (2002, November 03). Parts of an aircraft. Retrieved from http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/design/q0101.shtml