cost per available seat mile | (casm) – the unit operating cost of a carrier, also known as unit cost. the cost, expressed in cents to operate each seat mile offered. determined by dividing operating costs by asm (available sea... |
zeppelin | - A large rigid airship consisting of a long, cylindrical, covered framework containing compartments or cells filled with gas, and of various structures for holding the engines, passengers, etc....
|
paraglider | A paraglider is a gliding parakite or kite, a type of hang glider that uses one or more tethers to suspend payload. |
autogyro | A rotor-craft with unpowered blades that develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller to provide thrust. |
triplane | An aeroplane with three similar-sized wings (or pairs of wings), exactly or approximately in vertical alignment. |
biplane | An aeroplane with two similar-sized wings (or pairs of wings), exactly or approximately in vertical alignment. |
control surface | Any moveable surface on an aircraft which controls its motion about one of the three principal axes. ailerons, elevators, and the rudder are examples of control surfaces. in addition, other type o... |
synchropter | Any twin-rotor helicopter that uses w:intermeshing rotors for its flight capabilities, as pioneered by w:anton flettner or w:charles kaman in the 1940s-50s. |
available seat miles | Available seat miles (asms) is a measure of an airline flight’s passenger carrying capacity. it is equal to the number of seats onboard an aircraft multiplied by the distance flown in miles. for e... |
aviatrix | Female aviator (obsolete, potentially offensive in modern use.) |
flaps | Flaps (often confused with any of the other moveable surfaces) are used on wings to increase lift and/or increase drag as an aircraft flies progressively slower. increased lift is usually achieved... |
panne | French for non critical breakdown, acronym pan |
hige | Hover in ground effect. hovering within one rotor diameter of the ground in order where performance is increased by the interaction of the helicopters rotor downwash and the ground. |
hoge | Hover out of ground effect. hovering at greater than one rotor diameter from the ground where re is no interaction between rotor downwash and the ground. |
metaplane | Metaplane is the configuration of the air vehicle that can be classified as an aerodyne but it uses static lift mostly to enhance stability. |
elevons | On an aeroplane, elevons are a single control surface which combines the function of the elevators and ailerons in one. they are usually seen on delta-wing aircraft. |
ruddervators | On an aeroplane, ruddervators are a single control surface which combine the function of the rudder and elevators in one. they are usually seen on w:v-tail aircraft. |
ailerons | On an aircraft, the ailerons are a control surface usually on the trailing edge of the wings. the ailerons are used to control roll by generating asymmetric wing lift. the ailerons are on the outs... |
v speeds | Speeds that define certain performance and limiting characteristics of an aircraft. |
dihedral angle | The angle that an aeroplane’s wings make relative to the lateral axis (horizontal plane, when on level ground). a larger dihedral angle gives greater roll(lateral) stability at the cost of efficie... |
touchdown zone (tdz) | The first 3000 feet of the runway or the first third of the runway, whichever is less, measured from the threshold |
breakeven load factor | The load factor necessary for an airline to break even. it is a function of the percent of seats filled at a particular yield versus the airlines operating costs. |
load factor (lf) | The percentage of seats filled. determined by dividing revenue passenger miles by available seat miles. also a measure of the factor of loading on an aircraft, with comparison to gravity. increase... |
center of gravity (cg) | The point at which the mass of the aircraft would be balanced if it were placed on that single point. the point changes depending on the loading of the aircraft: fuel, passengers, luggage, etc. ea... |
available ton miles (atms) | Tons multiplied by miles flown. it is an international measure of the capacity available for a carrier. it is also used to measure capacity available for freight carriers. |
tailplane | Usually synonymous with stabilator (q.v.). |