Module 8: Basic Aerodynamics

8.1Physics of the Atmosphere

• International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)
• Application of ISA to aerodynamics
• Temperature, pressure and density variation with altitude
• Regions/layers of the atmosphere

8.2Aerodynamics

• Airflow around a body
• Boundary layer, laminar and turbulent flow
• Free stream flow, relative airflow
• Upwash and downwash
• Vortices, stagnation
• The terms: camber, chord, mean aerodynamic chord
• Profile (parasite) drag, induced drag
• Centre of pressure, angle of attack
• Wash in and wash out
• Fineness ratio, wing shape and aspect ratio
• Thrust, Weight, Aerodynamic Resultant
• Generation of Lift and Drag: Angle of Attack, Lift coefficient, Drag coefficient, polar curve, stall
• Aerofoil contamination including ice, snow, frost

8.3Theory of Flight

• Relationship between lift, weight, thrust and drag
• Glide ratio
• Steady state flights, performance
• Theory of the turn
• Influence of load factor: stall, flight envelope and structural limitations
• Lift augmentation

8.4High-Speed Airflow

*(the regulation supplies no content lines for this paragraph. Every bullet below is

derived from the Module 8 questions that examine it; the counts overlap, because a

question can test more than one bullet.)*

• Speed of sound, Mach number, and the dependence of local speed of sound on temperature
• Subsonic, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic speed ranges
• Compressibility of air and where it ceases to be negligible
• Critical Mach number
• Shock wave formation; normal and oblique shock waves; changes in pressure, density, temperature and velocity across a shock
• Wave drag and drag divergence
• Shock stall, high-speed buffet and the buffet boundary
• Mach tuck and Mach trim
• High-speed planform and section design: sweepback, thin and supercritical aerofoils, area rule, vortex generators
• Kinetic (aerodynamic) heating

8.5Flight Stability and Dynamics

*(numbered 8.4 before Reg (EU) 2023/989)*

• Longitudinal, lateral and directional stability (active and passive)