TABLE OF CONTENTS Dieter Scholz
What Are Aircraft Systems? Broadly speaking, an aircraft can be subdivided into three categories:
The airframe (the aircraft structure)
The power plant (the engines)
The aircraft systems (the equipment)
This Section will deal with the last of these categories.
The airframe provides the aircraft with its (relative) rigidity. It also enables the generation of lift through its aerodynamic shape. A glider flies without a power plant, but in order to maintain weather-independent sustained level flight, a power plant is necessary to produce thrust to overcome the drag.
The airframe and power plant might seem to be all that is needed, but this is not so. Even the earliest aircraft needed more. Some means to steer the aircraft (flight controls) and to handle it on the ground (landing gear) were needed. These aircraft systems play a key role today and must be considered in the very early stages of aircraft design. A fuel system was also needed from the beginning of the history of powered flight. With aircraft flying longer distances, navigation and communication systems became important; with aircraft flying higher and taking passengers on board, cabin systems such as air conditioning and oxygen systems were introduced.
The above gives a general idea of what aircraft systems are. A more rigorous definition of the term will be given below. systems. Aircraft systems account for roughly one-third of the direct operating costs (DOC) and direct maintenance costs (DMC).
Significance of Aircraft...
