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Aviation merit badge (part one)

© Nicholas Bittner

 Hey all. Today we're gonna be talking about how to get the aviation badge. It may seem hard, but it's actually quite easy. This was the first badge I earned, some year or so ago.

The first requirement says Define "aircraft". Describe some kinds and uses of aircraft today. Explain the operation of piston, turboprop, and jet engines. All right, this is easy. The definition for aircraft is basically just a craft that goes in the air. Thus, aircraft. Describe some kinds and uses of airplanes. Well, one type of plane is the F-15 Eagle fighter jet, it's used for rapid strikes, or for prolonged air-to-air combat. Another plane is the Boeing 747, 767, and 777. These are heavy-duty passenger planes, and are the most used commercial and passenger planes worldwide. All right, my information source doesn't have what I need to explain about piston engines, and I don't want to get anything wrong, and the same goes for turboprop, so I'll have to move onto jet engines. Jet engines take oxygen through the intakes and compress it, then blast it back out the other end to create propulsion. Remember, I got this badge well over a year ago, and my information may not be completely accurate.

Explain how an airfoil generates lift, how the primary control surfaces (ailerons, elevators, and rudder) affect the airplane's attitude, and how a propeller produces thrust. Ok, an airfoil is the wing, and it's shaped to create lift by the amount of wind coming at the wing. The faster it's going, the more lift you get. The ailerons are used for leveling the wings out. They're the flaps along the back of the wing. To tip the airplane left, the left aileron would be up and the right one would be down. The elevators lift the plane, causing it to go up or down. I believe that when the elevators are down you go down, and vice versa. The rudder is the flap on the tail fin, and controls how you move. If the rudder is right, you go right, and likewise. Now, for the last one, I'm not sure and the search engine I use doesn't have this info, so I'll have to skip.

Demonstrate how the control surfaces of an airplane are used for takeoff, straight climb, level turn, climbing turn, descending turn, straight descent, and landing. For takeoff, everything is flat until you take off, then the elevators are up, and up you go. For a straight climb, you put the elevators up until you are straight up, then you slowly back off the use of them, making only

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