Page 14 - Understanding Flight

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CHAPTER

Basic Concepts

serious discussion of aeronautics requires a basic set of concepts
and terminology. Frequently, in the process of learning, the lan-
Aguage becomes an unrecognized barrier to the “uninitiated.” By
starting with some basic terminology and concepts we hope to allevi-
ate some of this.

Airplane Nomenclature

Some readers may be familiar with the language of airplanes
and others not. We encourage all to read the following sections
There are over 600,000 licensed
of this chapter to ensure that subsequent chapters are easily
pilots in the United States.
understood. Those familiar with the major parts of the air-
plane, the operation of the control surfaces, and the basic oper-
ation of an airplane can skip to the section on kinetic energy.

The Airplane
Figure 1.1 shows the main components of a high-winged airplane.
The airframe consists of the fuselage, which is the main component
of the airplane, the wings, and the empennage. The empennage
(sometimes called the tail feathers) is the tail assembly consisting of
the horizontal stabilizer, the elevators, the vertical stabilizer, and the

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