Ground School - PPL Questions with Answers

Ground School - PPL Questions with Answers

4 forces on an airplane

Ans: thrust, drag, weight, and lift

Unaccelerated flight

Ans: weight = lift, thrust = drag, not changing in speed or direction

Bernoulli's Principle

Ans: air travels faster over the curved upper surface, causing lower pressure

Chord Line

Ans: An imaginary straight line from the leading edge to the trailing edge of an airfoil.

Angle of Attack (AOA)

Ans: the angle measured between the resultant relative wind and chord line.

How does a stall occur?

Ans: the angle of attack becomes to large and air can no longer travel over the wing

what will not affect the angle of attack?

Ans: weight

will altitude affect the stall speed?

Ans: no

in a spin, is an airplane stalled?

Ans: yes, one wing more than the other

what can frost cause?

Ans: disruption of air flow, loss of lift, stalling at unpredictable times

What do flaps do?

Ans: increase lift, allow slower flight, increase drag, steepen descent, allow shorter take off

vertical axis


Q&A

,Ans: yaw controlled by rudders

longitudinal axis

Ans: Roll controlled by ailerons

lateral axis

Ans: Pitch controlled by elevator

Pitch Stability

Ans: equal to longitudinal stability

Where is the center of gravity?

Ans: in front of the center of lift

what determines longitudinal stability?

Ans: The location of the CG with respect to the center of lift (CL)

when is the plane less stable at all speeds?

Ans: when the CG is furthest aft

a slower speed will cause...

Ans: the nose to go down

what happens if the CG is aft of the limit?

Ans: stalls are more difficult to recover from

when does elevator effectiveness decrease?

Ans: when the power changes

what component makes an airplane turn?

Ans: horizontal, when banking

adverse yaw is corrected with...

Ans: using appropriate rudders

banking causes

Ans: increased side load

total load formula


Q&A

,Ans: weight x load factor

p factor

Ans: pitch of propeller blades

Torque effect

Ans: turning opposite of the prop

Torque effect is greatest at...

Ans: high power with low airspeed

VLE

Ans: Maximum landing gear extended speed

VX

Ans: Best angle of climb

VY

Ans: Best rate of climb

VA

Ans: maneuvering speed/turbulence speed

VSO

Ans: Stall speed in landing configuration (bottom of white arc)

VFE

Ans: Maximum flap extended speed (top of white arc)

VNO

Ans: Maximum structural cruising speed (green/yellow arc)

VNE

Ans: Never exceed speed (red line)

Vortex Circulation

Ans: developing lift at a high AOA - greatest when airplane is running heavy, clean, and
slow



Q&A

, where are the vortices?

Ans: behind an airplane and rotating down and out

what is the most dangerous wind

Ans: light quartering tailwind

When landing behind a large aircraft, which procedure should be followed for
vortex avoidance?

Ans: fly above the larger plane and land beyond the touchdown point

When departing behind a larger aircraft...

Ans: fly above and upwind

Ground Effect

Ans: The interference of the Earth's surface with the airflow patterns about the airplane -
increases lift and drag

Ground effect is most likely to result in which problem?

Ans: becoming airborne before reaching takeoff speed

floating has what affect on an aircraft?

Ans: reduces drag and increases speed in excess

Gyroscopic Instruments

Ans: Turn coordinator, attitude indicator, heading indicator

Attitude Indicator

Ans: Miniature airplane and horizon bar. Indicates attitude of airplane relative to the true
horizon.

Heading Indicator

Ans: similar to a magnetic compass but uses a gyroscope

Turn Coordinator

Ans: indicates slips and skids during a turn

how do you correct an uncoordinated turn?

Ans: step on the ball



Q&A