This report analyses and discusses the discovery of high-speed manned flight and ‘Mach’ - in particular research and aviation breakthroughs relating to the specified topics. High-speed speed flight is technically defined as ‘flight near, but below the speed of sound’ [1A]. This begins at an airspeed of around 250 mph, or 400 kph. Properties regarding the airflow around an object at low speed or below this threshold of 400 kph are relatively straightforward, and can be compared to that of an aircraft moving through a body of water. This is due to the negligible change in air density at these speeds, and conducting calculations without factoring in the compression yield remain accurate. However as the speed surpasses 400kph, some of the energy from the aircraft is used to compress the air in front - increasing the air density in a local area around the object[2A]. This is known as “compressibility”, and is a key factor in high speed flight. The pilot of an aircraft such as a Cessna with a top speed of 302 kph can ignore compressibility altogether, however faster aircraft must be able to factor this in. Ernst Mach and Christian Doppler, are among the main contributors regarding research and theoretical work towards the current understanding of supersonic flight. In 1842 Christian Doppler proposed the widely known “Doppler Effect”. He theorised that if the source of a sound that is emitted is moving towards the observer, the frequency of the sound will increase due the sound waves emitted being closer together in the medium they travel through - in Earth’s most common scenario air. For the source travelling away from the observer, the inverse is true. This can be directly related to the effect of compression that air undergoes in f... ... middle of paper ... ...f sound. Jettisoned from the bomb bay of a B-29 ‘Flying Fortress’ travelling at 400 kph, Yeager advanced with his plane through the transonic range up to Mach 1.06 (1,300 kph), at an altitude of 43,000 ft. Chuck reported extreme buffeting before breaking through into a quiet environment, with regained control and no buffeting. The sound barrier had been conquered. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1A - http://www.langleyflyingschool.com/Pages/CPGS%204%20Aerodynamics%20and%20Theory%20of%20Flight%20Part%201.html#High-speed%20Flight , Para 35. 2A - http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/BGH/machrole.html , Para 1. Lockheed P-38 Lightning 4A - Swatton, Peter J. 2010, Principles of Flight for Pilots, e-book, accessed 21 May 2014, Page 207 . 5A -
In today’s world, the use of airplanes in wars or in everyday life has become a part of how we live as human beings. Removing the air forces of the world is like taking a step back in time when wars were only fought on land or sea. WWI began only eleven short years after the Wright brothers achieved powered flight in 19031 and yet aircrafts were being used for surveillance and eventually combat purposes. It is understood that these aircrafts were primitive, but they laid down the foundation for what we know today as fighter jets. The Fokker Eindecker “revolutionized air combat by successfully employing a synchronized forward -firing machine gun mounted on the engine cowling”2. Because this airplane became the first to successfully use a synchronized machine gun, it allowed its pilots to become the first aerial combat tactitions3.
Lindbergh’s passion for mechanics didn’t come as a surprise to many. As a young boy, Charles seemed to be very interested in the family’s motorized vehicles, such as the Saxon Six automobile and Excelsior motorbike. But after starting college in the fall of 1920 as a mechanical engineer, his love for aviation started to bloom. Deciding that the field of aviation was more exciting, he dropped out within 2 years. He then decided to take lessons at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and was up in the air for the first time on April 9, 1922 when he was in a two seat biplane as a passenger. But his solo flight would not be until May 1923 at the Souther Field in Americus, Georgia, an old flight training field where Lindbergh came to buy a World War I Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane. It only took half an hour to practice with another pilot at the field to decide that Lindbergh was ready to fly the plane himself. After a week of practicing, Lindbergh took off on his biplane on his first solo cross country flight and few weeks after that, achieving his first nighttime flight near Arkansas, both marking huge milestones for the young pilot.
Many people are amazed with the flight of an object, especially one the size of an airplane, but they do not realize how much physics plays a role in this amazing incident. There are many different ways in which physics aids the flight of an aircraft. In the following few paragraphs some of the many ways will be described so that you, the reader, will realize physics at work in the world of flight.
Aerodynamics is the study of the motion of fluids in the gas state and bodies in motion relative to the fluid/air. In other words the study of aerodynamics is the study of fluid dynamics specifically relating to air or the gas state of matter.
Travelling at a speed twice that of sound might seem to be something futuristic; however, this feat has already been achieved almost 40 years ago by the world’s only supersonic passenger aircraft-The Concorde. Concorde brought a revolution in the aviation industry by operating transatlantic flights in less than four hours. The slick and elegant aircraft with one of the most sophisticated engineering was one of the most coveted aircrafts of its time. However, this was all destined to end when Air France Flight 4590 was involved in a tragic disaster just outside the city of Paris on July 25, 2000. The crash killed 113 people, but more disastrous was its impact. The belief and confidence people had with Concorde gradually started to fade, and finally Concorde was grounded after two and a half years of the crash. Official reports state that the main cause of the crash was a piece of metal dropped by a Continental aircraft that flew moments before Concorde, but, over the last decade, the report has met a lot of criticism, and many alternative hypotheses have thus been proposed.
Heppenheimer, T. (2001). A Brief History Of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Flight is one of the most important achievements of mankind. We owe this achievement to the invention of the airfoil and understanding the physics that allow it to lift enormous weights into the sky.
so they could compress the air at a much higher pressure so the engine can
This paper will explain a few of the key concepts behind the physics of skydiving. First we will explore why a skydiver accelerates after he leaps out of the plane before his jump, second we will try and explain the drag forces effecting the skydiver, and lastly we will attempt to explain how terminal velocity works.
The trials and tribulations of flight have had their ups and downs over the course of history. From the many who failed to the few that conquered; the thought of flight has always astonished us all. The Wright brothers were the first to sustain flight and therefore are credited with the invention of the airplane. John Allen who wrote Aerodynamics: The Science of Air in Motion says, “The Wright Brothers were the supreme example of their time of men gifted with practical skill, theoretical knowledge and insight” (6). As we all know, the airplane has had thousands of designs since then, but for the most part the physics of flight has remained the same. As you can see, the failures that occurred while trying to fly only prove that flight is truly remarkable.
Ever since I was little I was amazed at the ability for a machine to fly. I have always wanted to explore ideas of flight and be able to actually fly. I think I may have found my childhood fantasy in the world of aeronautical engineering. The object of my paper is to give me more insight on my future career as an aeronautical engineer. This paper was also to give me ideas of the physics of flight and be to apply those physics of flight to compete in a high school competition.
“The faster which a sound wave travels, the more distance it will cover in the same period of tim...
A in November 1962, the British and French governments agreed to develop and build a supersonic aircraft. Each design presents an aerodynamic supersonic aircraft with a range of difficult problems, including two that have the highest interest powerplant installation and design of subsonic aircraft. supersonic speed because it is there are many configuration changes have been introduced, particularly in the areas of the nose and visor, rear wing and fuselage. the head of...
In this assessment of the projectile motion of an object, I found that it can be applied to many useful situations in our daily lives. There are many different equations and theorems to apply to an object in motion to either find the path of motion, the displacement, velocity, acceleration, and time of the object in the air.