PPL Mentor Select Topics

Aircraft General Knowledge

Aircraft General Knowledge is all about the technical aspects of the aircraft components, how the engine & its various components work, electrics & propeller and all the instruments. This is essential so that as a pilot you can identify potential issues and understand what action to take. AGK contains background knowledge to other subjects such as Navigation, Flight Performance and Planning and to a lesser extent, Principles of Flight, consequently, AGK should be studied before these subjects, traditionally, AGK is the first technical.

The specific topics and sub-topics are shown below, tick which of these you require.

The basic aircraft

Basic Airframe, Airframe designs, loads and stresses. Wings, tail and control surfaces. Windows & doors. Flying controls, mechanical & powered controls, secondary flight controls. Stall warning systems. De-icing systems. Landing gear, Wheels & tyres, steering and brakes. Hydraulic systems.

The Engine, The four stroke cycle and how a typical aircraft engine works. Engine cooling system, Lubrication system, oils, oil flow, indicators and warnings. Fuel system, the tanks & pumps. How carburettors work, mixture & carb ice. Fuel injection systems. Fuel types and labelling conventions. Turbocharging, supercharging, two strokes and diesels.

Electrics, The ignition system and operation of magnetos. Alternators and dynamos. AC / DC, basic circuits, switches, circuit breakers and relays. Batteries & busbars. Static electricity and lightning.

Propellers, Fixed and variable pitch, operation of variable pitch propellers. Propeller torque.

Instrumentation

The pressure instruments, Static and Dynamic pressure sources. Altimeter and VSI design and operation, QNH, QFE, Flight level. The Airspeed Indicator and IAS, CAS, TAS.

The Gyroscopic Instruments, the suction pump and gauge. The design and operation of the Attitude Indicator, Directional Indicator, Turn & bank indicator and Turn Coordinator.

The compass and remaining instruments, Earth’s magnetic field, compass operation, Dip, deviation, acceleration and turning errors. Temperature sensors and thermometers, fuel gauges, tachometer, hour meter.

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Additional resource that may be useful to Aircraft General Knowledge