Explore airplane flying techniques, flight training procedures, and practical aircraft operations. Learn about basic flight maneuvers, flight controls, ground operations, takeoffs, approaches and landings, performance maneuvers, night operations, emergency procedures, and upset prevention and recovery. Discover the operating characteristics of different airplane types, including complex, multiengine, tailwheel, turbopropeller-powered, and jet-powered aircraft. These resources provide pilots and student pilots with essential knowledge and practical guidance for developing flying skills, improving aircraft handling, and conducting safe and efficient flight operations.
Jet Airplane Descent and Approach The smoothest and most fuel-efficient descent would be to reduce power to flight idle and slow to L/DMAX. In this scenario, the pilot would descend, level off to decelerate, configure for landing, intercept the final approach, and continue a gradual deceleration until setting power for a stabilized descent on final. … Read more
Pilots transitioning into jets may notice these general sensations: response differences increased control sensitivity increased tempo of flight In some flight conditions, airspeed changes may occur more slowly than in a propeller airplane. At high altitudes, the reduction in available thrust reduces the ability to accelerate. The long spool-up time required from low throttle settings … Read more
Jet airplanes have high kinetic energy during the landing roll because of weight and speed. This energy is difficult to dissipate because a jet airplane has low drag with the nose-wheel on the ground, and the engines continue to produce forward thrust with the power levers at idle. While wheel brakes serve as the primary … Read more
Jet airplanes have higher glide ratios than piston-powered airplanes. Due to their low drag design, jets take more time and distance to descend or reduce speed. Therefore, jet airplanes are often equipped with drag devices, such as spoilers and speed brakes. The primary purpose of spoilers is to spoil lift. The most common type of … Read more
The stalling characteristics of the swept wing jet airplane can vary considerably from those of the normal straight wing airplane. The greatest difference noticeable to the pilot is the lift developed vs. angle of attack. An increase in angle of attack of the straight wing produces a substantial and constantly increasing lift vector up to … Read more
The jet airplane wing, designed primarily for high-speed flight, has relatively poor low-speed characteristics. As opposed to the normal piston-powered airplane, the jet wing has less area relative to the airplane’s weight, a lower aspect ratio (long chord/short span), and thin airfoil shape—all of which amount to the need for speed to generate enough lift. … Read more
Mach buffet arises when airflow separates on the upper surface of a wing behind a shock wave. All other things being equal, shock wave strength increases as the local airflow speed ahead of the shock wave increases. Mach buffet is a function of the speed of the airflow over the wing—not necessarily the forward speed … Read more
Maximum speeds in jet airplanes are expressed differently and always define the maximum operating speed of the airplane, which is comparable to the VNE of the piston airplane. These maximum speeds in a jet airplane are referred to as: Mach number is the ratio of true airspeed to the speed of sound. The speed of … Read more
The absence of a propeller affects the operation of jet-powered airplanes. Specific effects include the absence of lift from the propeller slipstream and the absence of propeller drag. Absence of Propeller Slipstream A propeller produces thrust by accelerating a large mass of air rearward. With wing-mounted engines, this air passes over a comparatively large percentage … Read more
Jet Engine Basics A jet engine is a gas turbine with basic cycle of operation; that is, induction, compression, combustion, expansion, and exhaust. Air passes through the intake and enters the compressor section, which is made up of a series of fan blades or “stages.” The first stage, visible from the front of the engine, … Read more