Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Dimensions: Modules 1–7

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Dimensions Modules 1 through 7: Introduction to Flight, Aircraft Systems and Airports, Air Environment, Rockets, Space Environment, Spacecraft, and Cyber Security.

Aero

Pertaining to air.

Aerodynamics

Relating to the forces of air in motion.

Aeronautics

The science of flight within the atmosphere.

Aerospace

A combination of aeronautics and space.

Air

A mixture of gases that contains approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases.

Aircraft

Any machine that is capable of flying through the air, including ultralights, airplanes, gliders, balloons, helicopters, hangliders, and parasails.

Airplane

An aircraft that is kept aloft by the aerodynamic forces upon its wings and is thrust forward by a means of propulsion.

Airfoil

A component, such as a wing, that is specifically designed to produce lift, thrust, or directional stability.

Airport

A place on either land or water where aircraft can land and take off for flight.

Altitude

Height above sea level or ground level expressed in units.

Aviation

The art, science, and technology of flight within the atmosphere.

Aviator

A person who operates an aircraft in flight.

Camber

The curved part of an airfoil from its leading to trailing edge.

Chord

A line drawn through an airfoil from its leading to trailing edge.

Downwash

The downward movement of air behind a wing in flight.

Drag

A force which slows the forward movement of an aircraft in flight.

Dynamic

Forces in motion.

Gravity

The natural force pulling everything to Earth.

Leading edge

The front part of a wing or airfoil.

Lift

The upward force that opposes gravity and supports the weight of an aircraft.

Relative wind

The flow of air which moves opposite the flight path of an airplane.

Thrust

The force which moves an aircraft forward in flight.

Upwash

The upward movement of air ahead of the wing in flight.

Vortex

A spinning column of air created behind the wingtip as a result of air moving from an area of high pressure on the bottom to an area of low pressure on top.

Wind

Air in motion.

Daedalus and Icarus

Characters in an ancient Greek myth who fashioned wings from bird feathers and beeswax to escape prison on the island of Crete.

Marco Polo's observation (1299 A.D.)

Historical account reporting Chinese sailors attached to kites being used as military observers, considered by some to be the first manned aircraft.

Montgolfier Brothers (Joseph and Etienne)

French brothers who constructed the first successful manned hot air balloon in 1783.

November 21, 1783

The date when Pilatre d'Rozier and Francois d'Arlandes made the first historic 25-minute manned hot air balloon flight over Paris.

Ground phase of bird flight

The initial phase that gets a bird moving forward fast enough for the wings to provide necessary lift.

Lift phase of bird flight

The phase in which air flowing over the bird's wing generates upward aerodynamic force.

Bird wing motion pattern

A pattern where the wing tips trace a figure eight through the air during forward flight.

Bernoullian lift (in birds)

Lift generated due to the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces of a bird's curved wing.

Newtonian lift (in birds)

Dynamic lift generated when a bird angles its body upward relative to its flight path according to Newton's Third Law of Motion.

Daniel Bernoulli

Dutch-born scientist (1700-1782) who discovered that the pressure of a moving fluid drops when the fluid is accelerated.

Venturi tube

A tube with a constricted middle section that causes passing fluid to accelerate, resulting in a drop in fluid pressure.

Sir Isaac Newton

English scientist (1643-1727) who formulated the three fundamental laws of motion and the mathematical explanation of gravity.

Newton's First Law of Motion

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced, outside force.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

A force acting upon a body causes it to accelerate in the direction of the force, where acceleration is directly proportional to force and inversely proportional to mass ($F = ma$).

Newton's Third Law of Motion

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Theory of equal transit time

The incorrect theory stating that air molecules splitting at the leading edge must reach the trailing edge at the exact same time.

Coanda effect

The physical tendency of a fluid jet or stream of air to stay attached to and follow the contour of an adjacent curved surface.

Angle of attack

The angle between the chord line of an airfoil and the oncoming relative wind.

Pitch

Rotation of an aircraft around its lateral axis, controlled by the elevators or stabilator.

Roll

Rotation of an aircraft around its longitudinal axis, controlled by the ailerons.

Yaw

Rotation of an aircraft around its vertical axis, controlled by the rudder.

Lateral axis

An imaginary line running from wingtip to wingtip through the aircraft's center of gravity.

Longitudinal axis

An imaginary line running lengthwise through the fuselage from the nose to the tail through the center of gravity.

Vertical axis

An imaginary line passing vertically through the aircraft's center of gravity perpendicular to the lateral and longitudinal axes.

Center of gravity (CG)

The common point at which all three axes of flight intersect and the entire weight of the aircraft is balanced.

Elevator

The hinged horizontal control surface on the tail that controls rotation around the lateral axis (pitch).

Horizontal stabilizer

The fixed horizontal surface on the empennage that provides longitudinal stability.

Stabilator

A single-piece horizontal tail surface combining the stabilizer and elevator that pivots to adjust pitch.

Rudder

The movable vertical surface on the tail that causes the aircraft to yaw left or right around the vertical axis.

Vertical stabilizer

The fixed vertical tail fin that provides directional stability.

Ailerons

Movable control surfaces located on the outer trailing edge of each wing that move in opposite directions to create roll.

Fowler flaps

Inboard trailing-edge wing devices that slide outward and downward to increase wing surface area and camber, dramatically increasing lift and drag.

Angle of incidence (propeller blade)

The angle formed between the propeller blade face and the plane of its rotation, which decreases from hub to tip.

Propeller hub

The central mechanical component through which bolts attach the propeller to the engine crankshaft.

P-47M Thunderbolt

A World War II aircraft powered by a Pratt & Whitney R2800 engine that reached almost 500 mph after optimizing its propeller design.

UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; an aircraft operated without an onboard human pilot.

UAS

Unmanned Aerial System; the broader system encompassing the unmanned vehicle, ground controls, and communications links.

RPV

Remotely Piloted Vehicle; an alternate term for an unmanned aircraft piloted from a ground station.

Reaper MQ-9

A high-altitude, long-endurance turboprop combat UAV manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems with a 50,000 ft ceiling and 14-hour loiter time.

Creech Air Force Base

The USAF installation near Indian Springs, Nevada, recognized as a primary center for UAV control and operations.

GCS (Ground Control Station)

An Air Force installation and console network where flight crews remotely monitor and pilot unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ikhana

A NASA UAV variant used for Earth science research and thermal imaging of wildfires in California.

Global Hawk (RQ-4)

A high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance UAV built by Northrop Grumman equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar capable of surveying 40,000 square miles daily.

RQ-4B Wingspan

The wingspan dimension of the RQ-4B Global Hawk, measuring exactly 130.9 feet.

Elevons

Aircraft control surfaces that combine the functions of elevators and ailerons, typically found on delta-wing aircraft.

Delta wing

A triangular wing planform resembling an arrowhead, used on aircraft such as the supersonic Concorde.

SR-71 Blackbird

A long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft capable of flying above Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, holding the world record for fastest air-breathing manned aircraft.

Nacelle

An enclosed streamlined housing covering an engine mounted outside the aircraft fuselage.

Fuselage

The main central body of an aircraft that accommodates the crew, passengers, and cargo.

Convection

Fluid motion and circulation caused by regional temperature and density differences.

Density

The amount of mass contained within a given volume of space.

Glide ratio

The mathematical relationship between the horizontal distance an unpowered aircraft travels forward to its loss of altitude.

Lapse rate

The average rate at which atmospheric temperature decreases with an increase in altitude ($3.5^\circ\text{F}$ or $2^\circ\text{C}$ per 1,000 feet).

Soaring

The sport and art of staying aloft and gaining altitude by exploiting natural atmospheric lift.

Atmospheric stability

The atmosphere's natural resistance to vertical motion and convective air currents.

Thermal

A rising column or bubble of warm air produced by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface by solar radiation.

Tow plane

A powered aircraft used to tow a glider to release altitude using a tow rope.

Mountain wave

A stationary waving airflow pattern with powerful up and down drafts formed when air flows over high mountain ranges.

Schweizer TG-4A

A dual-control sailplane utilized for training cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Variometer

A sensitive vertical velocity indicator that informs sailplane and balloon pilots of their instantaneous rate of climb or descent.

Solo glider age limit (FAA)

The minimum age established by federal aviation regulations at which a student pilot may solo a glider, which is 14 years old.

Dihedral

The upward angle of an airplane's wings from the root to the tip, providing inherent lateral stability.

Balloon

An aircraft that derives its lift from lighter-than-air heated air or gas, having no built-in horizontal propulsion.

Buoyancy

The upward force that causes objects of lower density to rise or float within a denser fluid or atmosphere.

Envelope

The lightweight fabric bag, usually made of nylon or dacron, that holds the heated air in a balloon.

Crown (balloon)

The very top portion of a hot air balloon's envelope.

Gondola

The wicker passenger basket suspended underneath a balloon's envelope that carries passengers, instruments, and propane tanks.

Gore

One of several vertical, shaped fabric panels sewn together to construct a balloon's spherical envelope.

Load tapes

Vertical and horizontal structural reinforcement strips sewn into a balloon envelope to transmit weight to the basket.

Parachute panel

A circular movable fabric flap located inside the crown vent of a balloon envelope that opens to vent hot air for descent.

Propane burner

The primary heat source mounted above the basket that vaporizes and combusts liquid propane into high-BTU flame.

BTU (British Thermal Unit)

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Calorie

The metric equivalent of heat measurement defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.

Thermistor

An electronic instrument measuring the internal temperature at the crown of a hot air balloon envelope.

Combustion

The chemical process of burning, releasing energy through rapid oxidation.