Zero to Mastery In

AVIATION
 Zero to Mastery In
AVIATION

• Shadab Saifi (Illustrator) • Ayaz Uddin (Editor)

Vayu Education of India

AN ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED COMPANY

2/25, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110 002

First Edition: 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owners.

DISCLAIMER

Published by:
AN ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED COMPANY

VAYU EDUCATION OF INDIA

2/25, ANSARI ROAD, DARYA GANJ, NEW DELHI-110 002
PH.: 011-41564440, MOB. 09910115201
E-MAIL: [email protected] • WEB: www.veiindia.com
 Contents

1. Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight .......................... 1 - 24

2. Engines ................................................................................. 25-43
3. Meteorology .......................................................................... 44-68
4. Flight Ops And Performance ............................................... 69-78
5. Navigation and Equipments ................................................ 79-137

Appendix ........................................................................... 139-142

 SPECIAL BONUS!
Want These 3 Bonus Books for free?

Get FREE, unlimited access to these

and all of our new books by joining
our community!

SCAN w/ your camera TO JOIN!

OR Visit
freebie.kartbucket.com
 UNIT 1
Airplane Structure & Its Theory
of Flight

(THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES ELEMENTARY

KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF
AIRPLANE AND THE DYNAMICS OF THESE PARTS
WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO FLYING AN AEROPLANE)

AIRPLANE
An engine driven, fixed wing aircraft*, heavier than air that is
supported in flight by the reaction of air against it wings.
(* The term ‘aircraft’ is used here and described as any device
which is intended for the purpose of flight in air which includes airplanes,
helicopters, balloons or Gliders)

MAJOR COMPONENTS

Figure 1
2 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

FUSELAGE: It is a structure which provides room for cockpit, cabin

and carrying cargo.
Different types of Fuselage:
• TRUSS TYPE: It is constructed by steel or aluminium tubing,
and strength and rigidity is achieved by welding these tubing
together in triangular shapes called trusses.

Figure 2- Truss fuselage design

• MONOCOQUE: It consists of skin, formers and bulkhead. Formers

and bulkhead provide shape to the fuselage. This design uses
stressed skin to support all imposed loads but cannot tolerate
dents and deformation which can be easily demonstrated by a
beverage can.

Figure 3- Monocoque Fuselage

Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 3

· SEMI-MONOCOQUE: Due to limitations of monocoque design,

a semi-monocoque was introduced which uses a substructure of
bulkheads and/or formers of various sizes and stringers. This
reinforces the stressed skin by taking some of the bending stress
from the fuselage. This structure is being used on many of today’s
aircraft.

Figure 4- semi monocoque fuselage

WINGS: It is an airfoil* which is attached on each side of the

fuselage to provide lifting force to support the airplane during flight.
(* The term ‘Airfoil’ is defined as a structure which is designed to
obtain useful reaction upon itself during motion through air. It produces
a force which is perpendicular to its motion, called LIFT)
• Wing needs strength; therefore it should be thick enough to
contain structural members such as ribs, spars and stringers.
• Wings also should have enough room to contain items such as
fuel and control mechanisms.

Figure 5- Wing and its components

4 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

• Airplanes with single set of wings are called as MONOPLANES,

and planes with two set of Wings are called as BI-PLANES.
• Many high wing airplanes may have been fitted with external
braces to sustain the load of landings, which are called
SEMI-CANTILEVER.
• Other Components of a Wing consist of Ailerons, Flaps,
spoilers, winglets, Vortex Generators. To understand the
importance of all these parts, we first need to understand
Different forces acting on an airplane and then how all
these parts help to maintain a smoother flight.

FORCES ACTING ON THE AIRPLANE:

1. LIFT: It is the force which acts underneath the wing and pushes
it in the upward direction.
2. WEIGHT: It is the combines load (fuel passengers, baggage etc)
of the airplane which pulls the airplane downward due to gravity
and opposes Lift.
3. THRUST: It is forward force produced by the power plant/
propeller.
4. DRAG: It is a retarding force which opposes Thrust and is
produced by disruption of airflow by the wing, fuselage and other
objects.

Figure 6- forces on airplane

• In a steady flight sum of the opposing forces is equal to zero, i.e.

they are in equilibrium.
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 5

• For an airplane to initiate climb, Lift must exceed the weight of the
aircraft.
• For an Aircraft to Accelerate Thrust must exceed the force of
Drag.

SOME IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:

• AIRFOIL CHORD LINE: It is a straight line from leading edge of
the wing to the trailing edge.
• ANGLE OF INCIDENCE: It is the fixed angle between the airfoil
chord line and the longitudinal axis of the airplane.
• ANGLE OF ATTACK: It is the angle between the chord line of
the airfoil and the relative wind.

Figure 7- Angle of attack

LIFT GENERATION:
As discussed earlier that LIFT is a force which is underneath the
wing and pushes it in the upward direction. There are two ways in which
Lift generation can be explained.
1. When the air passes over the wing towards the trailing edge, it
not only moves rearward, but also moves in downward direction
called downwash. Also the air which passes below the wing, it is
deflected downward. Therefore, as per Newton Third law of motion,
the downward deflected air gives an equal and opposite reaction
by pushing the wing in the upward direction.
2. Other phenomenon is based over BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE. Due
to the curvature (Camber) of the wing on the top, the airflow will
have to travel more distance in order to reach the trailing edge at
the same time as the air travelling through its flat bottom side.
This faster air over the wing creates a low pressure over the wing
as compared to the pressure below the wing. This pressure
difference results in the upward lift force.
6 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

• A common misconception prevails that wing should be

shaped thick in order to create lift. But even a Flat plate/
Symmetrical aerofoil (Same camber above and below the
wing) is capable of producing lift, provided, it is subjected
to a positive angle of attack. The common shape of the
wing is due to the requirement of strength and enough
room for fuel/control mechanism, which has been
discussed earlier in this chapter.
• FACTORS EFFECTING LIFT:
The factors effecting lift can easily be understood by the formula of
lift, which is as follows

LIFT = ½ R + V² + S + CL

Where,
R - Air Density
V - Velocity ( Lift increases in proportion to square of its Speed i.e.
a wing travelling at 500 knots has four times the lift to the wing travelling
at 250 knots)
S - Span/ Area (Lift increases as the area of the blade increases i.e.
a wing with an area of 100 sq.ft has double the lift capability as to a blade
of 50 sq.ft
CL - Coefficient of Lift (Lifting capability of the wing, which depends
upon the shape of the wing as well as the Angle of Attack).
• At a given weight, lower the airspeed, higher is angle of attack
required to maintain level flight.
• Angle of attack can be increased to a point, where the airflow no
longer follows the curvature of the wing and Lift is lost. This is
called CRITICAL ANGLE OF ATTACK. Critical angle is called
the STALLING ANGLE which is the angle of Maximum Lift.
Beyond this angle, Lift decreases rapidly. It is approximately 15º
to 16º.
• Normally, stalling speed is 1/3 to 2/5 of the max speed of the
airplane.
STALL: A stall is a condition wherein the airflow over the surface of
the wing breaks away from the surface, due to exceeded critical angle of
attack (irrespective of airspeed) causing an overall loss of lift. Stall
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 7

occurs at a Constant Angle of attack (15º - 16º), but as there is no

indication for angle of attack, pilot has to rely Airspeed Indicator.
STALL SPEED varies according to:
• Weight – (heavier the airplane, higher is the stalling speed)
• Altitude – (higher the altitude, higher is the stall speed)
• Configuration (Flaps reduces stall speed)*discussed later*
• Engine Power
• Centre of Gravity / CG (It is a point where all the weight of the
airplane is considered to act.)
• Wing Contamination (Snow/Ice/Frost) – Increases the stall speed
due to reduced lifting capabilities of the wing.
• Turn – (More bank angle, higher is the stall speed; because during
a turn, lift is lost due to effective reduction in wing span. Therefore
Lift needs to be restored by either adding Power or increasing
angle to attack)
• Stall Warner’s and stick pushers are used to protect against a
stall.

• STALL RECOVERY:
1. Lower the nose of the airplane to decrease angle of attack.
2. Increase the power in case airplane is not in full power.

TERMS/DEFINITIONS:
• Boundary Layer: It is a thin wall between the surface of the wing
and full laminar airflow where full stream value of air reduces to
zero.(It is not more than fraction of a millimetre)
• Stagnation Point: A point on the leading edge of the wing where
the airflow is splitting up, the flow velocity reduces to zero. Hence,
Pressure is maximum.
• Burble Point: It is the angle of attack (AOA) where streamline
flow begins to break down.
• Transition Point: It is the point at which boundary layer changes
from laminar to turbulent flow.
8 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 8

• CENTRE OF PRESSURE: It is the point on the chord, where

aerodynamic forces may be considered.
OR
It is the point on the chord where maximum lift is achieved.
• As angle of attack increases, CP moves forward and vice versa.
• If AOA increases beyond Burble point, then CP remains at same
position or moves slightly backwards.
• On a Flat plate, CP moves backward as AOA increases and vice
versa.
• For Symmetrical airfoil, CP remains constant.

Figure 9 - CP movement
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 9

• DRAG: As discussed earlier, that Drag is a force which opposes

Thrust (Forward Motion).
1. Types of Drag:
1. Profile Drag: It is the resistance of skin friction
due to stickiness/viscosity of the air as it passes over
the wing surface. This also works in combination to
FORM DRAG which is due to the shape of the
Airplane.
Profile drag = Skin Friction + Form drag
Also, Profile Drag is directly proportional to (speed) ²
2. Parasite drag: It is a Drag which is created by the
parts which do not contribute to lift. E.g. Fuselage,
landing gear etc
3. Induced Drag: This is a direct result of the
downward velocity (downwash) imparted to air, It
increases as AOA increases i.e. Increases with
increasing lift.
Induced drag = (CL)2/A
A= Aspect Ratio
 Induced Drag is greatest at lower speeds due to high AOA required
to maintain necessary lift.
 Induced Drag is maximum during Take-Off
STREAMLINING: It is a design in which body is so shaped, that
the drag is minimised.
OPTIMUM ANGLE OF ATTACK: It is the angle of attack at which
the L/D ratio is the maximum i.e. 3º-4º during cruise.
 At this angle Lift is nearly 24 times the Drag, but after this the
ratio falls gradually. Lift still increases but Drag increases much
more rapidly.
 MAXIMUM GLIDE* RANGE is produced by flying the airplane
at OPTIMUM AOA.
* GLIDE: A manoeuvre in which the airplane makes a gentle descent
without Engine power. And, the angle between the Horizontal and the
Glide path is called GLIDING ANGLE
10 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Vx- BEST ANGLE OF CLIMB SPEED: Greatest gain in altitude for

a given distance over ground.
Vy- BEST RATE OF CLIMB SPEED: Greatest gain in altitude per
unit time.
 WEIGHT: As discussed earlier, Weight is a force which opposes
LIFT.
 The Limiting factor on “Airplane’s structural weight” is
the Lifting capabilities of the airplane.
• Effect of WEIGHT on Performance:
1. Increase in airplane’s Take-off and Landing Roll.
2. Increase in stalling speed.
3. Slight reduction in max speed.
4. Reduction in Rate of Climb.
5. Manoeuvrability is reduced
6. Wear and Tear of brakes and Tyres is increased.
 Effect of weight on Gliding: Glide Range depends upon Maximum
L/D ratio, which is independent of weight. Therefore, Glide range
does not vary with airplane weight.
Though heavier the airplane, Higher is the Rate of descent and
therefore will glide the same distance as lighter airplane but will
take less time to do so.
 Effect of weight on Descent point: Heavier the airplane, earlier is
the descent point, because heavy airplane has high ROD (rate of
descent), so it will have to maintain shallower ROD to check on
its speed.
 CENTRE OF GRAVITY (CG): It is a point on airplane’s
longitudinal axis where all the weight of the airplane is considered
to act.

CG= Total moment/total weight

 Effect of CG too far aft:

• Stalling speed will be less.
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 11

• Airplane will have spinning tendencies

• Pilot will have difficulty recovering from a stall.
 Effect of CG too far forward:
• Stalling speed will be higher.
• Will have difficulty during landing.
 Airplane will be more stable at forward CG limit.
 Airplane will cruise faster with AFT CG location because
of reduced drag (because it will have a natural nose up
tendency and elevator will streamline with horizontal
stabilizer.
 CG movement in flight is caused due to passenger
movement and fuel burn.
 LIFT-WEIGHT PITCHING MOMENT: If the forces of Lift and
weight are not acting the same point, it will set up either a nose up
tendency or nose down tendency, depending on whether Lift is
acting in front or rear of CG point.

Figure 10- This situation will cause a nose up tendency

 Wing Loading: Gross weight/wing area

 Span Loading: Gross weight/span
 Power Loading: Gross weight/Total horsepower
12 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 PRIMARY CONTROL SURFACES:

Figure 11- control surface of airplane

• AILERONS - It is a type of airfoil which extends from the middle

towards the tip of the wing. It helps in controlling ROLL motion
of the airplane. Ailerons deflect in opposite direction to cause
Roll motion.
 Types of Ailerons:
1. Differential Aileron: It is a simple mechanical
arrangement in which upward moving aileron deflects
through a larger angle than the aileron which moves
downward. This is done to reduce drag on down going
aileron.
2. Frise Type Aileron: This type of aileron creates a slot to
make air move smoothly to downward going aileron and
reduces drag on the same. (These both type of ailerons
are constructed to reduce ADVERSE YAW (Yawing in
opposite direction of turning) created by drag on down
going aileron.

• ELEVATOR: This is an airfoil which is attached to the

EMPENNAGE (tail section), and controls the Pitching
motion of the airplane.
• RUDDER: This control surface is also attached to the
empennage in a vertical position and controls the YAW
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 13

motion. (Note: Control surfaces become more effective

at high speeds)
 FLAPS: They are wing’s High Lift devices which are used to
increase lift and drag during flight.
 They are installed between the two ailerons and are operated
mechanically, electrically or hydraulically.
 When extended through a lower angle, they create more
lift than drag (which is used during takeoff) and when
extended through a larger angle, they create more drag
than lift (used during landing).
 High coefficient of lift permits lower landing speed i.e.
created more lift even with reduced power during
approach to land.
 It makes possible to have a steeper gliding angle without
increasing speed(permits airplane to clear obstacles during
landing)
 When used as airbrakes, flaps permit a shorter ground
run on stopping the aircraft.
(Note: Primary use of flaps, especially on a jet airplane is
to increase lift by increasing the camber of the wings)
 TYPES OF FLAPS:
1. PLAIN FLAPS: It increases the camber due to which lift
and drag is increased.
2. SPLIT FLAPS: It gives more lift and drag than plain
flaps as wing’s upper surface is not altered and is derived
from chaotic flow between flap’s trailing edge and wing’s
trailing edge.
3. SLOTTED FLAPS: It pushes the high energy air from
lower surface to upper surface from the slot which delays
the airflow separation and increases lift.
4. Fowler Flaps: It increases camber as well as area of the
wing which gives high CL.
14 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 12- Common Types of Flaps

 KRUEGER FLAPS: these types of flaps are hinged on the leading

edge unlike the other conventional types, and are used to increase
lift during landing and takeoff.
 BLOWN or JET FLAPS: This is not a flap but simply air ejected
under pressure at or near trailing edge of airfoil. This helps in
controlling boundary layer which in turn helps increasing Lift.
Since they depend upon power to produce blowing and this may
be serious disadvantage in the event of Power Failure.
 SLAT: It is a movable auxiliary airfoil attached to the leading edge
of the wing which when closed falls into the shape of the wing
and when opened, creates a SLOT*.
*SLOT- It is a nozzle shaped passage through a wing whose
primary objective is to improve airflow conditions at high angle
of attack. It increases the AOA by 15º-30º which decreases the
Landing speed.
• BLOWN SLOT: Blowing air through the gap between
slat and wing is called Blown slot.

 CONTROL BALANCING: Controls are aerodynamically

balanced to assist the pilot in moving them. They reduce stick
pressure.
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 15

 Over balancing is dangerous as it may remove the entire feel from

the pilot.
 MASS BALANCING: It is achieved by adding weight to the
control surface in front of hinge to bring Centre of Gravity closer
to hinge. This is done to reduce flutter.
 TABS & TRIMS: Tabs are attached to the trailing edge of the
primary control surfaces and being small airfoils; they create a
movement which helps trimming of the surface and reduce stick
pressure.(Purpose: Control balancing and Trimming)
 Principle: They always move in opposite direction of control
surfaces.

Figure 13- This figure shows that this tab force acting in opposite direction
will help keep the control surface deflected with ease.

 TYPES OF TABS:
1. FIXED TAB: They are installed on primary control surface and
can be adjusted on ground only.
2. BALANCE TAB/SERVO TAB: They move in the opposite
direction of the control surface and reduce stick pressure. It can
also be adjusted on the ground only but difference being that it is
coupled with the primary control surface rod so that when the
control surface is deflected, tab automatically deflects in opposite
direction.
3. SPRING TAB: This is a type of BALANCED TAB in which
movement of the tab is directly proportional to the air load on the
control instead of the deflection angle of control.(Fitted on high
speed airplanes)
16 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

4. ANTI-SERVO TAB: This tab acts as a cockpit controlled tab

also move in the same direction as control surface. This gives an
amplified feel of the control pressure which is used on an airplane
whose controls are too light.
5. TRIMMING TAB: They are fitted on the control surface which
can be adjusted by pilot during flight, if required. These tabs help
pilot to relieve pressure from the controls and exerting pressure
constantly during cruise.
 WINGTIP VORTICES: Airflow over and under the wing also
flows Span wise. This span wise flow of air tries to spill through
the wing tip, which gets mixed and form little whirlpool of air.
 It causes:
• Induced drag due to downward displacement of air.
• Turbulence is caused which might affect the aircraft in
close proximity.
 Wingtip vortices are clockwise on the left hand side and anti-
clockwise on the right hand side, when observed from back.
 Maximum vortices are formed when airplane is Heavy, Clean(less
wing span) and slow.
 Span wise airflow also reduces aileron efficiency.
 Vortex Generators* and Winglets* are used to reduce the span
wise flow of air.

Figure 14- wingtip vortices

Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 17

*VORTEX GENERATORS: These are very small plates, about an

inch deep standing on the leading edge of the wing. They are placed at an
AOA of 15º approximately and tend to generate vortices which in turn
prevents or delay the breakaway of boundary layer by re-energizing it
and prevent buffeting.
 They lower the stall speed while increasing the airplane’s low
speed performance.
 Also helps in increasing aileron efficiency.
* WINGLETS: These are aerodynamically efficient surfaces located
at the wing tips. They are designed to reduce induced drag, by dispensing
the span wise airflow from over and under the wing and thus preventing
wingtip vortices.

 SPOILERS: Long narrow plates fitted on upper or lower surface

of the wing. Also called Lift-Dumpers.
 They decrease lift and increase Drag.
 Main purpose is to assist pilot in maintaining control at
low speed.
 Differential spoilers retract by one side and extend the
other side to provide lateral control.
 Used to steepen the gliding angle to check speed.
 Can also be connected to brake control and destroy lift
after landing and decrease ground roll.
 They are limited by very high speeds, which may cause
them to blow back.
 GROUND EFFECT: When the airplane comes close to the ground
(approx. 20-30 feet), the airflow pattern gets disturbed which allows
the airplane to float above the ground.
 Airplane float during landing and longer landing distance.
 Airplane may get airborne earlier than desired speed.
 Airplane does not respond effectively with increase in AOA
due to ground effect.

 STABILITY: It is the tendency of the airplane to return to its

original configuration after being disturbed by external forces.
• TYPES OF STABILITY:
1. Static Stability: It is the initial tendency of the airplane after being
disturbed.
18 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

2. Dynamic stability: It is the overall tendency of the airplane after

being disturbed.

Figure 15 - Types of static and dynamic stability

Figure 16- Stability Around Different Axis of Airplane

Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 19

 DIHEDRAL ANGLE: It is an upward angle from horizontal or

when the wing tips are higher than wing roots.

Figure 17

 It gives LATERAL STABILITY (Roll) to the airplane.

 But, too much positive dihedral can cause DUTCH ROLL*.
* DUTCH ROLL: It is a combination of Yawing and Rolling motion.
Too much positive dihedral introduces lateral directional
oscillations.
 CAUSE: When yaw motion is induced, either commanded
or through turbulence on a swept wing (wing tip
backward than wing roots), it causes the outer wing to
travel faster into the wind, which also creates lift and
starts a bank. This marked bank occurs to a point where
the outer wing stalls and looses lift and drops the wing in
opposite direction and leading the sequence to be repeated
with the other wing. This sequence will continue and
produce oscillatory instability.
 CORRECTION: Pilot should use the ailerons in opposite
direction to correct Dutch Roll. Although the root cause
is Yaw, but it happens so quickly, that pilot’s reaction
won’t be quick enough on the rudders, and it will worsen
the condition due to wrong rudder input.
 YAW DAMPNER’S are now being used to prevent Dutch
roll.

 ANHEDRAL ANGLE: It is a downward angle or when wing tips

are lower than the wing roots.
20 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 18 - Anhedral wing shape

 It does not give any type of stability but provides more

control effectiveness.
 SWEEPBACK WING: It means when the wing is not at right
angle to the longitudinal axis and wing tips are further back root
of the wing. This type of wing has poor-lift capabilities at low
speeds (because air flows more span wise at low speeds) but
provides lateral and directional stability. This type of wing is
being used in most modern civil airplanes.

Figure 19 - Swept Back Wing

 ADVANTAGES:
• High cruising speeds: It delays the airflow over the wing from
going super-sonic and allows the airplane to maximize jet engine’s
potential for high cruising speeds. Also swept wings are designed
with minimum chamber and thickness, thereby reducing profile
drag.
Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 21

• Stability in turbulence: Poor lifting capabilities of swept wings

act as an advantage in turbulence as it tends to be more stable.
• Provides lateral stability.
 DISADVANTAGES:
• Poor Lifting capabilities at low speed needs to be
compensated by flying the airplane at higher AOA during
landing to maintain same approach speed. This reduces
visibility and airplane will need a longer undercarriage to
maintain ground clearance.
• Higher stall speeds due to poor lift capabilities.
• Wing tip Stall: This is because the outer wing section
experiences higher aerodynamic loading due to wing taper
which causes greater angle of incidence to be experienced
to a degree where airflow stalls at wing tips.
• Span wise airflow also contributes to wing tip stall and
also increases possibilities of wingtip vortices.
 SWEEP FORWARD: It means that the wing is not at the right
angle to longitudinal axis and wing tips are in forward position
than wing roots.
 It does not give any stability to airplane.
 WASH-IN: It is a twist in a wing giving an increase of Angle of
Incidence towards the wing tip.
 It gives more lift and more lateral stability.

 WASH-OUT: It is a twist on the wing giving a decrease in Angle

of Incidence towards the wing tip.
 Provides less stalling effect.
 ASPECT RATIO: It is the ratio of Span to Chord of the airplane.
 More aspect ratio gives less induced drag ( Less wingtip
vortices)
 It increases Lift.
 Aspect Ratio for tapered wing = span²/wing area
 LOAD FACTOR: It is the ratio of the total air load imposed to the
total weight i.e. LIFT/WEIGHT. It is expressed in terms of ‘G’.
 Load factor increases during sudden pull ups and pull
downs.
22 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 During straight and level flight and take-off, Load factor

is 1G.

 At 60º bank, Load factor is 2G.

 LANDING GEAR: It is the principle support of the airplane when
parked, taxiing, taking off or landing. Most common landing gear
consists of wheels but airplane may be equipped with floats for
water operation, or ski for ice/snow.
 Airplane with a rear mounted wheel is called
CONVENTIONAL LANDING GEAR or referred as
TAILWHEEL PLANE.
 When the third wheel is located on the nose, it is called as
nose wheel plane or Tricycle gear.
 POWERPLANT: The power plant usually includes both the
engine and the propeller. The primary function of the engine is to
provide more to turn the Propeller* to generate Thrust.
 The engine is covered by COWLING/NACELLE (an
enclosure on airplane, where engine is mounted).
 The purpose of the cowling/nacelle is to streamline the
flow of air around the airplane and to help cool the engine
by ducting air around cylinders.
 The engine also generates electrical power, provide vacuum
source for flight instruments etc.

Figure 20 - The Power Plant

Airplane Structure & Its Theory of Flight 23

* PROPELLERS: They are series of rotating airfoils, which is turned

by the engine, which in turn generates thrust very similar to the
manner in which a wing produces lift. The air is driven back and
the reaction of this air tends to pull or push the airplane ahead.
They produce thrust as a result of NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF
MOTION.
Amount of thrust depends upon the shape of airfoil, AOA of
prop blade and RPM of the engine.

Figure 21 – Propeller

 Types of propellers:
1. Tractor Type propeller: It means propeller pulls the
aircraft. It is installed in front of the airplane.
2. Pusher Type Propeller: It is installed in the rear of the
airplane and it pushed the airplane forward.
 Forces acting on a propeller are centrifugal, Thrust and Torsion/
twisting.
• EFFECTIVE PITCH: It is the actual distance the airplane moves
during one revolution of the propeller.
• GEOMETRIC PITCH/THEORETICAL PITCH: If propeller is
moving in perfect fluid, then the distance it would travel forward
in one revolution is Theoretical pitch.
• SLIP: Difference between theoretical pitch and effective pitch is
called SLIP.
24 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

• BLADE BACK: The cambered or the curved side of the propeller

similar to the upper surface of the airfoil.
• BLADE FACE: The flat side of the propeller similar to lower surface
of airfoil section.
• FINE PITCH: Less blade angle (more RPM) used during Takeoff
and landing.
• COARSE PITCH: More blade angle (Low RPM) used during
cruise flight.
• Ground Fine Pitch/Flat Pitch: Zero blade angle used during
starting of the engine to save battery.
• Flight Fine Pitch: Blade angle is more than Zero Degree used
during flight in Turbo-prop engine.
• FEATHERING: It is the operation of rotating the blades of a
propeller so that the leading edge of the blade is in line of flight
position (89º-90º). It is necessary when an engine fails in-flight
on multi-engine airplane, If prop is not feathered the prop will
windmill and cause drag. When prop is feathered, Pressure on
the both sides is equal, therefore it stops rotating.
 The feathered prop prevents further damage to the engine if failure
was caused due to some internal damage.
 REVERSE PITCH PROPELLER: When prop blades is reversed
i.e. blades are rotated to negative blade angle in order to obtain
thrust in opposite direction. This is done to
 Increase life of brakes and Tires.
 Reducing the length of landing run.
 Propeller may be classified as FIXED PITCH PROPELLER in which
the pitch can be set by manufacturer only so that can be proficient
for CLIMB profile (lower pitch, therefore less drag and higher
RPM during takeoffs and landings) or can be proficient for
CRUISE profile (Higher pitch, therefore more drag and lower RPM
during takeoffs and landings but increased efficiency during
cruise.
Also propeller may be classified as ADJUSTABLE PITCH/
CONSTANT SPEED propellers. They have a variable and
controllable blade angle between coarse and fine pitch which is
governed by Constant speed unit or Governor Unit. The power
output is controlled by throttle and indicated by MANIFOLD
ABSOLUTE PRESSURE GAUGE.
 UNIT 2
Engines

(THIS CHAPTER WILL PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT COMMON TYPE OF ENGINES BEING USED
IN AIRPLANES AND THEIR WORKING)

• ENGINE IS A DEVICE WHICH IS USED TO CONVERT

CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO MECHANICAL ENERGY.
 There are different types of engine being used in airplane
depending upon the need, or the advancement of
technology. Some of them are:
• RECIPROCATING ENGINE/ PISTON ENGINE: This type of
engine uses one or more pistons to convert pressure into rotating
motion. These engine are further classified into Inline, V-type,
horizontally opposed, Radial etc. based on the placement/position
of their Piston cylinders.
• TURBINE POWERED/JET ENGINES: Frank whittles invented
Jet Engines to increase an airplane achievable altitude, more
airspeed and reliability as they are more simplistic in design.

 PISTON ENGINES

 Piston engine works on the principle of OTTO CYCLE which

operates on the principle of CONSTANT VOLUME.
 Most piston engine consists of FOUR STOKE (Five Event) cycle.
Five events consist of four strokes and Ignition event.
ü Power to the engine is generated by burning of Air/Fuel mixture
fed into the cylinder and that power is transmitted to the propeller
rotated by connecting rods and shaft.
26 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 1st STROKE (Induction or Intake): In this stroke, Inlet Valve

opens and exhaust valve closes. Piston travels from Top Dead
Centre (TDC) to Bottom Dead Centre (BDC) and air-fuel mixture is
drawn into the cylinder. (Each stroke means 180º travel of
crankshaft*)
* Crankshaft – It is a shaft which connects piston through
a connecting rod to the propeller. Its purpose is to rotate
the propeller.
 2 STROKE (Compression): Inlet and exhaust valves are closed
nd

and piston travels from BDC to TDC, due to which the Air-fuel
mixture is compressed. Ignition takes place during this stroke
which is provided by MAGNETOS.
 Ignition takes place just before the piston reaches TDC.
 3rd STROKE (Power): Inlet and exhaust valves remain closed.
Piston travels from TDC to BDC under pressure (generated by
burnt gases), thus transmitting reciprocating motion through
connecting rod to the crankshaft which in turn rotates the propeller.
 4th STROKE (Exhaust): Inlet valve remains closed and exhaust
valve opens. Piston travels from BDC to TDC and all the burnt
gases are pushed out through the open exhaust valves.
• Four strokes are completed into 2 revolutions of crankshaft
i.e. 720º.
 CAM SHAFT: It is a shaft which operates the intake and exhaust
valves.
 POWER: It is the rate of doing work. Unit is ‘Horse Power (HP)’.
Total horse power inside the cylinder (IHP) can be theoretically
calculated by
Engines 27

IHP = PLANK/33000
Where, P – indicated mean effective pressure
L – Length of the stroke
A – Area of piston in sq.inch
N – no. of strokes i.e. RPM/2
K – no. of cylinders
 Power of any engine is also effective by many external factors viz.
Density, Temperature, operating altitude, Humidity etc. These
factors mainly effect in the density of the air to be mixed with fuel
to ignite and create power by burnt gases.
 Denser the air, better is the combustion and hence, Power.
 SOME DEFINITIONS:
 Compression Ratio: Ratio of the volume of space in the cylinder
when piston is at the bottom to the volume of space when piston
is at the Top.
 Increase in compression ratio, Increases Power.
 Piston Displacement: It is the total volume of air displaced by the
piston during one revolution of crankshaft.
 Volumetric efficiency: Ratio of volume of air-fuel mixture at
atmospheric pressure and temperature to the Piston displacement.
 It increases with increase in air density and vice-versa.
 Increase in volumetric efficiency will increase Horse power.
 Thermal efficiency: It is the measure of losses suffered in
converting the heat energy fuel into mechanical work. It is the
ratio of heat developed into useful work to the heating value of
fuel.
 Rated Power: It is the power at which engine can be operated for
long period of operations. It is always less than the Take-off
power.
 Rated Altitude: It is the highest altitude where sea level power
can be maintained.
 Critical Altitude: It is the highest altitude where an engine will
maintain a given HP, or, it is the altitude where rated power starts
dropping.
28 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 CARBURETOR: It is a device which meters correct fuel-air mixture

and supply same to the engine at all engine speed and altitude. It
works on the basis of either U-tube principle or Venturi tube
principle.
 Correct fuel-air mixture is 1:15 i.e. 1 part of fuel + 15
parts of air (*By weight and not volume)
 Rich Mixture: It means more fuel and less air (1:14). It may cause
rough running, more fuel consumption and less power.
 Lean Mixture: It means less fuel and more air (1:16). It may cause
overheating, firing back in carburettor and Detonation*.
* DETONATION: When 3/4th of the mixture burns smoothly and
remaining burns with an explosion with metallic sound, it is called
Detonation.
 It gives excessive pressure and temperature which
damages the engine.
 It can be detected by the pilot due to sudden increase in
Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT).
• It is caused due to Low octane fuel, Lean mixture and High
manifold pressure.
 PRE-IGNITION: When the mixture Ignites in the cylinder before
normal ignition.
 It causes high temperatures which damage the engine.
 It can also be detected due to sudden rise in CHT.
• It is caused due red hot carbon particles stuck to the cylinder
head.

 Two Types of carburettor:

1. Up-Draft Carburettor – When air goes up through the
carburettor into cylinder via manifold.
2. Down-Draft Carburettor – When air goes down through
carburettor into cylinder via manifold.
 Advantage of a Down Draft Carburettor is that air goes
into the cylinder comparatively free from dust particles
and chances of fire hazard are less compared to Up-Draft.
Engines 29

Figure 23 - Float Type Carburettor

 Advantages of INJECTOR TYPE CARBURETOR over FLOAT

TYPE CARBURETOR:
 Formation of ice is less.
 Inertia and Gravity have very little effect on Injector type.
 More even distribution of fuel-air mixture to each cylinder.
 CARBURETOR ICING: It occurs due to the effect of Fuel
vaporisation and decrease in air pressure in the venture, which
causes temperature to drop in carburetor.
 This restricts the flow of fuel-air mixture and reduced power. If
enough ice builds, engine may cease.
30 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 24 - Carburetor Icing

 Condition Likely: Temperature below 70F (21C) and relative

humidity is above 80%.
 INDICATION:
 In fixed pitched propeller – Decrease in RPM and engine
roughness.
 In Constant speed propeller – Decrease in manifold but no decrease
in RPM.
 Use of carburetor heat is suggested to prevent icing. It heats the
air before it reaches the carburetor.

 TYPES OF CARBURETOR ICING:

1. IMPACT ICE: It occurs when airplane is flying in temperature
below or near 0C and airplane is in cloud or rain (for visible
moisture).
2. FUEL ICE: can form downstream of the jet where fuel is added to
carburettor where it vaporises cause decrease in temperature.
3. THROTTLE ICE: As fuel-air mixture accelerates to pass the
throttle and there is a decrease in pressure and subsequent drop
in temperature.
 First part to have ice is Throttle Butterfly valve.
Engines 31

 ALTITUDE ENGINE: It is an engine which is equipped with high

degree of supercharging and is rated at full throttle at altitudes
above sea level.
 SUPERCHARGER: It is a system which increases the density of
air so that the manifold pressure rises above the atmospheric
pressure so as to provide high power during operations at high
altitude.
 Two types of superchargers:
1. INTERNAL SUPERCHARGER: It is installed between the
carburetor and the engine. It is driven by engine itself.
 A heat exchanger used to lower the temperature of
discharge from the internal supercharger is called
AFTERCOOLER. Installed after the internal supercharger.
2. TURBO SUPERCHARGER: It is installed before the carburettor
and is driven by the exhaust gases all the time.
 A heat exchanger used to lower the temperature of
discharge from Turbo supercharger is called
INTERCOOLER. It is installed between turbocharger and
carburettor.
 TWO STROKE ENGINES: These types of engines have two
strokes and have ignition Event at each stroke. There are no Inlet
and Exhaust valves. It cannot be used in aviation due to:
 Low power
 Poor thermal efficiency
 More vibrations i.e. more noise
 MAGNETO (IGNITION): It is a device which converts mechanical
energy into electrical energy and generates current to ignite fuel-
air mixture.
 It supplies approximately 22000volts (AC) to spark plugs which
is high enough to jump across the air gap between two electrodes.
 Magneto ignition is superior to battery ignition because it
produces a hotter spark at high engine speed.
 It is a self contained unit and does not depend upon any external
power.
 Purpose of two magnetos and two spark plugs is to increase the
safety (backup) and for better combustion thereby more
performance and power.
32 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Spark plugs may foul (deposition of lead) due to prolonged idling,

use of wrong spark plugs or highly rich mixture.

 OIL SYSTEM: It lubricates and thus reduces friction between

the moving parts. It also cools different parts of the engine.
 Two types of oil systems:
1. WET SUMP: In this system there is no separate oil tank, the oil is
stored in crankcase only due to gravity and same oil is used again
and again by pressure pump.
 This system is not efficient because the oil remains in the crankcase
and does not get cooled enough.
 Used for small/low powered engines.

2. DRY SUMP: In this system there is a separate oil tank, oil cooler,
scavenges pump and filters etc.
 Normally used in Radial/high powered engines.
 System is very efficient since oil is sent to the engine after having
being cooled and proper cleaning.

 OIL DILUTION SYSTEM: It is done by allowing fuel to enter the

oil system. This is done for easier system of engine during cold
days. Due to mixing of fuel to oil, it does not become thick so as
to offer less resistance in rotating crankshaft.
 During engine operation, all the fuel evaporates.

 NORMALLY ASPIRATED ENGINES: Engine which user only

atmospheric air density to produce a charge in the cylinder and is
not boosted by any kind of supercharger, therefore, normally
aspirated engine’s power output is limited by its cylinder capacity.

 What does Blue, Black and white exhausts indicate in piston

engines?
Blue exhaust indicates oil burn in the cylinders, probably due to
broken piston rings that allow oil seepage into combustion
chamber.
Black exhaust indicates carbon granules burning in the cylinders
due to over rich mixture, resulting in some of the fuel not burning
and turning into carbon granules.
Engines 33

White exhaust indicates high water content in the combustion

chamber, which is exhausted as white steam.
 Disadvantages of a piston engine:
 Lack of power output, especially with increased altitudes.
 Low produced airspeeds due propeller RPM limitations
 Mechanical inefficiency.
* Due to these disadvantages, Jet Engines were developed and
became an integral part of modern day aviation.

 JET ENGINES
 Jet Engine works on BRAYTON CYCLE which works on the
principle of CONSTANT PRESSURE.
 In jet engine there is no reciprocating motion as such, there are
no vibrations.

• BASIC JET ENGINE WORKING:

 When forward motion is imparted to the engine from external
source, air is forced into the engine intake, where it loses velocity
or kinetic energy and therefore increases pressure energy as it
through divergent duct. The total energy is increased by
combustion of fuel and then expanding gases accelerate to
atmosphere through an outlet converging duct, thereby producing
a propulsive jet.
34 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

A jet engine is unsuitable as an airplane’s power plant because it

is incapable of producing thrust at low speeds. It requires a forward
motion itself before it produces any thrust.
The GAS TURBINE engine has avoided the inherent weakness
of jet engine by introducing a turbine driven compressor that
produces thrust at low speeds.
 BYPASS ENGINE: It is an extension of Gas turbine engine which
involves a separation of airflow. A part of compressed air is entered
into combustion chamber and the other part bypasses the engine
core.
 Both the bypass air and hot airflow is then mixed and discharged
into atmosphere to produce resulting forward thrust.
 ADVANTAGES:
1. Improves propulsive efficiency.
2. Improves Specific Fuel consumption (SFC – Quantity of fuel
consumed per hour divided by thrust of engine in pounds)
3. Reduces noise.
• BYPASS RATIO: Ratio of the mass of the airflow passing though
the Turbine (i.e. Total air intake) to the mass of the airflow passing
through the engine core. E.g. 5:1.
 FAN ENGINE: This is an extension to Bypass engine with the
difference that it discharges its cold bypass airflow and hot engine
core airflow separately.
 ADVANTAGES:
1.
Smaller engine size.
2.
Better propulsive efficiency.
3.
Better SFC
4.
Reduce engine noise.
5.
Contamination such as bird strikes or heavy water is
discharged through bypass duct, thus protecting main
engine core from damage and even flameout from water
contamination.
 COMBUSTION CYCLE OF JET ENGINE:
Compression Combustion Expansion  Exhaust
 Some Jet Engine Parts:
Engines 35

• INLET GUIDE VANES (IGV): Fitted into the engine air intake to
guide the airflow into rotor.
• ROTOR: It rotates and adds Kinetic energy to the air.
• STATOR: It diffuses the velocity of air hence increases pressure
• IGNITER: used to provide continuous flame to ignite fuel/air
mixture. (Combustion in jet engine is continuous). Auto-Igniters
are used to protect again turbulent/disturbed airflow.
• STAGE: one stage consists of one stator and one rotor.
• NOZZLE GUIDE VANES (NGV): They direct the expanding hot
gases to the turbine which in turn rotates the compressor.

 Different types of jet engines:

TURBOJET (BASIC)
 It consists of four parts: Compressor, Combustion Chamber,
Turbine Section and Exhaust.
 Compressor passes the air at high rate of speed to the combustion
chamber after compressing.
 Combustion chamber consist of fuel inlet and igniters which
creates combustion
 NGV’s directs the expanding air after combustion to the turbine which
is connected to the compressor through a shaft and rotates it.
 Thereafter, the gases pass though the exhaust pipe into the
atmosphere which produces thrust due to Newton’s Third Law of
Motion.

TURBOPROP
 It is a type of turbine engine which drives a propeller through a
reduction gear assembly.
 The exhaust gases drive the turbine connected by a shaft that
drives the reduction gear assembly which in turn rotates the
propeller.
 Reduction gear assembly is important in turboprop engines,
because optimum propeller performance is achieved at very lower
RPM than what a turbine engine is capable of.
 The main thrust producing factor in Turboprop engine is the
propeller, whereas the engine’s exhaust gases contribute only
10% of total thrust produced.
36 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 These are most efficient at speeds between 250 and 450 knots
and altitude of 18000 to 30000 feet.

TURBOFAN
 It was developed to combine some of the best features of Turbojet
and Turboprop engines.
 In turbofan engines, one stream of air passes through the engine
core and other passes over the combustion chamber. This
secondary airflow creates additional thrust. This stream of air is
responsible for the term “BYPASS ENGINE”.
 This type of engine provides Turbojet type cruise speed at much
lower fuel consumption.
 This engine provides better specific fuel consumption, better
propulsive efficiency. They are smaller in size and reduces the
noise of the engine and prone to less contamination.

Figure 26 - Turbine Engines

TURBOSHAFT
 In these types of engines, it delivers power to a shaft which is
used to drive something other than propeller.
 Biggest difference between Turbojet and Turbo shaft is that most
of the energy produced through expanding gases is used to drive
the turbine rather than producing thrust.
Engines 37

 These are widely used in Helicopters and also used as auxiliary

power unit in large jets.
 N1 compressor: Low pressure compressor which drives low
pressure turbine.
 N2 compressor: High pressure compressor which drives high
pressure turbine.
 TWIN SPOOL COMPRESSOR: compressor having N1 and N2.
This arrangement reduce engine stall margin.
 CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSOR: Air passes through the
compressor in Radial pattern.
 These compressors are robust in design and simpler in
construction.
 They have only two stages of compressor.
 Produces more drag due to more frontal area.
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSOR: Air passes in linear pattern.
 It is more efficient than Centrifugal flow compressor as they
provide more compression ratio and also produce less drag due
to less frontal area.
 However, they provide less pressure rise per stage comparing to
centrifugal flow compressor, hence have more stages.

 SOME TERMINILOGIES:
 Diffuser: It is used to diffuse the velocity and hence increase
pressure.
 Hot Start: When fuel is more and air is less during starting of the
engine, the temperature shoots up due to extra fuel which damages
the engine.
 False start: When compressor is rotated by starter without fuel
and ignition; this is done to clear any extra fuel in combustion
chamber during hot start.
 Wet Start: When fuel fails to ignite and comes to of jet pipe.
 Hung Start: During Starting if the idling RPM does not increase
beyond idling range and sustains there.
 Flame Out: When flame in Combustion Chamber extinguishes
due to over rich mixture or bad manoeuvres.
 Light up: It is a period when fuel is ignited.
38 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Relighting: It is the process of restarting the engine after flame

during flight.
 Primary air: Air used in combustion process.
 Secondary air: Air flowing rearward over the combustion chamber.
 Impulse Turbine: This delivers power by use of high velocity
and low pressure air flows through rotor blades.
 Reaction Turbine: Develops its power by use of high pressure
and Low velocity Airflows.
 EPR (Engine pressure Ratio): Ratio between exhaust pressure
and inlet pressure. It indicates the thrust of the engine.
 EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature): It is an important parameter
because it measures the temperature experienced by turbine. The
only real threat to the engine’s life is excessive turbine
temperatures. Therefore it is important to keep a tab on it.
 Maximum continuous thrust: It is simply maximum permissible
engine thrust setting for continuous use.
 Compression Ratio of Gas Turbine: It is the ratio of the change in
air pressure between inlet and outlet parts of compressor stages.

 THRUST REVERSERS: The jet stream of the engine is reversed

to produce breaking effect on landing run.
 The clamshell door or blocker door and deflector vanes or cascade
vanes are employed to reverse the stream.
 Reverse thrust is approximately half the amount of total thrust
available.

 COMPRESSOR STALL: The compressor blades are a type of

small airfoils which are subjected to the same aerodynamics as a
wing. Compressor blades have an Angle of Attack (AOA) which
is a resultant of inlet air velocity and compressor rotational
velocity. Any imbalance between these two vectors causes the
smooth airflow to be disrupted or stagnate. Compressor stall
occurs when blade’s AOA increases beyond critical angle of
attack.

 Two types of compressor stalls:

1. Transient/Intermminent Stall: A ‘bang’ or backfire
Engines 39

noise occurs during this stall and mostly are not indicated
by instruments. Most transient stalls are not harmful and
often correct themselves after one of two pulsations.
2. Steady Stall: Strong vibrations and loud roar/noise
develops. Indicated by fluctuation in RPM and Increase
in Exhaust gas Temperature. To prevent engine damage,
Recovery must accomplished quickly by reducing power,
decreasing airplane’s AOA and then increasing airspeed.

 JET ENGINE SURGE: It is reversal of airflow through an engine,

where the high pressure air in the combustion chamber is expelled
forward through the compressor, with a loud bang and resulting
loss of thrust.
 A surge is caused when all compressor stages have stalled.
 Indications are loss of thrust and large increase in Turbine gas
temperature (TGT).
 Required action: Close the throttles slowly and adjust the
airplane’s attitude to un-stall the engines and slowly open the
throttles.
 ALTITUDE EFFECT IN JET ENGINES: Jet engine loses power
when it gains altitude but regains it due to RAM EFFECT.
 Jet engines are more fuel efficient at high altitudes, because they
can be operated at HIGH RPM settings (HIGH RPM setting in jet
engine uses lesser fuel) due to lesser air density (because, at high
altitude due to low density of air, thrust produced will be low
enough to equal to cruise speed).
 Also, due to less air density, airframe drag is lower.

 AUXILIARY POWER UNIT: It is a small turbine engine fitted at

the tail section of large jet planes.
 The main purpose of APU is to start the airplane’s main engines.
Turbine engines should be rotated at high speed in order provides
sufficient air compression for self sustaining. Smaller jets may be
started by an electric motor, but larger jets are started by air turbine
motors. Before starting the engines, APU is started generally by
a battery which provides power (electric, pneumatic, hydraulic
depending upon the design) to start the main engines.
40 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 APU’s provide power to Air conditioning unit and electrical units

on the ground during loading of passengers or cargo. They are
also used as a backup power during engine failed in-flight.
 During APU failed on the ground, main engines can also be started
by external ground power unit.

 HYDRAULICS: Study of fluids under pressure is called

HYDRAULICS.
 The system which controls such fluids is called HYDRAULIC
SYSTEMS.
 In Hydraulics, Force (F) = Pressure (P) x Area (A) Or, Pressure,
P = F/A
Hydraulic pressure is usually measured in Psi (pounds per Sq.
inches)
 Hydraulic system consisting of piston moving in closed cylinders
can be used to operate landing gear, Flaps, Cowl grills, Brakes,
Thrust Reverses etc.
 It works on the principle of PASCAL’s LAW which states that the
pressure applied to a fluid at any point is transmitted without loss
in any direction and it acts at right angle to each position of the
entire area of the container. This was used as an advantage which
could convert a small force into great force through system of
hydraulics.
To achieve this cylinder and piston is used, because pressure in
closed cylinder is transmitted equally and undiminished throughout the
fluid.

Figure 27
Engines 41

 Different Parts of Hydraulic System:

1. Hydraulic Hand Pump: It is used as a substitute for
power pumpin case of emergencies or it is also used for
ground checking the hydraulic system.
2. Flow Control Valves: They are used to control the
direction and rate of flow of fluid through the system.
3. Brake Control Valves: They are designed so that left
and Right brakes can be used either independently or
together.
4. Accumulators: The purpose of an accumulator is to store
the fluid under pressure which can be used to supplement
the power output during peak loads or it may be used for
limited operation mechanism when power pump is not
working.
5. Actuating cylinders: They are used to transform
pressure into mechanical force.
6. Skydrol: Hydraulic fluid used in modern airplanes.

GENERAL NOTES ON PROPELLER (PISTON) AND JET

AIRPLANES
 Combustion in jet engine occurs at CONSTANT PRESSURE
whereas in Piston engine, it occurs ay CONSTANT VOLUME.

 Advantages of PROPELLER:
1. It creates a high slipstream effect which creates extra lift,
suppresses the stall speed and makes rudder/fin more
effective.
2. It has a quick response rate to a throttle input.
 Disadvantages of PROPELLER:
1. Lack of airspeed.
2. Blade length is restricted due to need for adequate ground
clearance and also to maintain subsonic blade tip speeds.
3. Number of blades can be increased to a certain value to
avoid excessive hub diameter and excessive weight.
(Propeller blade is twisted along its length to maintain a
constant AOA and therefore provide a uniform lift)
42 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Airplane with propellers rotating in same direction has a CRITICAL

ENGINE due to Slipstream effect and Asymmetric blade effect
(i.e. length of the thrust point from longitudinal axis)
 There is no critical engine on a jet airplane as they are symmetrically
positioned with opposite revolution direction. However, they have
a GOVERNER ENGINE which is the master and sets RPM for
other engines.
 Both Jet engine and Propeller Airplanes produce noise due to
sheer effect of differently displaced air velocities around the
engine. This noise can be controlled.
 In propeller airplane noise is controlled by either Increasing the
number of blades (this effect increases the mass of airflow which
gives same amount of thrust with less power) or by using Reduced-
Thrust takeoff.
 In Jet Airplane noise can be controlled by using Bypass engine
or climbing at maximum angle to clear the noise control areas
faster or also by using the Reduced-thrust takeoff.
 Turbo-Prop airplane is best suited for regional operations of flights
because:
1. A jet engine is best suited for high altitudes (above 30000 feet)
which is not achievable at short regional flights. Whereas, turbo-
props are best suited for medium altitude flying.
2. Short regional operations operate out of restrictive airfields and
turboprop’s high-lift straight wing is capable of meeting field
lengths.
3. Short routes are flown more frequently with smaller passenger
demand per trip and therefore, turboprops are more economical.

 DIFFENCES BETWEEN JETAND PISTON/PROPELLER ENGINE

AIRPLANES:
 APPROACH DIFFERENCE: Approach procedures and timings
differ due to:
1. MOMENTUM: Jet airplane’s momentum is much larger than that
of piston airplane due to which approaches are to be initiated
earlier in jet planes.
Engines 43

2. SPEED STABILITY: Jet airplane’s speed stability is poor.

3. WING LIFT VALUES: Propeller airplane’s performance margin of
a straight wing is much more than that of jet airplane’s swept
wing, especially when contaminated.
4. Engine response rate of jet airplane is slower.
5. Power on stall of propeller airplane is much lower than that of jet
airplane.
 Bleed Valves are fitted on gas turbine engines to provide bleed
(Tap) air for auxiliary systems such as Air-conditioning, engine
cooling or engine and wing’s de-icing systems.
44 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

UNIT 3
Meteorology

(This Chapter Will Explain About Earth's Atmosphere,

Various Natural Occurrences Which Disturbs A Stable
Environment And Affect Safe Operations Of A Flight. Also
In The End It Will Briefly Explain About Indian
Climatology In Particular)
Earth’s atmosphere consists of various gases surrounding it which
are retained by the force of Gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by
absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat
retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes
between day and night (the diurnal temperature variations).
 Dry air comprises of different gases i.e. Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen
(21%), Argon (1%), Carbon Dioxide (.039%) and small amounts of
other gases and water vapours.
 Several layers are distinguished in the atmosphere based on their
characteristics such as Temperature and compositions.

Figure 28 - Layers of atmosphere

Meteorology 45

 The Sun provides the earth’s heat and light in form of

INSOLATION (Incoming Solar Radiation). The sun’s energy
creates our weather. Some of the sun’s is absorbed by the
atmosphere, some of it is reflected back in the outer space and
about 50% of energy reaches the earth’s surface which is
reradiated into atmosphere causing its temperature to increase,
which we feel in form of heat.
(Temperature is high near the surface of earth because it is this
radiation which heats the lower atmosphere and temperature
reduces as we climb)
 Earth is tilted by its axis at an angle of 23.5º which causes different
seasons. This tilt allows different places to receive heat energy
unevenly.
 Air also reacts differently with different amounts of heat. The air
expands when it is warm and it contracts when it is cold.
 Air has weight and pressure. Pressure is not same everywhere
because temperatures are different due to uneven heating of land
and water.

 HEAT & TEMPERATURE: Heat is a form of energy which is

measured in calories, whereas Temperature is the measure of
hotness of a body measured in Celsius/Fahrenheit.
 The heat held in the earth’s surface is transferred into atmosphere
by RADIATION (without any physical contact), CONDUCTION
(with physical contact), and CONVECTION (through medium of
air).
* Note- Formula to convert ºF to ºC:
ºF = (9/5) C + 32
OR, ºC/5 = (ºF-32)/9

 Specific Heat capacity: It is the ability of a material to hold heat

energy.
 Latent Heat: It is the heat energy, absorbed or released when
water changes from one state to another
46 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 29

 Factors determining the temperature at earth’s surface:

1. Heat energy that reaches the earth’s surface which depends upon:
 LATITUDE: The more directly the sun’s ray’s reaches the earth’s
surface, greater is the quantity of heat energy and therefore more
temperature. The sun is directly overhead in tropical regions and
therefore temperature is more in tropics and less in polar areas.
 SEASONS: Earth is tilted about its axis, which creates the same
effect as latitude and hence is the primary cause of different
seasons and associated temperature changes throughout the year.
 TIME (Di-urnal variation of temperature): Max. Temperature of
the day is at 1400hrs and then starts falling and during night Min.
temperature is at 0200hrs and then starts rising again.
 CLOUD COVER: During day, the clouds prevent Insolation and
reflect them back into space. This results in lower temperature
during day and less convective movement.
During night, the opposing effect takes place with clouds trapping
the heat energy of the earth and causing higher temperature
because it experiences less cooling than on a clear sky night.
2. Energy absorption capacity of the surface:
The type of surface determines absorption capacity i.e. sand
absorbs more heat than ice.
Meteorology 47

 Temperature Inversion/Layer: It is the height/altitude where

temperature increases with height, instead of usual decrease.
When this occurs, it acts like a blanket and stop vertical
movements/currents i.e. air that starts to rise, meets inversion
layer and stops rising.
 Isothermal Layer: It is the layer where temperature remains same
through a vertical section of atmosphere.

 MOISTURE AND CLOUDS:

 Adiabatic Process: It is one in which heat is neither added now
removed from a system, but any expansion or compression of its
gases changes the temperature of the system without any overall
loss or gain of energy. Compressing air increases its temperature,
and decompressing (expansion) decreases the temperature.
 Environmental Lapse rate (ELR) is rate of temperature change of
the parcel of air with height of general surrounding atmosphere
viz. 2ºC per 1000 feet of altitude gained.
 Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) is rate of temperature change
for Dry/Unsaturated parcel of air viz. 3ºC/1000 feet.
 Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR) is the rate of temperature
change for saturated parcel of air viz. 1.5ºC per 1000 feet of altitude
gained.
• When ELR>DALR>SALR, Air is UNSTABLE.
• When DALR>SALR>ELR, Air is STABLE.
• When DALR>ELR>SALR, It is CONDITIONALLY
STABLE.

 HUMIDITY/RELATIVE HUMIDITY: Humidity is the water vapour

in the air, whereas Relative Humidity is the amount of water vapour
in the air compared to amount of water vapour it can hold at same
temperature. Relative humidity is 100% when air is saturated and
cannot hold any more water.
 The amount of water vapour a parcel of air can hold depends on
the temperature. Warm air is able to hold more water vapour.
 DEWPOINT: It is the temperature at which a parcel of air becomes
saturated.
48 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 CLOUD FORMATION: For clouds to be formed there should be

MOISTURE, LIFTING ACTION e.g. turbulence, frontal,
convection etc. and ADIABATIC COOLING of the rising air.
 If the parcel of air containing water vapour is lifted, it will cool
adiabatically and hence its capacity to hold water vapour will
decrease. Therefore, its relative humidity increases to a point
where the air cools to its dewpoint and the air is said to be
saturated. Any further cooling will cause the vapour to condense
into water droplets and form clouds. Further, if the air is unable to
support these water droplets, they will fall as precipitation in the
form of rain. Hail or snow.
 Types of Clouds:
1. Cirrus – Shape is like curl of white hair
2. Cumulus – shape is like heap of cotton balls or whipped cream
3. Stratus - they are shaped as a blanket or full covered
They are further subdivided with following prefixed names according
to their base above mean sea level (MSL)
1. CIRRO or High Level Clouds (i.e. above 20000 feet/6000 metres)
 Cirrus  These are feather like but have no icing. No rain but can
for CONTRAILS (condensation trails)
 Cirrostratus  They have Halo around them.
 Cirrocumulus  They form mackerel sky

2. ALTO or medium level clouds (i.e. 6500 – 20000 feet)

 Altostratus  They provide continuous rain
 Altocumulus  No icing but Virga* is present
* VIRGA – It is not really a form of precipitation because it does not
reach the ground. It is a rain that falls from the base of the cloud
nut evaporates in lower level in drier warmer air. It is a sign of
temperature inversion, which in turn is an indication of wind shear.

3. Low Level Clouds (No prefix) i.e. below 6500 feet

 Stratus à Layer of grey clouds
 Stratocumulus
 Nimbostratus àContinuous rain or Snow
Meteorology 49

 FOG & MIST: They are simply parcels of low-level air in contact
with the ground that have small suspended water droplets that
have the effect of reducing visibility.
 Fog: visibility less than 1000 meters (RH>75%)
 Mist: visibility 1000m – 2000m (RH>75%)

 Types of Fog and their formation:

Fog is also formed by the condensation process (as Clouds), due
to difference in temperature between ground and air next to it or
interaction of two air masses, which reduces the temperature to
its dewpoint.
1. Radiation Fog: This type of requires;
 Cloudless night, which allows the earth’s surface to lose heat by
radiation and causes vapour to condense into water droplets.
 Moist air, with high Relative Humidity, to allow parcel of air to
reach its saturation with little cooling
 Light winds, 2 – 8 knots
2. Advection Fog: The term advection means heat transfer by the
horizontal movement of air. It can occur quite suddenly during
day or night, land or sea, if a warm moist air mass flows over a
significantly colder surface, which is cooled from below and
light to moderate winds are present to allow mixing of air parcels
3. Frontal Fog: It is formed due to the inter mixing of two different
air masses with different temperature.
 DEW: It is the water cover on the earth’s surface. It requires the
same conditions to form as of Radiation fog except, speed of
winds, which should be less than 2 knots in case of DEW.
 FROST: It is a frozen water cover on the earth’s surface and is
formed in the same manner as Dew, except that earth’s surface
has a subzero temperature which causes the water droplets out of
the air to freeze on the ground.

 THUNDERSTORMS: They are associated with Cumulonimbus

clouds, and there may be several thunderstorm cells with single
layer of cloud. Conditions necessary to form cumulonimbus clouds
are:
50 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

1. High moisture content in the air.

2. Triggering actions (or catalyst) like convection, turbulence,
orographic etc.
3. Adiabatic cooling of the rising air.
4. A highly unstable atmosphere so that once the air starts rising, it
will continue to rise.

 Lifecycle of a thunderstorm:
1. Developing stage: During development of the cumulonimbus
cloud, continuous updrafts (6000 feet/min) move the air allowing
condensation to take place throughout the ascent. It is also called
CUMULUS STAGE. It lasts for 15 – 30 min.
2. Mature stage: It is the most severe stage of thunderstorm, when
water droplets begin to fall. Downdrafts start at 3000 feet/min
accompanied by continuous updrafts at 6000 feet/min. It lasts for
30 – 45 min causing severe icing, turbulence, windshear, lightning
and Rain.
3. Dissipating stage: It is the final stage of cumulonimbus cloud
with only downdrafts and continuous falling of rain. Sometimes
Virga is present due to temperature Inversion beneath the cloud
which can still cause windshear.

Figure 30 - Lifecycle of Thunderstorm

 Hazards to Flight operations associated to Thunderstorms:

 Severe Windshear which may cause loss of control, substantial
loss of altitude and airspeed.
Meteorology 51

 Severe turbulence which can cause structural damage.

 Severe Icing
 Reduced Visibility.
 Lightning strikes which can cause damage to electrical system
and radio communications.
Cumulonimbus cloud/Thunderstorm should be avoided by at least
20 nautical miles.

 WINDS: A wind is the horizontal movement of air, which is initially

driven by a pressure difference (*Pressure gradient- which is
defined as the direction and rate of change of pressure between
different locations) between two places, and then can be
influenced further by number of factors, including earth’s rotation
forces (Coriolis force), temperature and surface friction. Winds
are expressed by their direction (measured clockwise from true
north from which the wind is blowing) and speed (in knots).
E.g. wind reported as 180/25 means wind is blowing from 180º
at 25 knots of speed.
* Wind is usually reported from true north, except when reported
from ATC during which it is reported from magnetic north in
order relate to the runway direction.
 Wind is said to be veering when it changes its direction in a
clockwise direction, E.g. 100/25 to 180/25. And, wind is said to be
backing when it changes its direction in anti-clockwise direction,
E.g. 180/25 to 100/25.

 Buys Ballot’s Law: It states that if you stand with your back to
the wind in northern hemisphere, the low pressure (temperature)
will be on your left.

 THERMAL WINDS: It is generated by a difference in temperature

(thermal Gradient) between two columns of air of large areas and
great upper heights. The direction of these winds is parallel to
isotherms. And, the strength and direction is directly proportional
to temperature gradient i.e. spacing between the isotherms.

 JETSTREAMS: They are narrow bands of high speed upper

thermal winds at very high altitudes. The wind speed must be
52 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

greater than 60 knots to be classified as jetstreams. These winds

are driven by thermal gradient and we find them wherever thermal
gradient is high.
 They are either found at the polar front, where polar air meets
subtropical air, or at inter-tropical front where subtropical air meets
tropical air. They are found just below the Tropopause.
 They are typically 1500 nautical miles long, 200 nautical miles
wide and 12000 feet deep.
 The maximum windshear/ Clear air turbulence (CAT) is associated
with jetstreams.

 Surface winds: At the surface, wind weakens in speed and backs

in direction in northern hemisphere. The strength reduces due to
friction forces between the moving air and ground.
 Surface wind speeds are altered by the time of the day (Di-urnal
variation). They lose less strength during day and more during
night i.e. the speed is more during daytime and less during night.
* In general, wind in northern hemisphere increases in speed and
veers in direction with increase in height, and in southern
hemisphere it increases in speed and backs in direction with
increase in height.

 Land/Sea breeze: These winds are important for pilots operating

near coastal airports because they are different with general wind
direction. They may also cause windshear/turbulence when
airplane passes from one body to other.

Figure 31
Meteorology 53

 During day, Land heats up faster than sea which causes the air on
land to rise. This phenomenon causes pressure difference and
induces a flow of air at the surface from sea to land, which is Sea
breeze.
 Similarly, during night land cools quicker than sea which causes
air over sea to rise and due to this pressure difference, air at the
surface moves from land to sea, called Land Breeze.

 Katabatic/Anabatic winds: A katabatic wind is a local valley wind

that flows down side of the hill, whereas Anabatic wind is a local
valley wind that flows up the side of the hill.
 PRESSURE SYSTEM/FRONTS
An AIRMASS is a large parcel of air with fairly similar temperature
and humidity properties throughout.
 A PRESSURE SYSTEM is a circulating air mass that is classified
as either ‘High’ or ‘low’, which relates to the direction of pressure
change to wards the centre of the air mass at the surface i.e. gets
lower or higher.
 Low-Pressure System: It is also known as depression and it has
following characteristics:
1. Pressure gradient: In a low pressure system, the barometric
pressure rises as you move away from the centre; in other words,
pressure drops as you move towards the centre.
2. Airfow pattern: Air is converging at lower level, rising in the
centre and diverging at the upper level.

Figure 32 - Airflow of depression

54 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

3. Wind direction: The wind circulates anti-clockwise flying towards

LOW in northern hemisphere and circulated clockwise in southern
Hemisphere; i.e. aircraft flying towards Low in northern
hemisphere will experience starboard (right) drift.
4. Airmass: A depression is made up of at least two different air
masses, i.e. a cold and a warm air mass.
5. Movement: Low pressure systems are generally more intense than
Highs and are more concentrated in terms of area with a stronger
pressure gradient. Thus, Lows move a lot faster on the surface
and tend to have a shorter life span than Highs.
6. Weather: Cloud formation is present with fair amount of
precipitation; Visibility may be good and moderate to strong winds
are present (due to high pressure gradient).
 Trough: It is a V-shaped extension of a low pressure system.
Airflow converges into a trough and rises and if the air is unstable,
severe weather will occur. E.g. Thunderstorms etc.
 High-pressure System: It is also known as Anti-cyclone, and
has " High-pressure System: It is also known as Anti-cyclone,
and has following characteristics:
1. Pressure Gradient: In a High-pressure system, the surface
barometric pressure rises as you move towards the centre or in
other words, the pressure drops as we move away from the centre.
2. Airflow Pattern: Air is converging at upper levels, moving down
at the centre and diverging at lower levels.

Figure 33 - Airflow at High-pressure system

Meteorology 55

3. Wind direction: Wind circulates clockwise around a high-pressure

system in northern hemisphere and circulates anti-clockwise in
Southern Hemisphere. An aircraft flying towards a High in
northern Hemisphere will experience Port (Left) drift.
4. Airmass: It is usually made up of only one airmass.
5. Movement: High-pressure systems are greater in extent but with
weak pressure gradient, they are slow moving and last longer
than a depression.
6. Weather: Clear upper skies with little or no low-level cloud
formation and precipitation; Light winds (due to stable air and
weak pressure gradient); Poor visibility due to trapping of dust,
smoke etc. and low winds.
 Ridge: It is U-shaped extension of a High-pressure system. Stable
air subsides in a ridge and weather similar to Anti-cyclone is
penetrating.
 FRONTS: It is a boundary between two different air masses.
1. Warm Front: It is a boundary of the air masses, where warmer,
less dense air rises up and is replaced by the colder air mass at the
surface (i.e. warm air behind cold air).
 As the warm front approaches, a lowering of cloud base is
experienced. This is represented by cirrus cloud giving way to
cirrostratus, further giving way to altostratus with possible Virga
rain and giving way to nimbostratus clouds with increased rainfall;
Poor visibility is experienced due to low-level clouds and
consistent rain/snow; Atmospheric pressure will fall.
 As the warm front passes, a rise in temperature is felt; Fog may be
persistent at lower levels; Pressure will stop falling and may even
rise and visibility will be improved at upper levels.
 A Warm front is represented by red half circles along the line.
 The slope of the warm front is typically 1:150, which is much
flatter than cold front and covers around 600 nautical miles.
56 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 34 - Cross section of Warm Front

2. Cold Front: It is a boundary between two air masses, where the

colder, denser air mass undercuts and replaces the warmer air
mass from the surface upwards (i.e. cold air behind warm air).
 As the Cold Front approaches, cumulus or even cumulonimbus
cloud cover is experienced which results in Heavy rain, severe
turbulence, windshear and Thunderstorm is present; Poor Visibility
is experienced due to increase in heavy clouds and rainfall;
Atmospheric pressure will drop.
 As the Cold Front passes, sudden drop in temperature is felt;
Clear skies are seen; Visibility improves; pressure stops falling.
 It is represented as Blue triangles (barbs) along a line.
 The slope of a cold front is very steep i.e. 1:50 and covers an area
of only 30-50 nautical miles.

Figure 35 - cross section of Cold front

Meteorology 57

3. Occluded Front: It is a combination of both warm front and cold

front.
 It occurs because Cold front moves faster than warm front, so
inevitably cold front catches with warm front. Characteristics of
both fronts are also experienced.
 It is represented by combination of semi-circles and barbs along
the front line.
4. Stationary Front: It is a boundary between two air masses, neither
of which is strong enough to replace the other.
 It is persistent for long period of time and eventually dissipates
within few days.
 It is represented by inter-lying semicircles and Barbs along the
line.

Figure 36

 TURBULENCE
It is mainly considered as vertical or horizontal gusts, or in other
words it is the eddy motion in atmosphere which vary from time to time,
from place to place, and in magnitude.
 Surface Turbulence is caused by wind blowing over and around
surface obstacles, such as hills, trees and buildings which cause
wind to blow in form of turbulent eddies.
58 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

* During turbulence, pilot should slow the plane down to its

‘Manoeuvring speed or normal smooth air operating range,
because high speeds will put higher stress on aircraft.
 Windshear: Any strong variation of wind speed or direction over
a short distance, including updrafts and downdrafts, is called
windshear.
 Most forms of windshear are found at low levels i.e. below 3000
feet. Therefore, the term Low-Level windshear is used to specify
windshear along a final approach to land or along the flight path
during take-off. Forms of low-level windshear clear air turbulence,
frontal passage, Thunderstorm gusts, CAT from Jetstreams etc.
 Windshear can be detected by windshear measuring equipment
or GPWS installed on modern aircrafts. Also, phenomena like
heavy rain, cumulonimbus clouds, Virga rain (temperature
inversion), Land/sea Breezes, fronts are instinctive possibilities
of presence of windshear in the vicinity.
 It is a hazard in aviation, to the aircraft in flight as it may Increase/
decrease the speed of the aircraft suddenly; it may cause the
airplane to stall or sudden updraft/downdraft may make it
impossible to control the aircraft and maintain flight path.
 Microburst: They are severe downdraft, which are found normally
underneath and in middle of a mature cumulonimbus cloud and
are associated with thunderstorms. Typically, microburst’s are
concentrated over an area of only 5KM across, and centred in
middle of a thunderstorm, surrounded by strong updrafts.
Microbursts are severe form of Windshear.
 They are indicated by presence of cumulonimbus clouds with
thunderstorm activities and Virga Rain especially underneath or
near a storm.
 Immediate go-around must be initiated, if encountered an un-
expected Microburst.
 Clear air Turbulence (CAT): It is turbulence with no signs of
visible moisture content which may be caused by Temperature
Inversion, Jetstreams, Fronts, Thunderstorms and Wake-
turbulence (Disrupted airflow behind the airplane due to Wingtip
vortices).
 It is one of the hardest forms of turbulence to detect as there are
Meteorology 59

no equipments for the same. Therefore it may be detected only by

appraisal of prevailing conditions.
 ICING
The formation of ice is the change of the state of water to a solid
form when the temperature is less than freezing point. Ice can form by two
states of water, i.e.
1. Water Vapour, by Sublimation*, (*the process of turning water
vapour directly into ice when temperature is less than 0ºC). The
usual result of sublimation is HOARFROST*.
* Hoarfrost – It is a white, feather like, crystalline formation which
settles on objects after water vapour in the air has frozen. Aircraft
parked outside on a clear, cold winter night are exposed to
Hoarfrost.
2. Water Droplets, by freezing rain or freezing Super-cooled water
droplets*.
* Super-cooled water droplets (SWD) – They are small liquid water
drops that exist in non-frozen liquid form in the atmosphere at
temperatures as low as -45ºC.
 Types of Icing:
1. Rime Ice: It is formed by super-cooled water, whose droplets are
very small and Aircraft skin should be below 0C, in order to form
this. This allows the droplets to freeze quickly and completely. It
does not spread to the wings. It is brittle and can be broken off
from the aircraft.
2. Clear Ice: This forms as a result of large super-cooled droplets
spreading after impact. This is a clear, glassy, hard type of ice
spread over wing propeller blades, aerials etc. It blocks static
ports and Pitot tube. This type of ice is very sticky and very hard
to break.
3. Mixed Ice: It is a mixture of Rime and Clear ice. It is clear in some
spots and white in others, and posses characteristic of both type
of icing.
 Adverse effects of Icing:
 It disrupts the airflow pattern causing poor aerodynamic
performance. For e.g. reduced stalling angle, reduced Lift,
increasing drag and stalling speed.
 Reduced control surface movements.
60 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Increase in aircraft’s weight.

 Reduced engine power.
 Blockage of vents.

 Temperature ranges for ice formation;

Severe Icing  0ºC to -7ºC
Moderate  –7ºC to -12ºC
Light  –12ºC to -20ºC
Very Light  –20ºC to -40ºC

 De-icing System: It is a system which allows the build up of ice

on the surface and is then removed. E.g. pneumatic leading edge
boots.
 Anti-icing system: It is a system which prevents build up of ice
before formation. E.g. thermal/electrical anti-icing systems.

 WEATHER REPORTS
 METAR (Aviation Metrological Report)
 Routine Report
 Issued every 30 min
 Reports current/prevailing Wx (weather)
 Replaced by SPECI
 Issued by class 1/2/3 met officers
 May/ may not have trend forecast (valid for 2 hours)
 FORMAT:
METAR ICAO designator (date & Time of issue) winds
visibility
Clouds Present Wx QNH Temp/dewpoint TREND
 For e.g.
METAR VIDP 080830 36020 4000
Few020 SCT100 RA Q1010 31/10 NO SIG
 WINDS: 36020  360º (True) at 20 knots
0000  Calm
300V230  Vary
Meteorology 61

VRB  Direction changing more than 60º

LT  Light (less than 3 knots)
30010G25 300º at 10 knots gusting to 25 knots
* Difference between Gust and Squall is ‘Time’. If lasting more
than one minute, it is called ‘Squall’, otherwise a ‘Gust’.
 VISIBILITY: Less than 5000, it is in metres
And above it is reported in ‘Kilometres’.
CAVOK  Cloud and Visibility OK (i.e. visibility-at least 10km;
clouds not less than 1500 metres; No Significant Wx)
4000P  more than 4000 metres
4000M  Less than 4000 metres
5000E1000  Multi-directional visibility
 CLOUDS: 3 layers of clouds are reported
CB’s are reported separately
Only Cumulus/CB types are reported
§ Codes for clouds reporting:
FEW: FEW = 1-2 octa*
Scattered: SCT = 3-4 octa
Broken: BKN = 5-7 octa
Overcast: OVC = 8 octa
* sky is divided into 8 parts, Hence 1octa = 1/8th part of the sky
 QNH/Pressure: Prefix ‘Q’ means in ‘HPa’ (Hecto-pascal)
Prefix ‘A’ means ‘inches of Hg (mercury)’
Also, Value is always rounded off to lower value. For e.g. QNH of
1013.6 or 1013.3 is reported as ‘Q1013’.
 TREND Forecast:
‘NO SIG’ No significant change
‘TEMPO 30010G25 1500 RA+*’ à Activity not lasting for more
than 60 min, is termed ‘TEMPO’
 Can be issued only by class 1 met officer.
* RA+ means Heavy showers
RA- means Light Rain
62 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 SPECI : It is a special issued to report certain change Wx condition

in a metar such as:
1. Winds: with minimum speed of 15knots or change by 10 knots
and/or direction change by 60 and speed 10knots.
2. Visibility crosses 5000m, 1500m or 800m.
3. Cloud cover of 5 octa or more.
4. Weather prevailing like moderate to heavy rain, squalls
Thunderstorm, Dust storm etc.
SPECI is issued immediately as the condition commences and in
case Wx improves, it should maintain improved conditions for at least
10 min to issue another SPECI.
 Landing Forecast: Also called ‘TREND FORECAST’
 It is given at the end of METAR.
 Validity period is 2 Hours
 When ‘No Significant change’ is expected, the term ‘NO SIG’ is
used.
 TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast):
It will give predicted weather conditions expected at an aerodrome,
usually for 9 hours or 24 hours.
A standard 9 hour TAF is updated and Re-issued after every 3
hours.
 E.g.
TAF VOMM 040600 040606 15008 CAVOK TEMPO 0609
17012 prob40 TEMPO 1315 VRB03 BECMG 1820 15012
Here, 040600  Date and Time of issue
040606  Date and time of Validity (Valid from 0600 to 0600)
TEMPO 0609  Temporary conditions valid from 0600-0900
PROB40  Probability of the condition is 40%
 SIGMET: Issued by 4 Met watch office of India i.e. Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi in respect of their respective FIR’s for
following Phenomena.
 Thunderstorms  Heavy Hail
 Severe Icing  Dust storms
Meteorology 63

 Violent Squall  Tropical Revolving storms

 Sand Storms  Volcanic Ash
Validity is for 4 hours and is intended for aircraft in flight.

 VOLMET (Voluntary Met Broadcast): It is made at a fixed time

throughout HF from Mumbai and Kolkata. They contain local TAF's and
METAR's, and aid specially to Long distance flights.
 AIRFIELD WARNING: or AERODROME WARNING
This is issued for parked aircraft in respect of conditions like Gale –
Rising Sand or Dust- Frost – Squall – Thunderstorm – Snow – Rough
Sea. It is valid for 4 hours.
 AIREP (Air Report): Aircraft shall report at specified points,
information regarding air temperature, winds, turbulence, aircraft icing
and any other important supplementary information.
 STATION MODEL:

Figure 37 - Station Model & Some Symbols

64 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 INDIAN CLIMATOLOGY: In India, seasons are classified into 4

Groups, which will be explained as Follows:
1. PRE-MONSOON / SUMMER (March-May):
 Pressure Pattern: A Low-pressure area lies over central INDIA.
 Weather: Weather activity is associated with INSOLATION or
Meteorology 65

Thermal heating. If RH is high (i.e. >75%), thunderstorm activity

is observed otherwise dust storm prevails. Loo & Andhi are
typical phenomena in North/North-west
 Visibility: It is generally good and is reduced only because of
dust-storms.
 NORWESTERS: These are line squall consisting of regenerating
CB’s caused by intense INSOLATION over East/N-E India.
 TRS (TROPICAL REVOLVING STORMS): These are cyclonic
storms forming in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
 Upper Winds: These are Westerly and moderate (15-20 Knots).

2. SOUTH-WEST MONSOON / RAINY (June- September):

 Pressure Pattern: An intense Low-pressure System is found over
N-W part of India and adjoining Pakistan. Pressure Gradient is
maximum during this season and country receives 80% of its
annual rainfall during this season.
 Weather: Western India or Western Ghats receive maximum rainfall
(75-100 inches). Eastern part of peninsula receives least rainfall
and is called ‘Rain Shadow Area’.
* Distribution of rainfall in India depends upon position of Monsoon
Trough. When monsoon trough struck north of its original position
or foothills of Himalayas, there is no rainfall over North and Eastern
India and this condition is called ‘Break-Monsoon Condition’.
 Winds: Upper level winds are westerly to South-westerly and
light. Monsoon current lasts only up to 15000 feet and clouds
formed in this season are cumulus and embedded CB’s.
 Tropical Easterly Jetstream: It lies between 10º-15ºN Latitude,
i.e. close to Bangalore and Hyderabad at height of 45000 feet with
the speed of 60-70 knots.

 POST-MONSOON / TRANSITION (October-November):

 Pressure pattern: It is diffused and ill-defined. Only 1-2 isobars
can be drawn over entire India. This period is also referred as
retreating monsoon season. The temperature starts decreasing
and pressure starts increasing.
 Tropical Revolving storms: October is the month of maximum
frequent cyclonic storm in Bay of Bengal and move towards Tamil
66 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa coast on westerly track. Some

of the storm moves in North or North-Eastern Direction.
 NORTH-EAST MONSOON/WINTER (December-February):
 Pressure Pattern: A High Pressure area lies over North-west India.
 Western Disturbance: They are low-pressure disturbance
associated with extra tropical depression formed over higher
latitude. WD’s are formed over Mediterranean Sea and move
eastward causing rainfall, snowfall and Thunderstorm activity
over J&K, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. WD’s have a property
of cold front and after its passage; extensive radiation fog is
observed over Western and N-W India.
 Sub-Tropical westerly jetstream: These are found up to 25ºN
latitude at approximately height of 30000 feet with average wind
speed of 100knots.
 Rainfall: Eastern peninsula receives maximum rainfall.
 GENERAL METEROLOGICAL NOTES:
 Relationship between:
1. Pressure & Temperature: Temp. increases =>Pressure Drops
2. Pressure and Density: Pressure increases => Density increases
3. Temperature & Density: Temperature increases => Density drops
4. RH and Density: High RH => Density Decreases
(Dry air = 1.225 kg/m³; Moist air= .760 kg/m³)
* With increase in altitude, Temperature Decreases which should
cause Density to Increase. At the same time with Increase in
altitude, Pressure Decreases (because of the weight of air, it
gets pulled by gravity). The Rate of fall of pressure is more
dominant than the effect of falling Temperature. Therefore with
Increase in altitude, Density reduces.
 Pressure varies exponentially versus altitude, i.e. with increase in
altitude, rate of fall of pressure decreases.
Meteorology 67

Figure 38

 Pressure change of 1HPa happens by

 30 feet @ MSL (mean Sea Level)
 34 feet @ 10000 feet
 46 feet @ 20000 feet
 65 feet @ 40000 feet
 96 feet @ 60000 feet
 RVR (Runway Visual Range): It is a highly accurate instrument-
driven visibility measurement that represents the range at which
runway’s high intensity lights can be seen in direction of Landing.
 It is reported only when indicated visibility is less than 1500
metres, and is reported at 3 points i.e. Touchdown, Midpoint and
at the end of the runway. Midpoint and end-point values are only
reported if they are less than touchdown zone and less than 800
metres or if less than 400 metres.
 RVR is measured in steps of 25m up to 200m, in steps of 50m up to
800m and thereafter in steps of 100m.
 For e.g. RVR 300/25 means visibility of 300m on runway 25.
 Thermal equator: It is the position of maximum thermal temperature
around the earth’s surface.
 ITCZ: Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a place where
converging air masses meet near thermal equator. ITCZ movement
68 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

(movement is large in summer) is a function of seasonal heating

that is much greater over land than sea. The effect of ITCZ
determines the weather pattern over significant portion of the
globe.
 TRS: Tropical Revolving Storms (TRS) are deep, intense
depressions, found in found in equatorial regions near ITCZ.
They are known as cyclones in India and Pacific Oceans,
hurricanes in Caribbean and America, and typhoons in China Sea
area.
Flight Ops And Performance 69

UNIT 4
Flight Ops And Performance

(This Chapter Will Focus On Certain Terminologies Used In

Flight Operations; And Also Look Upon Various Factors
Affecting Aircraft's Performance During Different Phases
Of Flight And Different Conditions)

 Accelerate Stop Distance Available (ASDA): The length of take-

off run plus length of stop-way; also called Emergency Distance
Available (EMDA).

 Aircraft Approach Category (AAC): A grouping of aircraft based

on the ground speed of 1.3 times the stall speed at landing
configuration (Vso) i.e. Vat (Threshold Speed), at max. Gross
weight.
Cat A  speed less than 91 knots
Cat B  speed 91 – 121 knots
Cat C  speed 121 – 141 knots
Cat D  speed 141 – 166 knots
Cat E  speed 166 knots or more
 Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ): Area of airspace over
land or water, extending upward from the surface, within which
ready identification, the location and control of aircraft are required
in interest of national security.
 Airport Reference Point (ARP): A point on the airport designated
as official airport location.
 Airway: A control area in form of a corridor equipped with radio-
navigational aids.
70 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Alternate Airport: An aerodrome to which an aircraft may proceed

when it becomes impossible /in-advisable to precede on aerodrome
of intended landing. It may be aerodrome of departure itself.
 Ceiling: The height of the base of the lowest layer of clouds
above ground or water, below 6000 metres or 20000 feet, covering
more than half of the sky (4 octa).
 Clearway: A defined rectangular area over land and water over
which an aircraft may make a portion of initial climb to screen
height* of 35 feet. It is an obstacle free area with minimum
dimension of 75m each side of the centreline.
 Screen Height: It related to the minimum height achieved over
the runway before the end of the clearway should an engine
failure occur at take-off. It marks the end of Take-off Distance.
 Displaced Threshold: A threshold located at a point on runway,
other than designated beginning of the runway.
 Landing Distance Available (LDA): The length of runway which
is declared available or suitable for landing.
 Touch-down Zone Elevation (TDZE): The highest elevation in
first 3000 feet of landing surface.
 Airport Elevation: Highest point on airport’s usable runway
measured in feet above MSL.
 Take-off Distance Available (TODA): Length of take-off run
available plus length of clearway. TODA should not exceed 1.5
TORA.
 Take-off Run Available (TORA): Length of Runway declared
suitable for ground run.
 Decision Altitude/Height (DA/DH): Altitude at which missed
approach must be initiated in a precision approach, if the visual
reference has not been established.
 Minimum descent Altitude (MDA): A specified altitude in Non-
precision approach, below which descent should not be made
without visual reference.
 Minimum safe Altitude (MSA): The lowest altitude, which may
used in emergency, and will provide 1000 feet clearance above all
obstacles in area of 25 NM around a Navigational-aid.
 Missed Approach Point (MAP): A point in instrument approach
before/at which the missed approach must be initiated.
Flight Ops And Performance 71

 Procedure Turn: A manoeuvre in which turn is made away from

designated track followed by a turn in opposite direction to permit
aircraft to intercept and proceed along reciprocal of designated
track.
 Maximum Authorised Altitude (MAA): A published altitude
representing maximum usable altitude in a route segment.
 Minimum Obstruction Clearance Altitude (MOCA): The lowest
published altitude in effect between radio fixes, which meets
obstacle clearance requirements. Suffixed by ‘T’
 Minimum en-route altitude (MEA): Lowest published altitude
which ensures obstacle clearance requirements and in many
countries ensures navigation coverage up to 22 nautical miles.
 Minimum Crossing Altitude (MCA): Lowest altitude at which
the aircraft must cross fixes.
 Minimum Reception Altitude (MRA): Lowest published altitude
at which fixes can be determined.
 Minimum off-route Altitude (MORA): This is an altitude derived
by jeppesen which provides obstruction clearance 10NM either
side of the route and 10NM radius beyond fix. Suffixed by ‘a’.
 GRID Minimum off-route altitude (GRID MORA): Altitude
derived by jeppesen which provides terrain and man-made
structure clearance within section outlined by latitude and
longitude.
 Glide Path: A descent profile determined for vertical guidance on
final approach.
 Climb Gradient: It is the ratio of the change in height by horizontal
distance travelled.
 SELCAL: A selective calling system which permits selective
calling of individual aircraft over radio-telephone.
 Wake Turbulence: It is a term used to describe the effect of
rotating air mass generated behind the wing tips of large jet aircraft.
Categories of wake Turbulence:
Heavy (H): All aircraft more than 136000 Kg
Medium (M): All aircraft between 7000-136000 Kg
Light (L): All aircraft less than 7000 Kg
 VY: Best rate of Climb Speed; speed at which aircraft gains
maximum altitude per unit time.
72 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 VX: Best Angle of Climb speed; speed at which aircraft gains

maximum altitude over a given distance on the ground.
* VY uses less trip fuel because it ensures that aircraft reaches its
cruise altitude quickly and spends greater time at its optimal engine
performance altitude rather than being on a climb profile. Also,
therefore a reduced power climb and a de-rated take-off will use
more trip-fuel.

V-SPEEDS
 VA – Manoeuvring speed: It is the speed at which elevator
deflection causes the aircraft to stall, so can be used during abrupt
turns and handling OR it is the max. Speed at which full deflection
of controls can be made without exceeding designed load limit
factor. It is normally 1.9 times the stall speed at gross weight.
 VD – Diving speed
 VFE – Max. Flap extended speed
 VLE – Max. Landing Gear extended speed
 VLO – Max. Landing Gear operating speed
 VLOF – Lift-off speed
 VNE – Never exceed speed
 VNO – Max. structural cruising speed
 VS – Stalling speed
 VS1 – Stalling speed in Landing configuration
 VSO – Stalling speed in Landing configuration
 VX – Speed for best angle of climb
 VY – Speed for best rate of climb
 VMO – Max. Operating speed
 VAT – Threshold speed (1.3 Vso): It is the target approach threshold
speed that ensures landing field length is constantly achieved.
 VMC – Minimum control speed
 VMCG – Minimum control speed on ground during engine failure
at which it is possible to maintain directional control.
 VMCA – Minimum control speed in air, during one engine failure
in approach or Landing configuration to maintain directional
control of the aircraft. VMCA may not exceed 1.2Vs.
 V1 – Take-off Decision speed: It is the take-off decision speed in
Flight Ops And Performance 73

the event of engine failure during take-off run, above which take-
off must be continued and below V1, it must be abandoned.
 Greater the weight of the aircraft, Lower is V1 as heavier
aircraft takes more distance to stop.
 Also, on contaminated runway (Ice/rainwater), V1 is lower
as reduced braking ability (Wet V1 is used).
 Wet V1 = Dry V1 -10 knots.
 V2 – Take-off safety speed: It is the speed achieved by screen
height in the event of engine failure that maintains directional
control and climb performance of aircraft (where as VMCA only
accounts for directional control). Also known as Take-off safety
Speed (TOSS). V2 is always greater than VMCA.
 VR – Rotation speed: Speed at which pilot initiates rotation during
Take-off. VR is always greater than V1.
 V3 – It is the all engine operating take-off climb speed at which
the aircraft will reach screen height.
 V4 – It is the all-engine operating speed at which aircraft will
reach 400 feet and is used as the height where acceleration to flap
retraction will be initiated.

 Take-off performance is affected by:

1. WEIGHT: Increased take-off weight results in greater take-off
distance required (TODR) and reduced Take-off climb gradient.
2. FLAPS: Use of low flap settings increases CL, and therefore less
take-off distance is required.
3. ELEVATION (Pressure Altitude): High elevation decreases
aircraft’s performance and more take-off Distance is required due
to less air density and hence, low power output.
4. HUMIDITY: High humidity means less air density and hence,
reduced aircraft performance.
5. WIND: Headwind increases take-off performance and tailwind
reduces its performance.
* Weight, elevation, humidity etc. has same effect on
LANDING DISTANCE REQUIRED as on take-off
performance.
74 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 DEPARTURE PROFILE SEGMENTS (1 TO 4):

• Reference Zero: Defined as the ground point at the end
of take-off distance, below net flight path.
1. First Sector: Extends from reference point (35 feet) to the point
where landing gear is retracted.
2. Second Sector: Extends to a gross height between 400–1000 feet
AGL (above ground level).
3. Third sector: Extends to a point where flaps are retracted.
4. Fourth Sector: Extends to a height of 1500 feet or more with flaps-
up and maximum continuous thrust (It is the max. thrust that can
be used out of the engines during long periods of operation).
 Airplane is turned due to Horizontal component of lift/
Centripetal force.
 Why does propeller Aircraft yaws left during Take-off?
Ans. It yaws to the left due to:
1. P-Factor/ Asymmetric Thrust: At high angle of attack (AOA),
the descending blade of the propeller has greater AOA which
produces more lift from the right side with consequent yawing to
the left
2. Torque: If propeller rotated clockwise, torque reaction will be
anti-clockwise and aircraft will yaw to the left.
3. Slipstream: If propeller is rotating clockwise, this will strike the
air (slipstream) on the fin from left side and hence will cause the
aircraft to yaw left.

 SERVICE CEILING: It is an altitude when rate of climb is 100feet/

min.
 ABSOLUTE CEILING: It is an altitude where rate of climb is
0feet/min.
 Effect of Contaminated surface of aircraft (Snow/frost): Presence
of any contamination on critical surfaces like wings/propeller/
aileron/control surfaces can reduce lifting capabilities of the wing
and also add extra weight on the aircraft which reduces the stall
speed of aircraft. It can reduce lift by 30%, and increase drag by
40%.
Flight Ops And Performance 75

 Effect on Contaminated Runway surface: Runway can be

contaminated with rainwater/ snow, which reduces the friction
and landing distance, is increased considerably.
 A particular phenomenon that increases Landing distance is called
AQUAPLANING/HYDROPLANING. It is a phenomena of tire
skating (not rotating) over the runway surface on a thin film of
water. This wedge of water lifts the tire off the ground, reducing
the friction forces to potentially Zero. Therefore, braking has no
effect and directional control may be lost.

Speed of Aquaplaning:
{During Take-off}

{During Landing}
 Types of Aquaplaning:
1. Dynamic: This is due to standing water on the runway and tires
are completely lifted-off.
2. Viscous: This occurs when the surface is damp and provides a
very thin film of fluid that cannot be penetrated by the tire. It is
particularly associated to very smooth surfaces.
3. Reverted rubber/ rubber reversion: This refers to tire becoming
tacky. It requires a long skid. The heat from the friction between
the tire and wet surface boils the water and reverts the rubber,
which forms a seal that delays water dispersal. The steam then
prevents tire from contacting the runway.
 Initially on a wet runway, most effective way of stopping is
Reverse-Thrust.
 Aquaplaning is controlled by using Anti-skid System, which
automatically releases the brake to allow the tire to start rotating
and push through the water layer, if it senses skid. If Anti-skid is
unavailable, pilot should use the same technique manually.
 ETOPS (Extended Twin Operations): An operator is granted
approval to operate a Twin-engine aircraft type of flights, in which
the aircraft is more than 60 min away from the alternate aerodrome
in event of engine failure.
 Elevator-Reversal: It occurs during high speed of operation,
which forces the elevator to either come to neutral position or
76 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

deflected in opposite direction which causes sudden change in

aircraft’s pitch attitude.
 Stuck-Stabilizer: Elevator pitch control capability is reduced and
heavy stick forces are felt by the pilot.
* Best CG position during stuck-stabilizer is ‘aft’, by moving
passengers to backward position, to help during landing flare.

 Q-Feel System: It is a sophisticated computer based artificial feel

system based on 1/2RV², which is felt by the pilot through control
column and rudder pedals. These systems are needed on aircraft
with powered flight controls, as they do not feed back any sensory
information to the pilot about aerodynamic forces.
* Best CG position in case of reduced/failed feel system if ‘forward’,
to make pitch control less sensitive and feel heavier controls.
 Cockpit Window Heating System: Heating of window of cockpit,
prevents it from breaking/cracking during bird strike. If the window
is freezes, it is more likely to crack and when heated, it becomes
flexible enough to the bird strike.

 SPIN: spin is an aggravated form of stall where an aircraft develops

corkscrew downward path. It may be intentional or un-intentional.
 Spin Recovery:
1. Power to IDLE; Ailerons Neutral
2. Apply full rudder in opposite direction &hold the control column
in forward position to un-stall the airplane.
 Cruise (Step) Climb: It occurs when an aircraft loses weight due
to fuel burn which allows it to climb higher and therefore, increase
its performance.
 Flying Penalties at High altitudes:
 Restricted operating speed range.
 Reduced manoeuvrability.
 Reduced aerodynamic dampening and hence stability.
SOME TERMS RELATED TO AIRCRAFT LOADS
 PAYLOAD: Load which generates revenue i.e. PAX+CARGO.
 Max. Take-off Weight (MTOW): It is the max. Weight given by
the manufacturer which cannot be exceeded in any circumstance.
It is also the designed limit of the aircraft.
Flight Ops And Performance 77

 Restricted Take-off Weight: Take-off weight restricted due to

prevailing conditions at the place of departure like runway length,
obstacle, Winds etc.
 Max. Landing weight: Take-off weight restricted due to max.
Permissible landing weight.
 Basic weight: It is the weight of the aircraft’s structure including
engine, avionics etc. plus the required crew members to operate
the flight. It does not include Payload.
 Max. Zero fuel weight (MZFW): If wing tanks are empty, its max.
Permissible weight of the aircraft includes all its contents i.e.
BASIC WEIGHT + PAYLOAD. Exceeding this weight puts un-
acceptable load on aircraft’s structure and any weight to be carried
above this, should be in form of fuel only.
 Ramp Weight: Gross weight of the aircraft prior to taxi.
 VASI (Visual Approach Slope Indicator):

Figure 39 - 2 bar VASI

78 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 40 — 3 bar VASI

 PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicator):

Figure 41 - PAPI
Navigation and Equipments 79

UNIT 5
Navigation and Equipments

(This chapter will explain various aspects of aircraft's

navigation, and explain working of various Radio
Navigational-aids and Instruments, used in flying)

BASIC NAVIGATION
Earth rotates from west to east.
Shape of the earth is Oblate Spheroid, i.e. bulging from the equator
due to centrifugal force.
 Compression Ratio: Ratio of difference between the two diameters
(Polar and equatorial diameter), to the equatorial diameter. i.e

= =

Hence, for every 300 units of equatorial diameter, Polar axis is shorter
by 1 unit.

 LATITUDE: Angle subtended by the shorter arc of the prime

meridian at centre of the earth from equator to the point to be
identified.
 Lines of latitude run east-west on the earth and are called
Parallel of latitudes.
 The angle are 0º-90ºN or 0º-º90S and is denoted by 
 LONGITUDE: Angle subtended by the equator from prime
meridian, to the point to be identified.
80 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Lines run from North-South and are called Meridian of Longitude.

 Angle is 0-180E or 0-180W and is denoted by ‘’.

Figure 42 - Latitude and Longitude angle measurement

 NAUTICAL MILE: Length of the arc subtended by 1t angle at the

centre of the earth. Length of the Nautical mile increases with
altitude. Also, Length of NM is more at the poles, because it is
measured from Geographical centre and not from Geocentre.
1NM = 6080 feet
 KILOMETER: 1/10000th part of the arc from pole to equator. 1Km
= 3280 feet; 1NM = 1.85km
 STATUE MILE: 1SM = 5280 feet
 GREAT CIRCLE: A circle whose plane divides the earth into two
equal hemispheres.
 It is the shortest distance between two points.
 Radius centre and Diameter is same as of earth.
 It appears as a straight line on the earth.
 Only one GC can be drawn between two points, unless they are
diametrically opposite.
 Radio signals follow GC track.
 Meridians and equator is great circle.
 RHUMB LINE: A line cutting all the meridians at equal angle is
RL.
Navigation and Equipments 81

 Along a RL, aircraft flies a constant direction.

 Any RL (less than 90) will spiral up towards the pole.
 It is not the shortest distance between two points.

1º =1NM

1º =60 º

1º = 60NM

 DEPARTURE: Distance in E-W direction in ‘NM’ at given latitude.

It is maximum at equator and Zero at the poles, therefore varies as
a function of cos Lat.
Departure = d long × 60 cos lat
At equator, value of latitude is 0 º, so cos 0 º is 1 and departure is
Max.

 DIRECTION
 True Direction: A direction measured with respect to true north.
 Magnetic Direction: A direction measured with respect to
magnetic north.
 VARIATION: Angular difference between magnetic direction
and true direction. If magnetic north lies east of true north, it is
called easterly variation and vice-versa.
 ISOGONAL LINES: Lines joining places of equal variation.
 AGONIC LINES: Lines joining places of Zero variation.
EAST is LEAST (Subtract); WEST is BEST (Add)
*Variation east, magnetic least and variation west, magnetic
best is valid in Both Hemispheres.
 Compass Direction: A direction measured with respect to compass
north.
 DEVIATION: Angular difference between compass direction
and magnetic direction. If compass north lies east of magnetic
north, it is called easterly deviation and vice-versa. It is
represented on ‘Compass Deviation Card’.
82 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 WIND TRIANGLE:
 Heading: Direction in which north is aligned and longitudinal
axis is pointing.
 Track: Physical path being followed or to be followed.
 Drift: Angular difference between Heading and track.

Figure 43 - Wind Triangle

 Port Drift is drift which is left of the heading, and Starboard

Drift is right of the heading.

 Beam Winds means winds 90º to the track. If winds are 90º to
track then Ground speed, GS<TAS (True airspeed) but if winds
are >90º to the track, then GS>TAS.

 Track Error: Angular difference between track required and

track made good.
 1:60 RULE: If aircraft flies for 60NM and notices a distance off
track 1NM, then Track error is 1º.

Figure 44 - 1:60 Rule

Navigation and Equipments 83

Hence, to calculate Track error, we have

S
Track error, θ = × 60
r

Where, S  distance from point of reference in NM

R  distance off track in NM
* This rule is only applicable for  is left then 20º
 CONVERGENCY: It is the inclination between two meridians at
given latitude. It is maximum at poles and zero at equator and
therefore, varies as Sine of latitude.

Convergency = dlong×Sin (Lat)

 Convergent Angle: Angular difference between GC and RL is
called convergent angle.
CA= ½ convergency
= ½ dlong×sin (lat)
 SCALE: It is the ratio of Map distance to Earth distance.

Map Distance(MD)
Scale =
Earth Distance(ED)
 Large Scale: A unit length of map shows smaller Earth distance.
 Small Scale: A unit Length of map shows larger Earth distance.
 Method Of Representing Map scale:
1. Representative Fraction: it gives relationship between MD and
ED with numerator always 1. E.g. 1:100000
2. Statement in Words: It might or might not be of same units. E.g.
1inch=5NM
3. Graduated scale
*On Jeppesen maps and charts, scale is given in statement in words
and graduated scale.

 SOLAR SYSTEM:
 Keppler’s Law of Planetary Motion:
1. All planets revolve around the sun in an elliptical orbit with sun
at one of its foci.
84 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

2. Line vector joining earth to sun, seeps equal area in equal amount
of time. Therefore velocity is not constant; it is more when near to
the sun and less when far away from sun.
3. T2 = R3, i.e. to cover each degree (time), is cube of radius.
 Earth is tilted by an angle of 231/2 º. This tilt gives us seasons.
 Rotation gives us Day/night; Revolution gives us years.
 Sun will appear at the same latitude, twice in one year.

Figure 45

 Sidereal Year: Time interval elapsed between two successive

conjunctions of earth, sun and fixed point in space.
 Tropical Year: Time interval elapsed between two successive
conjunctions of earth, sun and fixed point in Aries. It is the calendar
year.
*Earth takes 365days, 5hours, 48mins and 45sec to revolve.
 Sidereal Day: Time interval elapsed between Earth, sun and fixed
point in Aries over observer’s meridian.
Length 23hours and 56mins.
 Apparent Day: Time interval elapsed between two successive
transits of true sun over observer’s meridian.
Length  23:44 – 24:14.
 Mean Solar Day: It is maintained with respect to imaginary sun
which rotates at constant velocity of 15/hour.
Length  24hours.
Navigation and Equipments 85

 Twilight Period: It is the period before sunrise and after sunset,

when diffused light of sun is available.
Civil  0º-6º below horizon
Nautical  6º-12º below horizon
Astronomical  12-18 below horizon
* Dawn and Dusk are according to CIVIL TWILIGHT.
 Sensible Horizon: A horizon which is visible to naked eye.
 Visible Horizon: A horizon which is below “Sensible horizon”.
* Sunset/Sunrise in Air Almanac is according visible horizon and
is in ‘Local Mean Time (LMT)
 MOON: It is a natural satellite of earth which reflects the light of
sun.
 One revolution takes 291/2 days and is called SNYNODIC PERIOD.
 Everyday moon rises 55mins late because direction of rotation
and revolution is same as of earth. Therefore, once in a month
there is no moonset and once in a month, there is no moonrise.
 MAPS AND CHARTS: Maps have more geographical features
and charts have limited important information. Combined together,
they are called PROJECTIONS. It is of 2 types:
1. Perspective: created by light source and graticules.
2. Non-perspective: They are created mathematically.
 CYLINDRICAL PROJECTIONS: Point of tangency is the equator
and light source is kept at centre of the earth.

Figure 46 - Cylindrical projection construction

86 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Properties:
1. Meridians are straight line equidistant from each other.
2. Parallel of latitudes are straight line, not equidistant from each
other. Distances increase towards the poles.
3. A straight line represents ‘Rhumb Line (RL)’.
4. Great Circle (GC) is a curved line concave to RL and is convex to
nearest pole.
5. Convergence is Zero at this projection.
6. It is not an orthomorphic* projection.
* ORTHOMORPHISM: It is a property of projection in which
bearings are correctly shown. Conditions for a projection to be
orthomorphic are:
1. Meridians and parallel of latitude should cut each other at 90º.
2. Scale should be constant within closed vicinity of a point.

 MERCATOR PROJECTIONS: Mathematical corrections are

carried out in simple cylindrical projections to make it
orthomorphic i.e. Base is perspective and Construction is non-
perspective.
 Construction and properties are same as ‘cylindrical
projections’.
 Scale varies away from equator at rate of secant (latitude) in all
directions, i.e.

"Scale at lat. = scale at equator× sec(lat)

 USAGE: In India all Met charts are Mercator. It is used for RL
flying at best suited for navigation in equatorial region.
 DRAWBACK: Poles cannot be shown in this projection, hence
can be used up to 70º-75º of latitude.
 CONICAL PROJECTIONS: Point of tangency is one of the
parallel of latitude which is called ‘Standard Parallel’ and light
source is at centre of the earth.
Navigation and Equipments 87

Figure 47 – Simple Conical Projection

 Properties:
1. Meridians are straight line converging towards the poles.
2. Parallel of latitudes are arcs of concentric circle not equidistant
from each other. Distance increases away from standard parallel.
3. GC is a straight line.
4. RL is a curved line, convex to the equator.
5. It is not Orthomorphic projection.
 Lambert’s CONICAL PROJECTION: Base is perspective and
mathematical corrections are carried out to make it orthomorphic.
It is created by tangent at two parallel of latitudes (standard
parallels) and mid latitude is called ‘Latitude of origin’.
 Properties:
1. GC is a curved line but for practical purposes, it is taken nearly
straight line.
2. RL is a curved line convex to the equator.
3. Scale is correct at 2 standard parallels and between them, scales
contracts and is least at latitude of origin (though scale is taken
CONSTANT as contraction is very small).
4. Scale extends rapidly, away from standard of parallels.
5. Convergence of this map is less than 1 and is correct at Latitude
of origin.
6. This projection is orthomorphic between 2 standard of parallel.
88 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 48 - Lambert’s conical projection

 USAGE: All Jeppesen and Airway charts are Lambert’s Conical

Projections
 ZENITHAL/AZIMUTHAL PROJECTION: Point of tangency is
either pole and light source is at centre of the earth.

Figure 49 - Zenithal projection

 Projections:
1. Meridians are straight lines converging towards the poles.
2. Parallel of latitudes are concentric circles, not equidistant from
each other. Distance increases away from poles.
3. GC is a straight line and RL is curved, concave to nearest pole.
4. It is not an orthomorphic projection.
Navigation and Equipments 89

 POLAR STEREOGRAPHIC PROJECTION: It is a type of

Zenithal/Azimuthal projection with point of tangency at either
pole and light source at opposite pole.

Figure 50 - Polar stereographic projection

 Properties:
1. Meridians are straight line converging towards poles.
2. Parallel of Latitude are concentric circles drawn with pole as the
centre and not equidistant from each other. Distance increases
away from poles.
3. It is an orthomorphic projection which I truly perspective.
4. It is the only projection where, GC is a straight line.
5. Both meridian and parallel of latitude extend at the same rate from
2 1
poles to equator, i.e. at rate of "sec ( cos lat )"
2

 CP/ PNR:
 Critical point (CP) or Point of equal time (PET)
It is the point en-route from which it takes equal time to go to
destination or to come back in event of engine failure.

DH
Distance to CP, DCP =
O H
Here, D – Total distance to destination
H – Ground speed homebound with one engine inoperative
O –Ground speed outbound with one engine inoperative
90 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

DCP
Time to CP, TCP = G/S(ground speed)

 Points to remember for CP:

1. CP will be halfway when O=H, which will be during Nil Wind
condition or Beam Winds.
2. In Case of Headwinds (H/W), CP will be more than halfway and
vice-versa. And, in case H/W component increases for same TAS,
DCP will increase or CP will move towards destination.
3. For same TAS if tailwind (T/W) component increases, DCP will
decrease or CP will move towards departure point.
*CP always moves into the wind
4. If flight fuel is increased or decreased by certain percentage, DCP
will not change.
5. For same H/W, if TAS is Increased, DCP will decrease.
6. If H/W changes to T/W or vice-versa, DCP will change by
corresponding distance from midway position. E.g. For 50knts of
H/W, DCP is 850NM for total distance of 1400NM. If during actual
flight winds are found to be 50kts T/W, then New CP will be
550NM.
7. If endurance (flight time) is increased DCP will remain same.
8. If beam wind component doubles DCP will be same and TCP will
increase.
9. DCP is always calculated with Reduced TAS, whereas TCP is
always calculated with Normal TAS.

 PNR (point of No-Return) or PSR (point of safe return):

Maximum distance away from departure up to which an aircraft can
fly out and still be able to return with safe endurance of aircraft. This is
calculated in scenario of non-availability of destination.

DPNR
Distance to PNR, DPNR =
O
Here, E  Endurance (Flight Time)
Navigation and Equipments 91

DPNR
Time to PNR, TPNR =
O
‘O’ and ‘H’ are Normal TAS here, unless specified.
 Points to remember about PNR:
1. DPNR is maximum during Nil Wind conditions; any type of wind
will cause DPNR to reduce.
2. For same TAS, if H/W component is increased, DPNR will DPNR
will decrease.
3. If H/W changes to T/W or vice-versa, DPNR will remain same.
4. If flight fuel is increased/ decreased by certain percentage, DPNR
will increase/decrease by same percentage. E.g. with 2000kg of
Flight fuel, DPNR is 1000NM. If flight fuel is increased to 2200Kg,
New DPNR will be 1100NM.
5. If Fuel consumption is increased/ decreased by certain percentage,
DPNR will change by similar percentage. E.g. with Fuel
consumption of 200kg/hour, DPNR is 1000NM. If fuel consumption
is increased to 220kg/hour, DPNR will be 900NM.

Flight fuel
*Because Endurance
Fuel Consumption
6. If flight fuel is increased DPNR will increase, but if reserve fuel is
increased for same Fuel-on-board, DPNR will decrease.

 RADIO NAV-AIDS

 BASIC TERMS:
 AMPLITUDE: Displacement of a wave.
 WAVELENGTH: Distance between two crests or Troughs. Symbol
is ‘’. It is measured in ‘metres.’
 FREQUENCY: Number of waves per second.

c
Frequency, F=

C =3× 108 m/s

92 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

F  Measured in ‘Hertz’
  Measured in ‘Metres’

 POLARISATION: An Electromagnetic wave has two

components, Electrical and Magnetic. The plane in which
electrical component lies is called “PLANE OF POLARISATION”.
Therefore, vertical polarisation means, electrical component is
in Vertical Plane.
 POLAR DIAGRAM: It is a graphical representation of a signal,
after it leaves the transmitter. Polar diagram is drawn to a distance,
where signal strength reduces to 50% of its original power.
 MODULATION: Super-imposition of audio frequency (AF) or
information on carrier wave. Types of modulation are:
1. Amplitude modulation: Amplitude of carrier wave varies in
accordance to amplitude of audio wave, keeping frequency
constant.
2. Frequency modulation: Frequency of carrier wave varies in
accordance to frequency of audio wave, keeping amplitude
constant.
3. Pulse modulation: Transmission is made in form of small pulses.
It may be Amplitude modulated pulse or Frequency modulated
pulse.
4. Phase modulation: Phase is varied at fixed intervals.
 Propagation of radio waves:
Radio waves travel at a velocity of 3×108 m/s
During their passage, they are reflected, refracted (towards denser
medium) & attenuated (absorbed).
 FREQUENCY BANDS:
 Very Low frequency, VLF  0-30 KHz
 Low Frequency, LF  30-300 KHz
 Medium Frequency, MF  300-3000 KHz (3 MHz)
 High Frequency, HF  3-30 MHz
 Very High Frequency, VHF  30-300 MHz
 Ultra-High Frequency, UHF 300-3000 MHz (3 GHz)
 Super-High Frequency, SHF  3-30 GHz
Navigation and Equipments 93

 Extremely-High Frequency, EHF 30-300 GHz

• L band  1-2 GHz
• S band  2-4 GHz
• C band  4-8 GHz
• X band  8-12 GHz
 GROUND WAVE: SPACE WAVE + SURFACE WAVE
* SPACE WAVE: Direct + Ground Reflected wave
* SURFACE WAVE: Travels on surface and bends due to
Attenuation (absorption). It follows the curvature of the earth
and travels a longer distance than any other wave.
 Low Frequency wave travels longer:

Figure 51

So, High Frequency, Higher is the attenuation (Refer Fig. 51); and
hence low frequency wave travels longer.
Also, High frequency means lesser Diffraction; so lower frequency
wave will propagate more.
 Drawbacks of Lower frequency transmission:
1. Static interference is high.
2. Requires more transmission power.
3. Bigger antenna size is required (because antenna size is best at /2).
94 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 IONOSPHERE and its help in transmission:

It is layer of negatively charged particles (electrons), formed due to
U-V rays, which refracts the radio-wave signals and help propagation to
distant places. This layer is existent in upper atmosphere and includes
Thermosphere and parts of mesosphere and exosphere.

Figure 52

Ionosphere consists of three layers i.e. D, E and F. Electron density

is maximum at F layer. At night, D layer almost disappears and electron
density in E-layer reduces, due to which wave travels higher at night.

Figure 53
Navigation and Equipments 95

Figure 54 - ionospheric wave propogation

 Angle of Incidence: It is the angle made by Radio wave with

perpendicular of the transmitter. Angle of Incidence at which first
sky wave is received is called Critical angle (CA). Any wave
leaving transmitter at lesser angle than critical angle will not be
refracted back and will escape into space.
 Skip Distance: Distance between transmitter and first sky wave.
 Dead Space: Distance between limit of ground wave from the
transmitter and the first sky wave is called Dead Space. There is
no signal here. (shown as sky zone in fig.54)
At 3 MHz frequency CA is 0º
At 30 MHz frequency  CA is 90º
Hence, as frequency increases, CA increases
 Frequency Increases  CA increases
 Frequency Increases  Skip distance increases
 Frequency Increases  Dead Space increases
 Frequency Increases  Ionospheric attenuation increases
 Frequency Increases  Ionospheric refraction decreases
 Night effect in HF communication: During night, D layer
disappears and electron density reduces, due to which signal
travels higher in ionosphere before getting refracted. This causes
96 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Skip Distance to increase and aircraft comes under Dead Space.

To prevent this, at night, HF frequencies are reduced to 50% of its
day time value.

ADF (Automatic Direction Finder /

NDB (Non-Directional Radio Beacon)

This Navigational-aid gives Relative bearing of the aircraft with respect
to NDB station.

Figure 55 - ADF

 Frequency Range: NDB (Transmitter) 190-450 KHz

ADF (Receiver)  190-1750 KHz
ADF frequency range is more, so that it can tune to AM radio.
 Band : Higher LF (30-300KHz) & Lower MF (300-3000KHz)
 Principle: Bearing by Loop Theory
 Working: ADF equipment consist of two aerials, Loop & Sense
 Loop aerial has directional properties and polar diagram of figure
‘8’. A simple loop antenna suffers from 180º ambiguity because it
has two maxims and two minima’s.
 When loop antenna is in line with the transmitter, both vertical
arms are in different phases, which cause potential difference and
causes E.M.F to induce.
Navigation and Equipments 97

 A Sense aerial is used to remove its 180º ambiguity and has a

polar diagram of ‘circle’.
 Combined polar diagram is called “CARDIOD”, which has one
maxima and one null point (used to rotate RBI), at receiver end.
 Factors affecting Accuracy of ADF:
1. NIGHT EFFECT: This is different from HF communication during
night. Due to lesser electron density during night, MF band waves
are refracted back in the form of sky-wave (which is absorbed
during day). This sky-wave causes interference in horizontal arm
of loop due to which, ADF pointer oscillates. *ADF signals are
to be received only in form of Ground wave for proper reception.
 To reduce this Night effect:
 Beacon transmitting at Lower Frequency is used (so that more
absorption can take place in ionosphere).
 Beacon transmitting at more power is used, to have effective
ground wave.
 Beacon within 70NM of aircraft position is used. (Because first
sky-wave is reached at a skip distance of 70NM).
2. COASTAL ERROR: A signal leaving coastline from land to sea
will always bend towards land (denser medium) or away from
normal. This will show aircraft position to be closer to coastline
than actual position.
 To reduce this error:
 Fly as high as possible, as atmospheric density will be similar.
 Use a beacon located close to coastline than inland. (Stronger
signal and medium change is less).
 Use a beacon whose signal is leaving coastline at 90º. (Acuter the
angle more is coastal error).
 Use a beacon transmitting at high power. (More power, less bend).
3. QUADRENTAL ERROR: Due to aircraft’s magnetic field, signal
reaching loop aerial undergoes direction change causing ADF to
give wrong indication, which is called Quadrental Error.
*It is the most prominent error in ADF.
 To reduce this error, aircraft should be flown on cardinal headings.
4. INTEFERENCE ERROR: When aircraft is operating in coverage
area of more than one NDB, there might be interference causing
incorrect indications of RBI.
98 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Designated operational Coverage (DOC) is given in AIP

(Aeronautical Information Publication) which guarantees that
there won’t be any interference from other NDB in that area. It is
given in ‘NM’ and is valid for Daytime only.
5. STATIC INTERFERENCE (CB’s, Thunderstorms, Lighting) and
LOOP MISALIGNMENT is also other forms of ADF errors.

 Types of NDB:
1. Locator NDB à low power (10-25NM range)
2. Holding/Homing NDB à medium power (50NM range)
3. En-route NDB à High power (Range varies)

 Factors affecting Range of NDB:

1. Transmission Power: More TX Power, More Range

Tx Power
2. Frequency: Low Frequency more is the Range.
3. Terrain: Range is more over sea than land, and range is more
over plains than hilly area.
4. Night effect: Range is less at night.
VOR (Very High-Frequency Omni Directional Radio Range)

Figure 56 - VOR
Navigation and Equipments 99

 Principle: Bearing by Phase Difference

 Frequency Range: 108-117.9 MHz (VHF Band)
* Frequency is shared with ILS Localizer from 108-112 MHz (only
odd decimals). E.g. 111.6 is VOR and 111.5 is localizer.
 Working:
 VOR ground transmitter transmits signal using two types of
antennas – i.e. FIXED & ROTATING.
 Fixed antenna transmits a ‘Reference Signal’ of 30MHz
(Frequency modulated), which is received in same phase in all
directions. Polar Diagram is ‘Circle’.
 Rotating aerial transmits a ‘Variable Signal’ of 30 MHz (Amplitude
modulated) at rate of 30 cycles/sec. This signal is received in
different phase depending upon the direction of the antenna.
Polar diagram is figure ‘8’.
 Both signals are In-Phase at magnetic north. Phase difference at
any place corresponds to Magnetic bearing from the ground
station. Therefore, VOR transmits 360º magnetic tracks.
 Aircraft receiver measures this phase difference to give indication
with respect to selected tracks.
 Combined polar diagram is called “LIMACON”, and is at the
transmitter’s end.

Figure 57 - Radials of VOR

 Indicators of VOR:
1. OBS (Omni-bearing selector): It is a rotating knob to select any
of 360º tracks.
100 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

2. CDI (Course deviation indicator): It gives deviation from the

track. Maximum deflection is 10º either side.

Figure 58

3. To-From Indicator: Shows that aircraft is flying towards or away

from VOR Transmitter.

Figure 59 - To-From indication in different quadrants

 Factors affecting Accuracy of VOR:

Navigation and Equipments 101

1. SITE ERROR: Uneven terrain or any physical obstruction in the

vicinity of VOR effects transmitter’s directional properties. It is
caused due to presence of structures, trees, over-grown grass
etc. It is also called VOR course displacement error. Error is
permissible up to ±1º.
2. AIRBORNE EQUIPMENT ERROR: It is inherent in the aircraft
equipment (VOR receiver). Max. Permissible to ±1º.
3. PROPAGATION ERROR: This is caused due to the phase shift
during propagation of the signal, i.e. diffraction, refraction etc.
*Collectively, these errors are known as ‘AGGREGATE
ERROR’
 Factors affecting VOR Range:
1. Transmission Power: More TX Power means More Range.

Range Tx Power

2. Line of Sight: Range = 1.25 Tx height +1.25 Rx height or

Range = 12 FL (Flight Level) {When VOR at MSL}
3. DOC (Designated Operational Coverage): It is the area which
guarantees continued reception without interference. Valid for
Day and Night
 Identification Code: It is transmitted every 10 Sec consisting of 3
letters. It is removed in following conditions:
 Bearing information is wrong by more than 1.
 Signal strength reduces 15% below normal.
 Failure of monitor system.
 Accuracy of Equipment:
1. Combined accuracy of Tx and Rx signal should be within ± 5º for
95% of the time.
2. Accuracy of Tx signal should be within ±3º for 95% of the time.
3. Accuracy of VOT (Test VOR) or accuracy on ground should be
±4 º.
4. Accuracy of airborne test should be ±6 º
5. When using two VOR’s, accuracy should be ± 2 º.
102 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 CONE OF CONFUSION: A VOR transmitter transmits a

horizontally polarized signal up to an angle of 60º-80º from
horizontal. Therefore, there is no transmission just above the
VOR beacon. This area is in a form of a cone.

Figure 60

 Indications over cone of confusion:

 Flickering of TO-FROM flag.
 CDI may oscillate from one end to another.
 Failure warning flag may come ON and go OFF.
 DOPPLER VOR: The Principle, Frequency and Band are same
as of normal VOR. The main difference in Doppler VOR is that
instead of a rotating aerial, it has 48 aerial around the fixed aerial
for transmission of Variable signal. Variable signal here is
Frequency Modulated (30Hz) and Reference signal from fixed
aerial is Amplitude modulated (30Hz).
*Advantage of this VOR is that it has NO SITE ERROR.
 VOT (Test VOR): In VOT, phase difference between reference
and Variable Signal is 180º in all directions and therefore 180º
shows ‘TO’ and 000 º shows ‘FROM’.
Navigation and Equipments 103

 VOT test can be performed anywhere on the ground whereas,

VOR check can be performed only at designated point on
airfield.

Figure 61 - Types of VOR

 Some ‘Q-Codes’:
 QDM: Magnetic track to the station; HDG (M) + RB (Relative
Bearing)
 QUJ: True Heading to go to the station; HDG (T) + RB
 QDM = QUJ ± Variation
 QDR: Magnetic track from the station; QDM= QDR ± 180º
 QTE: True Heading from the station; QTE= QUJ ±180º

This equipment has 3 parts:

1. Localizer: Gives Azimuth information
2. Glide Slope: gives Elevation Information
104 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Figure 62 - Localizer and Glide slope

3. Marker Beacons: gives Range.

Figure 63 - Marker Beacons

 LOCALIZER: It gives Azimuth Information i.e. helps the aircraft

maintain the approach by aligning with the centreline of the
runway.
Frequency: 108-112 MHz (all odd decimals)
Band: VHF
Principle: Bearing by Lobe* comparison or Difference in depth
modulation.
Navigation and Equipments 105

*Fig. 59 shows the lobes of localizer. 90Hz lobe is ‘yellow’ and 150
Hz lobe is ‘Blue’.

10NM; ±

25NM; 17NM;
±35
±

Horizontal Coverage

7 ; 25NM

Vertical Coverage

Figure 64 - Coverage of Localizer

*Localizer equipment is installed 300 metres upwind of the

runway.

 GLIDE SLOPE: This gives the Elevation Information and helps

aircraft maintain a glide path during descent for landing.
Frequency: 329.3 – 335 MHz (paired with localizer)
Band: UHF
Principle: Bearing by Lobe Comparison or Difference in depth
modulation.
*Fig. 59 shows the lobes of glide slope. 90Hz lobe is ‘yellow’ and
150 Hz lobe is ‘Blue’ (same as localizer).
106 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

10NM; ±8

Horizontal coverage

.45θ – 1.75θ

Vertical coverage

Figure 65 - Coverage of ILS

Range of Glide Slope angle for 3º GS (Glide Slope):

.45 ×3º=1.35º
1.75×3º=5.25º
 False Glide slope: Due to propagation characteristics, twin lobe
pattern of glide slope repeats itself one above another, giving rise
to false glide slope. 1st false glide slope is at an angle of 6º and
then 9º.

Figure 66

• Indication of False glide slope:

1. Altitude will be higher at outer marker.
2. Rate of descent will be higher.
Navigation and Equipments 107

3. Speed will not drop.

4. Localizer failure warning flag may come ‘ON’.
 ILS indicator:

Figure 67

 The vertical arm in Fig.67 is for Localizer having maximum

deflection of 2.5 each side.
 The horizontal arm in Fig.67 is for Glide slope having maximum
deflection of .7 each side.
*Max. Permissible deflection is ‘half scale’; any more than that 
GO MISSED
*For same amount of deviation, Glide slope will have more
deflection.
 ROD Formula:

Rate of Descent = Ground speed 100

60
For 3º Glide Slope, ROD= Ground speed (Knots) × 5
*For same amount of ground speed, if glide angle () is reduced,
ROD will reduce.
*ROD is a function of ‘Ground speed’; i.e. ROD Ground speed
108 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 MARKER BEACONS: gives Range of aircraft from runway

400Hz
1300Hz
(Low Pitch)
3500Hz
(Low Pitch)
Blue Light (High Pitch)
Amber Light
White Light
Runway

Outer Marker Middle Marker Inner Marker

3.5-6NM 3500 feet 1050 feet

 ILS Reference Point: The Glide slope antenna is positioned in

such a way that the glide path passes over the Threshold at a
height of 50 feet. This is Called ‘ILS Reference Point’.
 Categories of ILS:

Decision Height (DH) RVR

Cat I 200 feet (60m) 550m

Cat II 100 feet (30m) 350m

Cat IIIa Less than 100 feet/Zero 200m

Cat IIIb Less than 50 feet/Zero 50m
Cat IIIc Zero Zero

RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging)

Principle: ECHO (range) & SEARCH LIGHT (azimuth)
 Speed, V = Distance/time à D/T
D=V ×T
Navigation and Equipments 109

(3 108 ) T
= (Because pulse goes and comes back)
2

C T
So, Range =
2
PRIMARY RADAR SECONDARY RADAR
Transmission and reception Transmission and Reception at
takes place at one end. both ends
No help is required from the target. Information from target is
required
Transmission and Reception not Transmission and reception is
continuous continuous
Transmission and Reception on Transmission and Reception on
same frequency different frequencies
Transmission is made in single Transmission and Reception in
pulse pair of pulses

Less Range; i.e 4 Tx power More Range;i.e. Tx power

Affected by external interference Free from external interference

 Pulse Width: It is the time interval in microseconds from start of

one pulse to the end of that pulse.
 PRP/PRI/PRT (Pulse recurring period/interval/time): It is the
time elapsed between the start of one pulse to the start of next
pulse.
 PRF/PRR (Pulse Recurring Frequency/Rate): number of pulses
per second.

1
PRI=
PRF
Max. Range = C PRI (time) C
2 2 PRF
Hence, Max. Radar Range is a function of PRF.
*Minimum Radar Range is a function of Pulse Width.
*Angular Resolution is a function of Beam Width (Narrower the
110 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

beam, more is the resolution)

* Drawback of PULSE RADAR is the DEAD ZONE.

DME (DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT)

It is a device which tells the Slant Range of the aircraft from the
equipment.
Principle: Secondary Radar (Random PRF technique)
Frequency: 962 – 1213 MHz
Band: UHF
 Working:
1. When equipment is switched ON, the interrogator starts
transmitting in pair of pulses at PRF of 150pulses/sec.
2. The ground station replies to each pair of pulse with fixed delay
of 50µsec and 63MHz frequency removed.
3. During Locked-on Mode Interrogator transmits at 24-30 pulses/
sec (i.e. average of 27pulses/sec).
4. If no response is received during Scanning mode, interrogator
transmits at 60pulses/sec, which is Stand-by Mode.
5. Ground Station can reply to maximum 2700pulses/sec. Therefore,
only 100 aircraft can be in Locked-on Mode at a given time. If
more aircrafts try to Lock-on, then Swamping* takes place.
*SWAMPING: It is the process of breaking the lock of Low
powered/older version/farther equipment, when 100 aircrafts are
locked into the ground station.
 Identification code: Ground station transmits an identification
code at approximately every 30sec.
 Accuracy: ±0.5NM or 3%, whichever is higher.
 Slant Range Error: Difference between the indicated Range
and ground distance is called ‘SLANT RANGE ERROR’.
Navigation and Equipments 111

Figure 68

*This error is negligible when aircraft is flying at height 1000 feet/

NM of ground range.
* A DME never shows ZERO. It shows the aircraft’s height in NM
above the ground station.
 VOR-DME: A VOR & DME can be frequency paired when they
are co-located and serving same station. They can also be paired
if DME is within 7NM and serving the same station. In such case,
identification code is suffixed by letter ‘Z’.

SSR (SECONDARY SURVEILLANCE RADAR)

Transponder is a type SSR used in aircraft, which is used for
identifying the aircraft’s position and altitude by the ground unit at all
times.
Principle: Secondary Radar (Mode and Code Pulse)
Frequency: 1030MHz for Interrogator (Ground)
1090 MHz for Transmitter (Air)
Band: UHF
Modes of SSR:
• MODE ‘A’  gives IDNETIFICATION
• MODE ‘B’  Identification (Stand-by to Mode ‘A’)
• MODE ‘C’  Identification and altitude (steps of 100 feet)
• MODE ‘S’  All functions of MODE ‘C’ and altitude in steps of
25feet. It can be used as Data Transponder.
112 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Transponder Codes: Max. Number of codes are 4096.

 0000  Transponder Failure
 2000  No code allotted/Crossing FIR
 7500  Unlawful Interference (Hijack)
 7600  Communication Failure
 7700  Emergency
*Mode ‘S’ or Mode ‘C’ should be switched OFF in case of
accuracy differs by ±200 feet.
 Fruiting: When aircraft is flying with the coverage area of more
than one SSR, it may cause interference in one station while
replying to other. This is reduced by allotting different PRF to
adjacent stations.
 Garbling: When two or more aircraft’s are operating close to
each other (within 1.7NM) or lesser, they may cause interference
by giving over-lapping response to the ground station. This can
be reduced by using ‘Killer Circuit’.

RADIO ALTIMETER
Principle: It gives the height of the aircraft by measuring the time
difference by transmitting regularly and constantly changing Frequency
Modulated Continuous Wave.
Frequency: 4200-4400 MHz (Average of 4300MHz)
Band: SHF
 Working:
1. Aircraft transmits a continuous wave of constantly and regularly
changing frequency from 4200-440MHz.
2. The transmitted frequency is received after getting reflected back
from the ground. This frequency differs from the frequency being
transmitted at the time of reception.
3. If height of aircraft is more, the frequency difference will be more
which corresponds to height of aircraft.
Indications: It gives height of aircraft up to 2500 feet in steps of
5 feet with aircraft in landing configuration.
Accuracy: ± (3%+5) feet of indicated height.
Navigation and Equipments 113

TCAS/ACAS (TRAFFIC/AIRBORNE COLLISION

AVOIDANCE SYSTEM)
It gives Aural and Visual alerts for proximate traffic.
Frequency: 1030 & 1090 MHz
Band: UHF
Working:
1. Airborne equipment consists of interrogator and transponder.
2. Airborne equipment of aircrafts, communicate with each other to
generate TA (Traffic Advisory) and if aircraft is equipped with
Mode ‘C’ or Mode ‘S’ transponder, it also generates RA
(Resolution Advisory).
3. Maximum Range of TCAS system is 30NM.
 TCAS I/ACAS I: It generates ‘TA’ only and does not give any
course of action to prevent the collision. E.g. “Traffic-Traffic”.
 TCAS II/ACAS II: It gives both ‘TA’ and ‘RA’. RA is generated
in vertical plane only. Two types of RA:
1. Preventive RA: It prevents conflict rather than resolving them.
E.g. “Monitor Vertical Speed”.
2. Corrective RA: It gives corrective action to be taken to resolve
the conflict. This includes instruction to climb/Descent or change
Rate of Climb/Descent.
*RA is always accompanied with RA-VSI. RA is generated 40Sec
before the potential collision. No vertical RA is generated below
1000 feet AGL.
* When conflict resolved, aural comes “Clear of Conflict”.
 VISUAL INDICATION- Either on Navigation Display (ND) or
TCAS indicator.
114 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

GPWS (GROUND PROXIMITY WARNING SYSTEM)

It is an equipment which warns the aircraft for coming in close
proximity to the ground.

Figure 69 - Inputs to GPWS

Navigation and Equipments 115

MODES OF GPWS

Hazard Envelope Alert

1. Excessive ROD 50-2450ft “Sink Rate”

2. Excessive Terrain Closure Rate

2(a). Flaps not in Landing Config. Below 1800 feet “Terrain”

2(b). Flaps in landing Configuration Below 790 feet

3. Negative ROC after Take-off 50-700 feet “Don’t Sink”

4. Unsafe Landing Configuration

4(a).Landing Gear UP 500 Feet “Too Low, Gear”

4(b). Flaps Up 250 feet “Too Low, Flaps”

5. Excessive Glide Slope Deviation 100-500 feet “Glide Slope”

6. Decision Height (DH) NO ENVELOPE “Minimums”

 EGPWS (Enhanced GPWS)/ TAWS (Terrain avoidance and

Warning System
It performs all the functions of GPWS and in addition, it gives:
 Alerts for Terrain ahead
 Bank Angle on Approach
 Wind Shear on approach or Take-off
* It is mandatory for aircrafts more than 5700kg to install this
equipment.
116 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Modes of EGPWS:
MODE 1, 2 and 3 are same as of GPWS.
MODE 4: It is almost same as GPWS ‘mode 4’, except that, it also
gives alert if Radio Altimeter reading falls below a certain proportion after
Take-off or Go-around.
MODE 5: It also gives alert for excessive Glide-Slope Deviation.
1. SOFT ALERT: It comes when aircraft is below 1000 feet of radio
altitude and deviation is for 1.3 dots below glide slope. It comes
in half of full Volume.
2. HARD ALERT: It comes when aircraft is 2.5 dots below glide
slope. It comes in full volume and is to be treated as a Warning.
*No alert is generated if aircraft is below 150 feet.
MODE 6: It gives alert for Bank Angle, and the envelope reduces
as aircraft descends below 150 feet.
MODE 7: It gives alert for Wind-Shear below 1500 feet.

AWR (AIRBORNE WEATHER RADAR)

Principle: Echo & Search Light
Frequency: 8 – 10 GHz
Band: SHF or X-Band
Coverage: ±60º of Aircraft Heading; Gyro Beam Width is 3º and
antenna is stabilized in Pitch & Roll Movement.

Figure 70

AWR operation on the ground is only permitted with certain

precautions to safeguard health of person and protect equipment. AWR is
switched ON at Line-up direction for Take-off.
Navigation and Equipments 117

MLS (MICROWAVE LANDING SYSTEM)

This was introduces to remove some of the drawbacks of ILS such
as, False glide slope, Longer Recovery Time, Non-usability in Take-off
Direction etc.
Frequency: 5.03 – 5.09 GHz
Or, 5030-5090 MHz (SHF Band)
Principle: Time-Reference Scanning Beam (TRSB)
 Working:
1. A fan shaped narrow beam sweeps very accurately from one side
to other and back again after specific interval called ‘GUARD
TIME’.
2. One Vertical beam sweeps horizontally to give azimuth information
and one horizontal beam sweeps vertically to give Elevation
information.
3. Aircraft receives the signal twice and time difference between
each reception relates to angular deviation from required track.
4. 3 elevation scans are done for every azimuth scan.
5. There are 40.5 elevation scans for every 13.5 azimuth scans in 1
minute.
6. A precision DME gives distance from touch-down.

Horizontal Coverage
20NM
± 10NM
RUNWAY ±

Landing Direction T/o Direction

Vertical coverage
20NM
10NM ±2
± ;20000’
10000’

Localizer Beam Coverage

Figure 71 - coverage of MLS localizer beam

118 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Glide Slope beam Coverage:

 Horizontal: ±10, 20NM
 Vertical: 0.9-7.5; 20NM
* Glide Slope beam can be used only in Landing Direction, unlike
localizer beam which is used in T/o Direction also in MLS.

HOLDING PATTERN
It is a “Racetrack” shaped pattern used by aircrafts for holding
procedures.
 STANDARD PATTERN:
 All Turns to the right
 Each leg of 1 minute

Figure 72 – STANDARD HOLD

 NON-STANDARD HOLDS:
 Left hand turns and/or leg ‘Not of 1-Min’
 WIND CORRECTION:
1. Correction for DRIFT: 3 Times the actual drift angle on
OUTBOUND and actual drift angle on INBOUND is to be applied.
2. Correction for TIME: Increase/Decrease 1sec. for every knot of
Headwind/Tailwind during Outbound respectively.
 Airspeed Restriction during Hold:
 AT or below FL140 230knots
 FL140 – FL200 240knots
Navigation and Equipments 119

 FL200 – FL340  265 knots

 Above FL340  0.83 mach

 Entry Procedure for Holds:

Figure 73 - Entry procedures

 RADIAL INTERCEPTION: Rules of Radial interception are as

follows:
 Intercept angle (IA) is always with respect to ‘FINAL TRACK’
 Standard IA is always 30º, 60º or 90º (Max.)
 Double the radial difference or higher
 No drift is to be applied in Heading to intercept
 Example: Aircraft is approaching on R-270 and new radial is 240

R-270; Hdg-090

New R-240;
120 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Now, IA will be 60º (because difference in radial is 30º)

Heading to intercept is 120º; because Heading on new radial (240)
will be 60º. So, 60º+IA=120º.
Turn is made to ‘Right’ through 30º i.e. from 090º to 120º and RBI
reading on intercept will be 300º.
(These were some of the Important Navigational devices used to
navigate from one point to another. Now, we will take upon some
INSTRUMENTS will tell us the attitude and the direction in which the
aircraft is flying)

ALTIMETER
This equipment helps us determine the altitude at which the aircraft
is flying.
 Simple/Service Altimeter:

Figure 74

 The Working Principle of this altimeter is that the Static Pressure

into the casing implies pressure on the capsule, which then moves
the pointer through mechanical linkages. The Drawback of this
type of altimeter is that, it is Insensitive at high altitudes.
 Sensitive Altimeter: It has the same principle as of Simple/Service
altimeter. It was created to Increase the sensitivity at high altitudes
by employing more than one capsule in series, so that the
instrument is sensitive even to smaller changes.
It also has a Drawback in form of LAG-ERROR, which is caused due
to Inertia of capsule & mechanical linkages.
Navigation and Equipments 121

 Servo-Assisted Altimeter: Both Simple and Sensitive altimeter

suffer from Lag error due to mechanical linkages. In Servo-
Assisted altimeter Lag-error is virtually removed by “ELECTRO-
MAGNETIC PICK-OFF DEVICE”.

Figure 75

 The Pick-off device consists of two vanes, i.e. ‘E vane’ (which

moves the Indicator) and ‘I-vane’ (which moves the capsule)
*Remember I-vane does not move Indicator

SOME TERMS TO REMEMBER:

 QNH: Pressure prevailing at mean sea level. When set on the
sub-scale (Kollesman Window), altimeter reads elevation on the
ground and it gives altitude above MSL in air.
 QFE: Pressure prevailing at an airfield. It gives height above
airport elevation in air and reads Zero on the ground.
*QNH=QFE+ (Elevation/30)
 QNE: Altitude measured with altimeter setting 29.92"Hg or 1013.2
HPa and indications are referred as Flight Level.
 PRESSURE ALTITUDE: Height above the standard datum plane,
i.e. when altimeter is set to 1013.2 Hpa.
 DENSITY ALTITUDE: It is the altitude where prevailing density
would occur in ISA conditions. OR, Pressure altitude corrected
for ISA temperature.
DA= PA+ [120 x (OAT – ISA temperature)]
*More the temperature, more will be the density altitude, because
of less air density on the ground level.
122 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 TRUE ALTITUDE: Exact vertical displacement from MSL (mean

Sea Level). It varies with prevailing temperature at that place.

TrueAltitude=PressureAltitude(PA)+ 4 ISADeviation PA
1000
* ISA Deviation = Actual temperature – ISA temperature

 ISA Conditions:
1. MSL temperature  15ºC
2. Temperature Lapse rate  2ºC/1000feet till 11Km(36090
ft)
After that, -56.5ºC
(Tropopause)
3. MSL Pressure  1013.25 HPa/29.92” Hg/ 14.7 lbs/m2
4. MSL Density  1.225 Kg/m (dry Air)
3

 Thumb rule to calculate True Altitude: True altitude varies 4% of

Pressure Altitude for every 10ºC temperature deviation from ISA.
For e.g. if indicated altitude (PA) is 25000feet and OAT is -20ºC.
True Altitude?
ISA Deviation = OAT – ISA temperature
= -20º – (-35ºC) [according to ISA Lapse rate]
= 15º C
So, according to thumb rule, for 15ºC, TA should vary 6%
Therefore, TA= 6% × 25000 +25000 = 26500feet
 ERRORS OF ALTIMETER: Altimeter suffers from various errors
due to which in Non-RVSM areas FL intervals is increased to
2000feet above FL290.
Barometric
Lag
Instrument
Pressure/Position
Temperature
Blockage
Navigation and Equipments 123

* Remember BLIPTB
ð Barometric Error: when subscale setting of altimeter differs from
actual pressure prevailing at that point, the error caused is called
Barometric. Going from High pressure area to Low Pressure area
i.e. subscale setting is high but actual is low, then the indicated
altitude is high but actual is lower.
* Remember HIGH to LOW, Look out below; i.e. actual is low
and indicated is high, and Vice-Versa.
 Lag Error: As discussed earlier, this error is caused due to Inertia
of capsule & mechanical linkages, and is virtually removed in
Servo-Assisted Altimeter by pick-off device.
 Instrument Error: It is inherent in the instrument.
 Position/Pressure Error: It is caused due to two reasons, i.e.
Incorrect positioning of static source & Manoeuvre Induced
(Flying at low speed/ high AOA or under ground-effect). It is
caused due to the interference of Dynamic pressure at Static
Source. It always causes the Altimeter to UNDER-READ.
 To reduce this error, two static sources are placed in opposite
directions.
 Temperature Error: Flying from area of HIGH temperature to
LOW temperature, it will read HIGHER than actual.
*Remember HIGH to LOW, indication is HIGH.
 Blockage Error:
 In level Flight, static source blocked (with drain pipe), it will
FREEZE.
 During CLIMB, static source blocked, it will UNDER-READ.
 Aircraft side-slipping towards blocked side of static source, it
will OVER-READ (because of lag error).
 Aircraft side-slipping towards un-blocked side of static source, it
will UNDER-READ.
124 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

ASI (AIRSPEED INDICATOR)

Figure 76

It works by measuring the difference between PITOT PRESSURE

(Static + Dynamic) and STATIC PRESSURE (pressure in casing) to get
Dynamic pressure, which is the pressure exerted due to virtue of motion.
 Errors of Airspeed Indicator:
Blockage
Lag
Instrument
Position/Pressure
Density
Compressibility
*Remember BLIPDC
 Blockage Error:
STATIC BLOCKEDDuring level Flight  Correct Indication
During Climb Under-Read
 During descent  Over-Read
PITOT BLOCKED  During level flight  Freeze
 During climb  Over-Read
 During descent  Under-Read
*Static blocked during descent is most dangerous because it
over-reads the indication, due to which we may stall un-
intentionally.
Navigation and Equipments 125

 Lag, Instrument and Position Errors are same as of Altimeter

 Density Error: Flying from area of HIGH density to area of LOW
density, for same Indicated-Airspeed (IAS), TAS (True-Airspeed)
will INCREASE.
*Remember HIGH to LOW, TAS is HIGH for same IAS.
This error is also applicable during CLIMB; i.e.
 Climbing with Constant IAS, TAS will increase (because of
reducing density with altitude and climbing with constant TAS,
IAS will reduce. (Thumb Rule is to add 2% to IAS for every
1000feet)
 Compressibility Error: At a TAS of 300 knots or more, air is
brought to rest and it compresses in Pitot tube, causing increase
in total pressure. Therefore, compressibility effect causes ASI to
OVER-READ.
This error in ASI, increases with speed and increase in altitude,
because with increase in altitude, air is less dense and hence,
easier to compress.
 Different type of Airspeeds:
1. ASI reading + correction for INSTRUMENT =IAS (Indicated
airspeed)
2. IAS + correction for POSITION ERROR = CAS (Calibrated
airspeed)
3. CAS + correction for COMPRESSIBILITY = EAS (Equivalent
airspeed)
4. EAS + correction for DENSITY = TAS (True Airspeed)
5. TAS + correction for WIND = G/S (Ground Speed)

MACH METER
It is an instrument which displays MACH NUMBER*.
 MACH NUMBER: It is a true airspeed indication given as a
percentage relative to speed of sound. E.g. half the speed of
sound is 0.5 mach.

Mach No. =

Here, Local Speed of Sound, LSS = absolute

126 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

Hence, Mach speed increases with altitude if TAS is constant;

because temperature reduces and so does LSS.
*LSS in ISA condition is 661 Knots.

Figure 77

Principle: Mach Meter measures the ratio of dynamic pressure to

Static Pressure.
 Errors of Mach Meter:
Blockage
Instrument
Position/Pressure
*Remember BIP (All 3 errors are same as ASI)

SUB-SONIC  below 0.8 Mach

TRANS-SONIC  0.8 – 1.2 Mach

SUPER-SONIC  above 1.2 Mach

 Critical Mach Number (Mcritical): It is the Mach no. at which the

airflow over the wing reaches speed of sound or at which shock
wave is formed (normally at 0.8 Mach).
 Due to this pilot experiences severe buffeting, loss of control and
Mach Tuck*.
*Mach Tuck: It is the nose down pitching moment that an aircraft
experiences as it passes Mcritical. It occurs because Centre of
Pressure (CP) moves rearward (behind CG). Mach Trimmer is
used to automatically compensate for Mach tuck, which gets the
signal by aircraft’s Speed.
Navigation and Equipments 127

VSI (VERTICAL SPEED INDICATOR)

It displays the aircraft’s rate of climb/descent in feet/minute.

Figure 78 – VSI

Principle: It measures differential static pressure directly into

Diaphragm (Aneroid capsule) and in the instrument casing through a
calibrated leak by a delay unit/choke.
 Errors of Vertical Speed Indicator:
Blockage
Lag
Instrument
Position/Pressure
Transonic jump
* Remember BLIPT
 Blockage, Lag. Instrument and Position errors are same as ASI.
 Transonic jump: VSI shows a Climb when aircraft reaches trans-
sonic speed because pressure behind shockwave (formed by
speed) is lesser which will contract the capsule and show a climb
 IVSI (Instantaneous/Inertial VSI): It is an up gradation of VSI,
which removes Lag Error by a device called ‘DASH-POT
ACCELEARTOR’
IVSI has few drawbacks, i.e. it oscillates during turbulent
conditions and during steep-turns, shows a climb due to
Centrifugal force.
128 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

GYROSCOPE
It is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation, based
on the principle of RIGIDITY and PRECESSION.

Figure 79

 RIGIDITY: Property of a rotating mass in which gyro axis

maintains its position.

S 1
Regidiy
F
Here, S Rotational Speed
I  Moment of Inertia
F  External Force
 PRECESSION: It is defines as the angular change in direction of
spin axis when acted upon by an external force.
 Direction of precession is governed by shifting of force through
an angle of 90º in the direction of rotation.
 A gyro axis will continue to precess as long as applied force is
maintained.
 Maximum precession possible is 90º.
Navigation and Equipments 129

1
Precession
Regidiy

F
i.e. Precession
S 1

 Types of GYROSCOPES:
1. SPACE GYRO/FREE GYRO: It has freedom of movement in all
three planes and gyro axis maintains its position with respect to
fixed point in space. E.g. INS/IRS
2. EARTH GYRO: It has freedom of movement in all three planes
and gyro axis is controlled by force of Gravity. E.g. Artificial
Horizon or Attitude Indicator
3. TIED GYRO: It has freedom of movement in all three planes and
gyro axis is controlled by external force. E.g. DGI
4. RATE GYRO: It has freedom of movement in two planes and
gives indication in third plane. E.g. Turn Co-ordinator/TSI

DIRECTION INDICATOR (DI)

Figure 80

 Type of Gyro: Horizontal axis TIED GYRO

 Principle: It uses principle of GYRO RIGIDITY to give indication
and PRECESSION for gyro control.
 RPM: 12000 rpm
130 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Working: It has no north seeking element, so has to be aligned

with magnetic north after start-up and at frequent intervals. A
CAGING KNOB is used for initial setting of heading, and it also
locks the inner gimbals to prevent from toppling.
 Limitations: 55 in Pitch & Roll.
 Errors: Its main error is WANDER, which means a shift in gyro
axis from set position. It is of 2 types:
1. DRIFT: This is a shift in Horizontal plane, which can be either
REAL (due to mechanical error or incorrect balance) or
APPARENT (due to Earth Rate/Rotation or Movement/transport
of aircraft). It is maximum at poles i.e. DRIFT = 15×sin 
2. TOPPLE: It is the shift in Vertical Plane. It is maximum at the
poles i.e. TOPPLE = 15×cos 

ARTIFICIAL HORIZON

Figure 81

 Type of Gyro: Vertical axis EARTH GYRO

 Principle: GYRO RIGIDITY for pitch and Roll
 RPM: 22500 (Electric); 15000 (Air Driven)
 Limitation: Vacuum [Pitch  ±55 º; Roll ±90]
Electrical [Pitch±85º; Roll  Full Freedom]
Navigation and Equipments 131

 Errors:
1. Acceleration/Deceleration: During acceleration Artificial Horizon
shows a Climb and during Deceleration, it shows a Descent.
2. Turning Error: During RIGHT turn, artificial Horizon shows a
CLIMB and bank UNDER-READS. This error increases as bank
increases; it is maximum at 180º and thereafter starts reducing and
error is ZERO after 360º turn.
During LEFT turn, artificial horizon shows a DESCENT and
over OVER-READS. The error increases as bank increases; it is
maximum at 180º and thereafter starts reducing and error is ZERO
after 360º turn.

TSI (TURN AND SLIP INDICATOR)

This instrument has two components i.e. TURN CO-ORDINATOR and
SLIP/SKID INDICATOR.
 Type of Gyro: Horizontal axis RATE GYRO
 Principle: GYRO PRECESSION
 RPM: 4500 rpm
 TURN CO-ORDINATOR: It gives both, Bank and Rate of Turn.
It gives rate of turn in an established turn and gives bank when
aircraft is rolling in/out of turn.
 Rate 1 Turn  3º/sec
 Rate 2 Turn  6º/sec and so on…

V2
Radius of Turn =
G tanθ

Here, V TAS
G Acceleration due to Gravity
 Bank Angle

G tanθ
Rate of Turn =
V
For Example: Aircraft is turning, with 30º bank at same IAS, Rate of
turn will LESS and Radius of Turn will be MORE at high altitude. (Because
of increase in TAS at high altitude)
132 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

 Thumb Rule to calculate BANK ANGLE:

Bank Angle,  = 10% TAS + 7

 SLIP/SKID INDICATOR:

Figure 82

 Aircraft is called to be SLIPPING, when Bank angle is more or

Rate of turn is less. It is corrected by either applying relevant
rudder or decreasing the Bank angle to make the turn co-ordinated.
 Aircraft is said to be Skidding, when Bank angle is less or Rate of
Turn is more. It is corrected by applying relevant rudder or Increase
the bank angle to make the turn co-ordinated.
* On ground, during turn to the Right, TSI ball will go LEFT and
Pointer will go RIGHT and Vice-versa.

MAGNETIC COMPASS OR DIRECT READING

COMPASS (DRC)

Figure 83

 Properties of DRC:
1. HORIZONTALITY: Compass card should remain horizontal with
respect to earth’s surface when moved away from equator. This is
Navigation and Equipments 133

achieved by either suspending the magnet below pivot point or

by shifting pivot point towards nearest pole (adjusting CG).
2. APERIODICITY: DRC should not oscillate during turns. This is
achieved by either filling fluid in compass chamber or using
several magnets near pivot point.
3. SENSITIVITY: A compass card should respond to slightest
change in heading and this is achieved by either Reducing friction
at pivot point or by using fine and pointed point made of jewel.

 COMPASS SWING: It is the process of aligning compass north

with magnetic north. Occasions of Compass Swing:
 When compass is newly installed.
 If modification of aircraft involves magnetic material.
 When aircraft is acquired from manufacturer.
 When aircraft is to be based at a place with great change of
latitude.
 After Lightning strike.
 When aircraft is standing on one heading for more than 4weeks.
 When carrying magnetic cargo.
 Following a Heavy Landing.
 Errors of DRC:
1. Acceleration/Deceleration: It is only persistent in Easterly/
Westerly heading. During Acceleration the card shows a Turn to
North, and during deceleration the card shows Turn to South.
*Remember ANDS (Acceleration NORTH, Deceleration SOUTH)
2. Turning Error: In Northern Hemisphere, when turning through
NORTH, the card lags i.e. UNDER-READS and when turning
through SOUTH, the card leads i.e. OVER-READS. It is only
persistent in North-South Headings.
*Remember SONU (South OVER-READS, North UNDER-READS)
(These were the basic instruments in the aircraft. Now we will
discuss about some instruments that were designed and created to
provide easier navigation and to make skies a lot safer by representing
the data in pilot-friendly way)
134 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

INS/IRS (INERTIAL NAVIGATION/REFERENCE

SYSTEM)
An INS/IRS is an on-board self contained system that can provide
continuous information on an aircraft’s position without any external
assistance. An IRS is a modern INS that has a greater into ‘FLIGHT
MANGEMENT SYSTEM (FMS)’. It provides aircraft’s actual magnetic
position and heading information with reference to FMS required position
or heading.
 Working of INS/IRS: General principle is that it measures all the
inertia movement from an initial position as a great Circle track
direction and distance to continuously determine its up-to-date
position. Components of an INS are:
1. Accelerometers
2. Gyroscopes
3. Position Computer
The directional acceleration information provided from the INS’s
accelerometers and Gyroscopes is calculated by position computer that
determines aircraft’s latitude and longitude position, provided a correct
initial position has been input.
The aircraft moves in 3 dimensions but navigation equipment is
only interested in acceleration in horizontal plane. Therefore, the key to
whole INS system is “ACCELEROMETER”.
INS is aligned to True North by its Gyroscopes and it finds the
magnetic north by applying magnetic variation.
 Advantages of INS:
1. It is truly global system.
2. Self-contained i.e. needs no external references or ground
equipment over vast expenses of open sky and oceans.
3. Very accurate.
4. INS employs ‘Ring-Laser Gyroscopes’ which has short warm
times, no real wander, no precession and extreme accuracy.
 Errors/Disadvantages of INS:
1. System Error
2. Bounded error (errors that do not increase with time)
3. Un-Bounded Errors (errors that keep increasing with time, e.g.
Initial incorrect input, north alignment error)
Navigation and Equipments 135

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)

It consists of 24 satellites of which 21 are operational at any given
point of time. All satellites are broken into 6 orbital planes, each containing
3 or 4 satellites. Each orbital plane is at 55degrees to the equator and
covers an orbit of earth every 12 hours.
 Working of GPS: At least 4 satellites always remain in line of
sight of an aircraft. The distance measured from two satellites will
establish a latitude and longitude fix. The distance measured from
third satellite will confirm the fix and the fourth satellite gives the
altitude information.
 Advantages of GPS:
1. Truly global
2. High capacity use
3. Very accurate
4. Ability to integrate GPS into other FMS.
5. Free of cost
 Disadvantages of GPS:
1. Downgrading the system’s accuracy, i.e. selective availability.
2. System errors, such as:
i. Ionospheric propagation (Most significant)
ii. Satellite Ephermis (due to gravitation and effect of sun, moon)
iii. Signal jamming
iv. Clock bias
 Differential GPS: It is more accurate than normal GPS. It applies
a correction factor for two most significant errors i.e. selective
availability and ionosperic errors.
 Working: GPS signals are received at a ground installation which
is surveyed correctly and accurately. The ground installation then
computes the difference between the known signal and differential
correction and sends it to any aircraft within 70NM using ACARS
(Aircraft communication and reporting system).
Therefore, differential GPS has the potential accuracy to be suitable
for precision landing approaches; i.e. GLS (Global Landing System)
*Remember – INS has an advantage over GPS that, INS is self-
contained system and also no downgrading can be imposed on
INS/IRS.
136 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

GROUND NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

 DECCA: It is a medium range (300-500NM by day & 200-250NM
by night) navigation system that uses ground based beacons
that operate in Low-Frequency band using Surface Waves.

 OMEGA: It is a long range global navigation system that uses

ground beacons and objects in very Low-Frequency (VLF) band
using Surface-wave propagation.

 LORAN-C: It is a long range navigation system that uses ground

based beacons to operate in Low-Frequency (LF).

 VDF (Very High Frequency Direction Finder): It uses

communication radio-waves and does not require any additional
instrument in cockpit. It can be requested from ATC at aerodromes
that are equipped with radio aerials that can sense the direction
of VHF-com radio signals from an aircraft wherever the pilot
transmits. It is known as automatic direction finder (DF) in VHF
band.

FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (FMS)

Its purpose is to manage aircraft’s performance and route navigation
to achieve optimal result. Sources of information in FMS are:
1. Stored databases
2. Pilots input via Control Display Unit (CDU)
3. Other aircraft systems that feed information automatically into
FMS.

EFIS (ELECTRONIC FLIGHT INSTRUMENT SYSTEM)

It is a fully integrated computer based navigation system that uses
Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) types of Electronic attitude directional Indicator
(EADI) and Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI). Its advantages
are:
1. Display information in a clearer and more versatile manner.
2. It can combine different data to present the pilot with best possible
attitude and navigation information.
Navigation and Equipments 137

ADS-B (AUTOMATED DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE-

BROADCAST SYSTEM)
It is a traffic collision avoidance system similar to ACAS. It
incorporates a cockpit display of traffic information and is more capable
than TCAS-II.

R-NAV (AREA NAVIGATION)

It is a form of on-board area navigation aircraft equipment that uses
either a basic VOR-DME system or other position sensors such as INS/
IRS, OMEGA/VLF or LORAN-C.
It allows the operator to input the bearing and distance of geographic
location with reference to a given station (entered as VOR-DME bearing
and range or an INS/IRS latitude and Longitude) to position a Waypoint.
A series of waypoints is used to define area navigation route or flight
path of aircraft.

FREE-FLIGHT CONCEPT
It is an Air Traffic Management (ATM) system that is currently
under development. It will allow pilots and airlines to set their own direct
routes, altitudes and speeds away from restrictions of airways.
This concept is based on 2 airspace Zones i.e. ‘Protected and Alert’.
Until the Alert zone is breached, aircraft can be manoeuvred with
autonomous freedom; with responsibility of collision avoidance is moved
to pilot with on-board TCAS or ADS-B systems.

FANS (Future Air navigation Systems)

It is not a single specific system but the ongoing development of
several navigation based systems to meet the demand of regulators and
airlines to allow a free-flight airspace by which they can choose more
direct routes and save operating costs.
But in order to do this, first step is to improve en-route navigation
capabilities including communication. This has seen USA develop a GPS
for basis of new FMS’s and Europe to favour a new R-NAV system.
Developments of TCAS and ADS-B system satisfy the need of self
controlled collision protection.
 Appendix

GROUP DISCUSSION

Group Discussion is one of recruitment rounds these days for

airlines, which is used to judge certain personality traits of a candidate,
such as Communication skills, team player, leadership qualities, flexibility,
creativeness etc.
It is one of the trickiest rounds as you cannot specifically prepare
for the same. But with some good knowledge, about what to expect and
how to react during situations, it can be a piece of cake.
Below listed are some tips to maintain rapport with fellow participants
and score good during your GD:
1. Think before you speak: Always think of what you are going to
say. It’s always good if you can explain your view in short but
with quality of words. Unnecessary stretching a point only makes
the conversation dull.
2. Address the group as a whole: Always make eye contact with
everyone while you speak, rather than focusing on a single person.
3. Seek Clarifications: If you are not clear with the topic, clear it
before GD begins.
4. Initiate if you can: Initiating a GD is a very high risk and high
profit strategy. So, initiate only if you are confident about the
topic and you think you can give rhythm to the discussion.
5. Giving valuable inputs: Opening the discussion is not the only
way to gain attention. If you do not participate in the discussion
well, initiating will be in vain.
6. Be patient: Never lose your cool during the discussion. Always
be assertive and not aggressive. Don’t interrupt the speaker while
he is speaking. It can be tough to score a chance to speak
sometimes but you should do it smartly and at the right time.
140 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

7. Be polite: Use phrases such as “I beg to differ”, or “I would like

to share my views” rather than using strong words like “disagree”
or “you are absolutely wrong about this”.
8. Do not Argue: Make sure that you give a lot of attention to those
that are against you in this discussion. Try persuasive speech
but do not argue. Such situations are a good chance to prove
your convincing capability without being aggressive.
9. Motivate others to speak: You should present you leadership
skills by giving a chance/ motivating others to speak if they are
unable to speak or not getting a chance after trying. You may do
this by saying “Our friend here is trying to present his views
here, lets hear him”, or “Lets give a chance to our friend to share
his views on this”. But do not overdo it and don’t try and give a
chance to a person who is not willing to speak putting him in a
difficult situation.
10. Body language: Maintain a good posture and body language.
Avoid using slangs.
11. Bring discussion on track: If you feel that discussion has gone
off-track and will lead nowhere then politely bring the discussion
to its original topic.
12. Summarize: Don’t worry if you have not been able to initiate the
GD. You can always try and summarize to bring a final consensus
with everyone’s agreement over final points. Also, keep a track of
time (if time based GD) and point it out once during last minutes
by saying “I think we are running out of time, so we should now
sum up the discussion give final verdict on this”.
13. Practise: Always practise for a GD with a group of friends and
put yourself in that situation so as to not get nervous during the
final day. If cannot do it amongst friends, practise in front of a
mirror.

REMEMBER: Quality of words matter and not Quantity.

Appendix 141

INTERVIEW TIPS

1. Dress Properly: Make sure you are suitably dressed with good
fitting formals and also well-groomed.
2. Be Prepared: Have good knowledge over your subjects, this will
provide not only the answers to the technical question but also a
sense of confidence before you appear for the interview. You
should always read about company you are appearing for,
including its current ventures and plans for future.
3. Be Punctual: Be well aware of the location and reach 5-10 mins
early at the venue. It shows your professionalism and seriousness
for the job.
4. Be Practical: Relax while you are in the waiting area and save
your energy for the interview. Use washroom or drink water if you
have to, to avoid the urge of the same during interview and getting
distracted.
5. Make a good first Impression: This is very important as it is
always said that your fate is deciding in first few minutes of the
interview. Knock on the door before you enter and greet the
interviewers individually, and wait for them to offer you to sit.
Maintain good posture and behave like a professional.
6. Be Positive: Always keep in mind that, interviewer is looking for
excuses to hire you and not kick you out. Give him those excuses,
by showing him that you are interested and enthusiastic about
the job.
7. Don’t look stressed: They know that you may be a little nervous
but don’t be too serious. Its okay to pass a smile once in a while
to cool the moment.
8. Think before you speak: Always give 1-2 seconds before you
speak up to collect your thoughts and frame your answers well. It
helps you to maintain cool and answer efficiently. Also, its fine to
ask for a minute to think, if you are stuck on a question. Clarify
the question if you have doubt.
9. Explain well: Make sure to explain your answers well enough and
also to clear their doubt if they look confused. You can ask them
by saying “Would you like me to explain or elaborate it again for
142 Zero to Mastery in Aviation

you”. But also don’t try to give unnecessary long answers and
show-off your knowledge. They are well equipped with knowledge
to grill you, if you make them. It is always possible to steer the
interview your way if done smartly by ending your answers with
the cues of next question.
10. Do not guess: Do not try and guess the answers if you don’t
know one or two. Be honest with them about not knowing and
not wanting to guess. It is not counted as negative if done once
or twice.
11. Rehearse well: Practise few common HR question like ‘About
yourself’, ‘why should we hire you?’ etc. But, make sure you
answer them naturally and should not sound scripted.
12. In the End: Give a firm handshake and thank them for the given
opportunity and it’s also okay to ask about further process if it
has not been explained earlier.

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY LANDINGS!!!

 SPECIAL BONUS!
Want These 3 Bonus Books for free?

Get FREE, unlimited access to these

and all of our new books by joining
our community!

SCAN w/ your camera TO JOIN!

OR Visit
freebie.kartbucket.com