Miscellaneous
Components of an Airplane
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Key points:
Miscellaneous Components, Nacelle Structural Components, Wing Structural Components, Types of Wing Construction, Semi-Cantilever wing, Cantilever wing,Structural members, Spars, Ribs, Stringers, Stiffeners.
Nacelle Structural Components,
The nacelle is what houses or encloses the engine.
This helps to streamline engines during flight. On most heavy aircraft the
engines are located under the wings, therefore they need some form of
streamlining. Most tactical aircraft usually have their engines enclosed in the
fuselage.
Wing
Structural Components,
Wings of an aircraft are designed to produce a lifting
force when moved through the air. The airflow must be directed over and under
the wing to create lift. Due to the curved surface the velocity of the air
moving over the top of the wing is much greater than the air moving along the
bottom of the wing.
Aircraft wing
design depends on a number of factors: size, weight, use of the aircraft,
desired landing speed, and rate of climb. Larger compartments of the wings may
contain fuel tanks. Wings also have flight controls ailerons that are attached
by hinges to the trailing edge to control the roll movement of the aircraft.
Types
of Wing Construction,
There are two basic types of wing construction found
on today’s aircraft, semi cantilever and cantilever.
• Semi-Cantilever wing,
A semi-cantilever wing is a type of construction that
uses some type of external bracing usually a strut. This strut can be one piece
or it may be of a triangular construction. The strut is usually attached to the
underside of the wing and to a reinforced section of the fuselage. Some
privately owned aircraft use this.
• Cantilever wing,
Cantilever wing construction is built in such a way
that no external bracing is required. This means the wing is assembled so that
it carries all the weight of the aircraft. The cantilever type construction is
the most commonly used on today’s military aircraft.
STRUCTURAL
MEMBERS.
As we stated earlier, the lifting force applied to the
wings, and the load that is carried inside the wings, require the wing
structure to be very strong. Wings are subjected to stress, such as twisting
and bending. These stresses are resisted by a truss construction of the wing
itself. Aircraft wings have structural members called spars, stringers,
stiffeners and ribs.
SPARS.
Spars are the main structural units of the wing.
They extend from the wing root to the wing tip. They
must have the ability to resist twisting and bending. This is why there is no external
bracing on the full cantilever constructed wing.
Spars are the longest and strongest members of the
wing.
RIBS.
Notice how the ribs are fastened to
the spars and stringers to give cross sectional strength and shape to the wing.
They also transfer the wing load from the covering skin to the spar. To reduce
the weight of a solid rib, lightening holes are punched or cut in areas of low
stress.
Stringers Wing
The stringers may be as long as the spars and are
installed parallel to the spars. They are lighter in weight than the spars.
Stringers are used to add strength to the frame and for attaching the skin. See
figure 1-35, stringers are colored blue for identification.
Stiffeners.
Stiffeners are
used to give more support in critical areas such as between the ribs. Some
stiffeners are made as a part of the rib while others can be removed so work
can be done. Stiffeners are also used to support the skin and other units.
WING SKIN. Wing skin is either aluminum alloy covering
or honeycomb construction. Some aircraft wings may be a combination of both.
The aluminum alloy cover used on the wings is similar to that used on the
fuselage.