Contents | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter |
Piano follows common aerospace naming conventions, insofar as these exist in an International context. Spelling style is mostly British, for example 'aerofoil' or 'centreline' instead of 'airfoil' and 'centerline'. Some occasional mixed spelling (either 'optimise' or 'optimize') may have sneaked in (or snuck in) during different periods of development.
The 'stabiliser' ('stab' in the names of parameters) is the horizontal tail in U.S. parlance. The 'fin' is the vertical tail. Other abbreviations listed below include 'fuse' for fuselage, 'nac' for nacelle and 'u/c' for the undercarriage or 'landing gear'.
The wing 'root' position corresponds to the wing/fuselage junction or side-of-body in U.S. terminology (and not to the centreline).
The term 'eta' (Greek eta) implies a fraction of the exposed semispan (i.e. zero at the wing root, 1 at the tip), and xi (Greek xi) refers to fractions of local trapezoidal chord.
Mass rather than weight is generally preferred in the names of parameters, for example mto-mass is the maximum takeoff mass, which is numerically the same as max. takeoff weight (MTOW) in kg. or lb.
You can use either the International 'metric' system of units or the historical but still widespread 'imperial' (US/old English) system, or, astonishingly, mix the two more or less harmoniously. Details are given in Chapter#13section02 .
The following abbreviations are found in the names of parameters.
a/c aircraft apu auxiliary power unit cd drag coefficient (Cd) * cd0 zero-lift drag coefficient * cds drag area (Cd * S) cg centre of gravity cl lift coefficient (CL) * clmax maximum lift coefficient (CLmax) * cm0 zero-lift pitching moment coefficient * deg degrees eta fraction of exposed semispan (Greek eta) fin tail fin (vertical tail) fuse fuselage l/d lift/drag ratio nac nacelle nac<fin> fin-mounted nacelle pax passenger(s) sfc specific fuel consumption stab stabiliser (horizontal tail) t/c thickness/chord ratio t.e. trailing edge vol volume u/c undercarriage (landing gear) xi chordwise fraction (Greek xi) xsection cross-section* Aero coefficients are based on wing-area unless otherwise stated.
The following common terms are used in Piano and all related documentation.
ATC Air Traffic Control (related to speed limit below 10,000 ft) AUW All Up Weight BFL Balanced Field Length Block Total from engine start to shutdown (time, fuel, etc) BOL Bottom of (sfc versus thrust) 'loop'. CAS Calibrated Airspeed Cd Drag Coefficient CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics Cl Lift Coefficient CLmax Maximum Lift Coefficient Cm Pitching moment Coefficient delta Atmospheric pressure ratio (static) Delta Difference, increment DOC Direct Operating Cost EAS Equivalent Airspeed EICO Emissions Index, Carbon Monoxide EIHC Emissions Index, HydroCarbons EINOx Emissions Index, Oxides of Nitrogen FAR Federal Aviation Regulation FCA Final Cruise Altitude FL Flight Level (pressure altitude in feet / 100) FN* Reference engine thrust (net force) ICA Initial Cruise Altitude ISA International Standard Atmosphere JAR Joint Airworthiness Requirements KCAS Knots Calibrated Airspeed KEAS Knots Equivalent Airspeed KTAS Knots True Airspeed L/D Lift / Drag ratio LFL Landing Field Length LTO Landing and Takeoff Cycle mac Mean Aerodynamic Chord MCL Max. Climb Rating MCO Max. Continuous Rating MCR Max. Cruise Rating Mdiv Divergence Mach MEW Manufacturer's Empty Weight MTO Max. Takeoff (rating, or mass) MTOW Maximum Takeoff Weight MZFW Maximum Zero Fuel Weight OEW Operator's Empty Weight Polar A plot of L/D (or Cd) as a function of Cl and Mach RoC Rate of Climb RoD Rate of Descent SAR Specific Air Range (distance / fuel burn) SFC Specific Fuel Consumption (lb/hr/lbf = kg/hr/kgf) sigma Atmospheric density ratio SL Sea Level SLST Sea Level Static Thrust T/W Thrust / Weight ratio TAS True Airspeed theta Atmospheric temperature ratio (static) TOFL Takeoff Field Length U/C Undercarriage WAT Weight / Altitude / Temperature Limits W/S Wing Loading (weight / wing area) ZFW Zero Fuel Weight
Unfortunately not all keyboards are the same! Please familiarise yourself with your own keyboard, and in particular the locations of the so-called 'modifier' keys. These can change the actions of some menus or provide 'keyboard equivalents' to some actions.
The relevant modifier keys are:
The Command key (also known as the apple key)
The Option key (also known as the alt key)
The Shift key
The Control key (also known as ctrl)
Other keys in this text will in general be indicated as <Key>. These include the <Tab> key and the <Space> bar. You should be able to distinguish between the <Return> and <Enter> keys. If you have doubts, use your computer's Mac Help and type in 'keyboard shortcut symbols'.
Contents | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter |