Explain V-n diagram with important features.

The operating flight strength of an airplane is presented in the form of V-n diagrams, where the "V" denotes airspeed
and the "n" denotes load factor. The V-n diagram leads you to cornering speed and that allows you to extract
maximum performance from your aircraft without breaking it. A surprising amount of the science of manoeuvring
flight still applies to us in corporate and airline aviation. Using a V-n diagram, for example, most Jets cannot really pull
2 G's at most landing weights on approach, it will stall first. if you fly your airplane with a minimum level of finesse you
may never need such a chart.

(1)The operating flight strength limitations of an airplane are presented in the form of a V -n or V-g diagram. This chart
is usually included in the aircraft flight handbook in the section dealing with operating limitations. The V -n diagram
presented [in the figure] is intended to present the most important general features of such a diagram and does not
necessarily represent the characteristics of any particular airplane. Each airplane type has its own particular V -n
diagram with specific V's and n's. (2)The presentation of the airplane strength is contingent on four factors being
known: (1) the aircraft gross weight, (2) the configuration of the aircraft (clean, external stores, flaps, and landing gear
position, etc.), (3) symmetry of loading (since a rolling pullout at high speed can reduce the structural limits to
approximately two-thirds of the symmetrical load limits), and (4) the applicable altitude. A change in any one of these
four factors can cause important changes to operating limits. (3)The limit airspeed (or redline speed) is a design
reference point of the airplane — the subject airplane is limited to 575 knots. (4)The airplane must be operated within
this "envelope" to prevent structural damage and ensure that the anticipated service life of the airplane is obtained .
(5)The maneuver speed can be computed from the following equation: VP=VS√n limit where VP = maneuver speed
,VS = stall speed ,n limit = limit load factor.

Briefly explain the design process of a wing.

The wing may be considered as the most important component of an aircraft, since a fixed-wing aircraft is not able to fly
without it. Since the wing geometry and its features are influencing all other aircraft components, we begin the detail design
process by wing design. The primary function of the wing is to generate sufficient lift force or simply lift (L). However, the
wing has two other productions, namely drag force or drag (D) and nose-down pitching moment (M).

During the wing design process, eighteen parameters must be determined. They are as follows: Wing area (S): this is
calculated from the wing loading and gross weight which have been already been decided i.e. S= W / (W/S) II. Location on
the fuselage: high-, low- or mid-wing III. Aerofoil: thickness ratio and shape IV. Sweep (Λ): swept forward, swept backward,
no sweep, cranked wing, variable sweep (with one pivot or two) V. Aspect ratio (A): high or low, winglets VI. Taper ratio (λ):
straight taper or variable taper. VII.Twist (ε): amount and distribution VIII.Wing incidence or setting (iw) IX. High lift devices :
type of flaps and slats X. Ailerons and spoilers XI. Leading edge strakes XII.Dihedral angle (Γ) XIII.Other aspects: variable
camber, planform tailoring, area ruling, braced wing, aerodynamic coupling (intentionally adding a coupling lifting surface
like canard) .

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various wing vertical positions.

High Wing- (Advantage)1. Allows placing fuselage closer to ground, thus allowing loading and unloading without special
ground handling equipment. 2. Jet engines & propeller have sufficient ground clearance without excessive landing gear
length leading to lower landing gear weight. 3. For low speed airplanes, weight saving can be effected by strut braced wing.
4. For short take off and landing (STOL) airplanes with high wing configuration have following specific advantages. (a) Large
wing flaps can be used (b) Engines are away from the ground and hence ingestion of debris rising from unprepared runways
is avoided (c) Prevents floating of wing due to ground effect which may occur for low wing configuration. (Disadvantage) 1.
Fuselage generally houses the landing gear in special pods leading to higher weight and drag. 2. Pilot’s visibility may be
blocked in a turn.

Mid Wing configuration (Advantages): i. Lower drag. ii. Advantages of ground clearance as in the high wing configuration. iii.
No blockage of visibility. Hence used on some military airplanes. (Disadvantages): i. Wing root structure passing through the
fuselage is not possible, which leads to higher weight. However in HFB Hansa airplane, a swept forward mid-wing is located
behind the passenger cabin and has carry through structure.

Low Wing configuration (Advantages): i. Landing gear can be located in the wing thereby avoiding pods on the fuselage and
hence lower drag. However to provide adequate ground clearance, the fuselage has to be at a higher level as compared to
the high wing configuration. ii. Wing structure can be through the fuselage.(Disadvantages): i. Low ground clearance. ii. A
low-wing configuration has unstable contribution to the directional stability. Hence a larger vertical tail area is needed.
Why military cargo aircraft are usually fitted with high wings ?

1) Eases and facilitates the loading and unloading of loads and cargo into and out of cargo aircraft. For instance, truck and
other load lifter vehicles can easily move around aircraft and under the wing without anxiety of the hitting and breaking the
wing. 2) Facilitates the taking off and landing from sea. In a sea-based or an amphibian aircraft, during a take-off operation,
water will splash around and will high the aircraft. An engine installed on a high wing will receive less water compared with a
low wing. Thus, the possibility of engine shut-off is much less. 3) Facilitates the aircraft control for a hang glider pilot, since
the aircraft center of gravity is lower than the wing 4) The pilot has better view in lower-than-horizon. A fighter pilot has a
full view under the aircraft. 5) For an engine that is installed under the wing, there is less possibility of sand and debris to
enter engine and damage the blades and propellers. 6) There is more space inside fuselage for cargo, luggage or passenger.
With neat sketch explain different types of fuselage structure. With their parts.
There are two general types of fuselage construction:- 1) welded steel truss- The welded steel truss was used in smaller Navy
aircraft, and it is still being used in some helicopters. 2)monocoque designs- The monocoque design relies largely on the
strength of the skin, or covering, to carry various loads. The monocoque design may be divided into three classes—
i)monocoque ii)semimonocoque and iii)reinforced shell. The true monocoque construction uses formers, frame assemblies,
and bulkheads to give shape to the fuselage. However, the skin carries the primary stresses. Since no bracing members are
present, the skin must be strong enough to keep the fuselage rigid. The biggest problem in monocoque construction is
maintaining enough strength while keeping the weight within limits. The semimonocoque fuselage is constructed primarily
of aluminum alloy, although steel and titanium are found in high-temperature areas. Semimonocoque design overcomes the
strength-to-weight problem of monocoque construction. In addition to having formers, frame assemblies, and bulkheads,
the semimonocoque construction has the skin reinforced by longitudinal members. The main advantage of the
semimonocoque construction is that it depends on many structural members for strength and rigidity. Because of its
stressed skin construction, a semimonocoque fuselage can withstand damage and still be strong enough to hold together.
The reinforced shell has the skin reinforced by a complete framework of structural members. Different portions of the same
fuselage may belong to any one of the three classes. Most are considered to be of semimonocoque-type construction.
Explain different types of wing configurations based on its location? Which wing configuration you will prefer for wing in
ground vehicle design?
The low wing configuration simply means that the wings are mounted low on the body of the plane, below the middle of it.
This configuration is beneficial to pilots because it typically offers the best overall visibility since the pilots will be able to see
left, right, forward, and up with unencumbered vision. This common configuration also typically makes planes easier to
maneuver and a bit more responsive to adjustments to the controls.
As the name suggests, the mid wing configuration is when the wings are mounted directly in the middle of the body of the
plane, halfway up the fuselage. This wing configuration requires support to go through the fuselage and support the
mounting of the wings, which greatly reduces the overall useful space inside the fuselage. This is why this configuration is far
rarer than the other two similarly-named ones. The biggest benefit of the mid wing design is that the plane is about as
balanced as it can be during flight and offers better stability than low wing airplanes. The tradeoff is that these planes are
usually less responsive and less maneuverable than their low wing counterparts. Mid wing configurations is a great
compromise between high and low wing setups.
The high wing configuration is ideal for large cargo and military planes that specialize in transport because they allow the
fuselage to be closer to the ground, making it easier to load and unload cargo and personnel. This is because the engines are
mounted on the bottom of the wings, but since the wings are mounted high on the fuselage, the engines have plenty of
space underneath and the fuselage can still be close to the ground.
Explain various aerodynamic and structural requirements of fuselage design.
The fuselage does more than just house the occupants of the aircraft; it must be sized and designed to ensure that the wings
and tail are positioned in such a way so as to keep the aircraft statically stable through the designed center of gravity
envelope. A statically stable aircraft is one that will tend to return to straight and level flight if the controls are released,
which is a requirement for all civil and general aviation aircraft. The fuselage is one of the primary contributors to the total
drag force produced by an aircraft in flight and so must be carefully shaped to be as aerodynamic as possible in an effort to
minimize drag. There is of course some balance that must be sought between low aerodynamic drag and payload and
passenger comfort.
S T R I N G E R S O R L O N G E R O N S These make up the longitudinal components of the structure. Their primary aim is to
transmit the axial loads (tension and compression) that arise from the tendency of the fuselage to bend under loading. The
stringers also support the skin, and when combined with the frames, create bays over which the skin is attached.
F R A M E S Frames are transverse elements that define the cross-section of the fuselage. They are typically spaced
approximately 20 inches apart and define the aerodynamic shape. The frames and stringers are spaced in such a way to
ensure that the resulting bays that are created support the skins against buckling. Frames also provide a means to introduce
point loads into the fuselage. Large frames are required at the wing-fuselage and tail-fuselage interface to transmit the loads
generated by these lifting surfaces into the fuselage.
S K I N S The load-bearing skins are attached to the stringers and frames of an aluminium aircraft through rivets. The skins
carry load through shear and transmit this shear into the stiffeners. In a pressurized aircraft the skin works with the frames
to oppose the internal pressure load. The skin’s ability to carry and transmit shear is reduced if the skin is allowed to buckle;
this forms a constraint that determines the spacing of the stringers and frames
Fuselage Loading The fuselage will see a combination of loads from multiple sources during a typical flight. Large bending
loads are introduced from the wing and tail sections, as well as a torsional load from the pitching moment of the wing.The
fuselage generates its own aerodynamic loads during flight which must be reacted by the structure. These external pressure
loads combine with internal pressure loads if the aircraft is pressurized.
Landing loads introduced into the fuselage can be particularly severe if the landing is executed poorly.
Finally, crew and passenger movements, as well as baggage requirements should also be considered in the final structural
layout and design.All these load cases, and the interaction between cases must be considered to arrive at a final design. The
structure must be strong enough to withstand these loads at the Ultimate Load Factor determined by the applicable
airworthiness regulations in order to ensure the safety of the crew and passengers.
What is the need of a pressurized cabin?
Commercial aircraft fly best at high altitudes – that is a fact. This enables them to enhance fuel consumption efficiency and
avoid potential bad weather and turbulence factors. However, for humans the situation is precisely the opposite. The higher
we go, the less oxygen there is available to breathe. This happens because air density decreases with altitude. Commercial
aircraft fly best at high altitudes – that is a fact. This enables them to enhance fuel consumption efficiency and avoid
potential bad weather and turbulence factors. However, for humans the situation is precisely the opposite. The higher we
go, the less oxygen there is available to breathe. This happens because air density decreases with altitude. At 18,000 feet,
the amount of oxygen halves compared to what we normally have at sea level. The aircraft's cabin pressurization system
helps create – alongside other technologies such as the air management systems – the necessary pressure that you and I
would need to breathe comfortably during a flight that typically takes place at a cruising altitude of around 36,000 feet.
To keep the cabin pressure at a comfortable level for people onboard even at altitudes higher than 36,000 feet, airplanes
pump pressurized air into it. The air that goes into an aircraft's cabin via this process is called conditioned air. This air enters
the plane's pneumatic system through its engine compressors and gets directed into the primary heat exchanger. Then, it
goes through a turbine and compressor and other heat exchangers and control valves that cool the air and regulate its
pressure and temperature, and then is finally transferred into the cabin to pressurize it and control its temperature. Once
the cabin achieves an ideal pressure level, the aircraft will limit the cabin air exhaust to keep the cabin pressure under
control and maintain it at a constant level throughout the entire flight.
Put simply, cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into and exhausted out of the cabin of an
aircraft to keep the pressure in the cabin between sea level and 8000 feet. Comparable to the air pressure we'd experience
on a mountain of around 8,000 feet, this is called cabin altitude and allows still for normal breathing.
What are the difference between tail heavy and nose heavy airplanes
It is true that flying a plane that is nose heavy is easier than flying one that is tail heavy. A nose heavy plane means
that when the plane is balanced on the CG its nose will drop and if it is tail heavy the tail will drop. Most planes have
the CG moved backwards to make the plane more sensitive to control inputs, but they are not insanely tail heavy.
The one sure fire way to tell if a plane is tail heavy is to balance the airplane on the CG that is given in the plane's
instructions. If your nose drops then it is nose heavy and if the tail drops it is tail heavy. If you are a beginning
flyer, which I assume you are, then you don't want to be flying a tail heavy plane, because it is too sensitive to
control inputs. A tail heavy plane tends to "diverge" from controlled flight. If you put in a little up control, for
example, it will try to loop on its own. That is, it will accentuate the control input. A grossly tail heavy plane will
jump so rapidly from one extreme to the other the pilot may not be able to keep the plane under control. "Tail
heavy" 3D planes hover and harrier better and do better flips (waterfalls and such). They may oscillate in pitch
slightly in level flight, especially at low fuel levels. When you reduce the power, the tail drops and you generally
have to hold down elevator to get the plane to decend for landing.
Explain various parts of landing gear with neat sketch.

A Landing Gear system comprises of many structural and system components. The structural components include Main
fitting. Shock absorber, Bogie beam! Trailing arm, Axle, Torque links,Drag/Side braces, Retraction actuator, Down lock
mechanism, Up lock, Wheel, Tire etc. The system components are Brake unit, Antiskid system, retraction system
components. Typical Main Landing Gear (MLG) and Nose Landing Gear (NLG) .The nose gear will have additional elements
like steering actuator and steering mechanism.

The landing gear design and integration pi-ocess encompasses knowledge of many engineering disciplines such as structures,
dynamics, kinematics, fluid mechanics and runway flotation. The geometry, flotation requirements, mission requirements
and operational requirements of the aircraft govern the landing gear configuration.
The configuration design includes choice of number of wheels, tire sizes, pressures, type of shock absocbers, landing gear
layout, retraction kinematics and bay geometry design.
Airworthiness regulations play a crucial role In arriving at the landing gear configuration, such as sink rate, allowable load
factors and ground maneuvering conditions, stipulated In the applicable airworthiness regulations.
What are the design considerations for landing gear?

Concept Design The concept design starts with a study of all design specifications and airworthiness regulations. A concept
Is then evolved while meeting the functional and regulatory requirements. Major design drivers are performance, safety,
cost, time frame, technology and resources. The landing gear location is arrived at and type of landing gear is selected. The
landing gear geometry is defined along with kinematics. Steering concepts are also identified in this phase. The ground
loads are estimated using dynamic simulations for material selection and preliminary sizing of components. The actuation
mechanisms and loads are also worked out in this phase. Various tradeoff studies are performed to enhance weight,
volume and cost. Based on these trade-off studies a best concept Is selected.
premInary design In the premInary design phase, dynamèc simulations are carried out for landing. take off and retraction
kinematics to arrive at data required for sizing of components and material selection. Preliminary design of components Is
perfomed and weight estimates are arrived at.
Detailed Design In this phase the detailed design of all the landing gear components is perfomied and an integrated landing
gear system Is defined with all interfaces and associated systems. Component loads are estimated and material selection
and sizing are done in this phase. Reduction in part count by making closed die forgings for complex shapes is done through
3D CAD modeling that enable computer controlled 3D machining. Dynamic analysis and simulation is carried out to fine
tune certain design parameters for energy absorption, shimmy suppression and retraction/extension. In this phase digital
mock-up of the landing gear is developed which is essentially the virtual prototype of the landing gear. All lessons learned
and best practices evolved over the years are utilized in the detail design to realize a reliable design.
Stress & Fatigue Analysis
Finite element modeling and analysis and conventional hand calculation methods are used for landing gear stress analysis.
Landing gear Is designed as a safe life structure and fatigue analysis methods are used for prediction of life. Safe life
requirements demand as high as 60.000 landings for a commercial aircraft landing gear whereas military aircraft
requirements are often not more than 10,000 landings. Low cycle, high stress fatigue analysis is employed for landing gear
life evaluation. Damage tolerant design Is not practicable in most of the landing gears because of the usage of very high
strength materials which have critical flaw sizes too small to be detected by present day NDT techniques.
Reliability & Maintainability Analysis Proper failure mode and effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) is performed to assess
reliability. Data on failure modes and failure rate are collected from previous designs to conduct this analysis and reliability
is predicted before the design freeze. Quality, reliability and maintainability are important to cut down operational costs
and to ensure aircraft availability for service. The design aims at increased mean time between failures (MTBF) and reduced
mean time to repair (MTTR). Periodic preventive maintenance schedules and onc ondition maintenance requirements are
specified as required. Various best practices evolved are followed in design to ensure good maintainability.
Health monitoring systems are being evolved to move towards condition based maintenance practice from scheduled
maintenance practice, which will lead to enhanced safety and reduction in maintenance costs.
Manufacturing & Assembly The landing gear manufacturing involves development of many closed die forgings, machined
components from ultra-high strength steels, titanium and aluminum alloys. Precision tolerances are required for
components like actuator cylinder, piston, shock absorber parts and axle. Heat treatment of parts is performed after rough
machining followed by final machining, plating and painting. Reliability of the product is enhanced through stringent quality
assurance requirements.
Qualification Testing The qualification testing of landing gears involves functional tests, structural tests for strength,
stiffness and fatigue life tests, and environmental tests. Platform drop tests are conducted on rigs with load cell platform,
wheel spinning facility and lift simulation devices to verify shock absorber performance. For structural strength tests of the
landing gear, loads are applied through loading actuators in required directions and strain data is acquired through strain
gauging.
Fatigue tests including impulse fatigue tests on actuators, are conducted by block wise loading with sufficient
Instrumentation for data acquisition. Endurance cycling tests are conducted in special rigs. Environmental tests including
vibration, acceleration, temperature, altitude, salt spray, sand and dust etc. are performed.
On- Aircraft Testing
The final integration tests o the landing gear are carried out after installation on the aircraft followed by taxi tests, braking
and steering tests. Fine tuning of certain design parameters are done during this phase. This is followed by flight testing
phase where the capability of the landing gear is evaluated.
In- service Evaluation
In -service evaluation includes evaluation in various types of alrfied conditions and ambient conditions. Feedbacks on
reliability and maintainability results are taken for further improvements In the system and data generation.