The Complete Private Pilot

Bob Gardner

• Publisher: Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781644250389
• Edition: 13
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Aviation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The Complete Private Pilot is for anyone interested in pursuing and obtaining a Private Pilot, Sport Pilot or Recreational Pilot certificate. The author, a long-admired member of the aviation community, explains in a friendly, readable style and comprehensively covers all the details involved in the adventure of becoming a pilot and learning to fly.

An FAA Knowledge Exam is required to earn a Private Pilot certificate. Using the FAA exam as the premise for learning, Bob Gardner applies practical information so readers are not only prepared for the test, but also for the cockpit. He augments the required aeronautical knowledge by giving specific tips and techniques, checklists and mnemonic devices, and sound advice from personal experience. A full-color example of a sectional chart is provided inside for use with the many interactive exercises throughout the text. Each chapter concludes with review questions similar to the type found on the FAA test. A comprehensive glossary and index are included. This practical application of the FAA Knowledge Exam is not available in any other book!

The Complete Private Pilot works as a companion textbook to ASA's Private Pilot Virtual Test Prep DVD Ground School. An integrated Flight/Ground Syllabus for both Part 141 and 61 programs is also available to accompany the textbook. Foreword by Richard Taylor.

LESSON 1

Basic Aerodynamics

In this book we are going to assume that your training airplane is all-metal (although airplanes that are partially or completely made of composites are increasingly available), has one engine, a fixed-pitch propeller, and a non-retractable landing gear. A stroll along the ramp of your hometown airport will show you there are many variables, however, and you may want to compare features on other airplanes with the one you fly. Here are some things to look for:

Fuselage Construction

The fuselage (or cabin, in most modern airplanes) is the basic structure to which the wings and empennage (see Figure 1-1) are attached. Most of the small airplanes you will see during your flight training are unpressurized (Lesson 2)—you can tell by the square windows and non-airtight doors. Airplanes that are pressurized for passenger comfort at high altitudes have round or oval windows and tight-fitting doors.

Figure 1-1

The fuselage of almost every airplane you see will be of aluminum construction with internal strengthening members. A close look will show that on some models more attention has been paid to reducing drag caused by rivet heads and other protrusions. Looking at non-metal airplanes will take you to both the past and the future. Fabric-covered airplanes with tubing structures (wood-framed airplanes are really classics!) are lovingly restored and flown by proud owners. No less proud are the pilots of modern composite aircraft, formed of plastic reinforced with glass fibers, carbon fibers, or similar materials which offer great strength and minimal drag. Most light sport aircraft (LSA) and technically advanced aircraft (TAA) are made of composites. Technically advanced aircraft, by definition, have an IFR-approved Global Positioning System navigator with a moving-map display, and an integrated autopilot. Most go beyond this to replace the traditional “six-pack” of analog instruments (see Lesson 3) with digital instruments, leading to the term “glass cockpit.”

It is altogether possible that you might take your initial training in a composite airplane, but right now they are outnumbered by aluminum planes and that is what I will emphasize.

Wings

The “main spar” within the wing is the structural member that supports the load. Airfoil-shaped ribs are attached to the main spar and the metal or fabric skin is attached to the ribs to give the wing its shape, and it is that airfoil shape that makes the wing capable of developing enough lift to support the airplane in flight. The wings of composite aircraft are formed with molds and have no internal ribs. They do have a main spar, of course.

Almost all modern airplanes have a single wing, mounted either above or below the fuselage. Most, but not all, high wing airplanes have supporting struts. Low wing and strutless high wing airplanes are cantilevered: the internal structure is designed to support the load so there are no struts.

You may see vortex generators (little metal tabs adhering to the upper surface of the wing). They act to keep the airflow over the wing surface attached at high angles of attack and reduce stall speed.

Wing fuel tanks are either “wet wings” with the wing structure serving as the fuel container, or there are rubber bladders contained within the wing.

Empennage

The horizontal stabilizer, the rudder, the vertical fin, the elevator, or any combination thereof is called the airplane’s empennage or “tail feathers.” These surfaces allow the pilot to change the airplane’s attitude in relation to the horizon by moving the nose up and down (using the yoke or control stick) or left and right (using the rudder pedals) as seen by the pilot. There may be a fixed horizontal stabilizer with a movable elevator, or the whole horizontal assembly may be movable (called a stabilator).

Flight Controls

See Figure 1-2: Fore-and-aft movement of the control wheel or stick is transmitted by pushrods or cables and pulleys to these control surfaces, and left-right movement is controlled by the rudder, which is mounted at the rear of the vertical fin. The pilot depresses the rudder pedal in the desired direction of nose movement and a cable system moves the control surface. You will see V-tails, T-tails, and straight tails, and maybe a home-built airplane with no horizontal surfaces mounted on the tail.

Figure 1-2. Flight controls

Ailerons

You won’t find many airplanes that do not have ailerons, which are movable control surfaces at the outer trailing edge of the wings. Ailerons are used to bank the airplane. A control wheel or stick at the pilot station is moved in the direction of bank desired (left or right). The ailerons are deflected through a system of cables, pulleys, and bellcranks or pushrods. When no control force is exerted, the ailerons are held flush with the wing surface by the airstream.

Flaps

The hinged portions of the trailing edges of the wings near the fuselage are called flaps, and are normally used to steepen the glide angle without increasing airspeed. As you walk along the ramp you will see many different types of flaps, some that simply hinge down and others that extend down and backward. Older airplanes may not have any flaps at all.

Landing Gear

The two main landing wheels and their supporting structure are designed to withstand landing loads and support the airplane on the ground. A third, smaller wheel mounted either forward (tricycle) or aft (conventional) is for ground steering control only. Nosewheels are usually close to or a part of the engine mount and are definitely not designed to absorb landing loads. (Your instructor will devote a lot of training time to making sure that you do not land on the nose wheel!)

The shiny cylinders on nose wheels and some main landing gear are called struts (the Katana’s nosewheel uses replaceable rubber “doughnuts”). They absorb the bumpiness of runways and taxiways. The shiny kind are filled with air and oil, just like your car’s shock absorbers. When a strut is “flat” there is no cushioning effect and vibrations are transmitted to the entire airframe. You will see some airplanes which use a spring steel assembly on the main landing gear instead of a strut.

Wheel pants, or fairings, may or may not be present. They reduce aerodynamic drag and add a knot or two to airspeed. Your airplane may have either non-retractable (straight leg) or retractable landing gear. Landing gear that retract into the wing or fuselage add considerably to cruise speed.

Almost all airplanes use disc brakes on the main landing gear, and you can see the discs if there are no wheel pants. Checking brake condition is considerably easier to do on airplanes than it is on cars. The nose wheel is usually not steerable with the rudder pedals and swivels freely, so steering is accomplished by tapping the brake lightly on the side toward the turn.

Propeller

The propellers you see may be either fixed or variable in pitch, or blade angle. You will probably se...