Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow them to soar magnificently through it.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips. Remember... when it comes to being good pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 03.16.06

Assuming ignition takes place correctly, and there’s sufficient fuel flow, power development depends entirely on the amount of air available for combustion. In most cases we control power by adjusting the air control -- the throttle -- and only fine-tune power with fuel flow.

This creates an obvious limitation: as an airplane climbs, there’s less ambient air available. Almost as soon as aeronautical science discovered this, engineers worked to create what were originally called "altitude engines" -- engines that could develop sea-level (or greater) power at higher altitudes.

Supercharging

A supercharger is an engine-driven compressor that provides additional induction air pressure for more power than would normally be available (non-supercharged engines are referred to as "normally aspirated"). The compressor may be driven by a gears from the engine’s crankshaft, or (in more modern applications) spun via a linkage to a turbine in the engine’s exhaust manifold. The greater the exhaust flow, the more power available through what’s called a "turbocharger."

(Note: The most correct terminology for "turbocharger" is "turbo-supercharger" -- a supercharger employing an exhaust-driven turbine. At least one engine manufacturer, Teledyne Continental Motors, acknowledges this with its engine designators, these engines identified with the suffix TS).

There are several different means of manually or automatically controlling turbocharger output, depending on the specific engine’s design. Regardless of design, supercharging creates the ability to boost induction air pressure for more power than would be normally available.

(Note: Over the years a number of engine designs, both factory-built and as modified in the aftermarket, have been designed with scaled-back superchargers that provide only sea-level power at altitude. These are unofficially known as "turbonormalized" engines).

Aero-tip of the day: Know what’s meant by supercharging, turbo-supercharging and turbonormalizing -- all of them "altitude engines."

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