Briefing To Capacity (Aviation)

Briefingnoun a short meeting to enable instructions and basic information to be given British Islesplural noun the islands which make up Great Britain and Ireland o The climate of the British Isles is affected by the Atlantic Ocean.

British thermal unit noun the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Abbreviation Btu

brittleadjective having a tendency to break easily, like thin glass o Absorption of oxygen and nitrogen from the air at temperatures above 1,000°F makes titanium brittle. BRNAV abbreviation basic area navigation

broadadjective 1. very wide a broad river 2. wide or general o Three broad categories of aircraft are considered — rotary wing aircraft, light single-engine aircraft and twin-engine aircraft. Opposite narrow broadcastverb to transmit, often to a large number of people, a radio signal or message which requires no answer o The cabin crew can use the public address system to broadcast messages to passengers only. (note: broadcasting – broadcast)  noun a transmission of information relating to air navigation that is not addressed to a specific station or stations

Broadlyadverb widely or generally □ broadly speaking generally speaking

brushnoun 1. a tool that has lengths of hair or wire fixed into a handle and is mainly used for painting or cleaning 2. a small, replaceable block of carbon which rubs against the surface of a commutator in a generator or electric motor o At high altitude, the air becomes drier and this causes a greatly increased rate of wear on the brushes. bucklenoun a metal part of a belt used for joining the two ends together ■ verb to bend out of shape because of heat or force o Overheating will make the battery plates buckle.

buffetnoun a shaking movement of the aircraft caused by the breakdown of the airflow over the upper surface of the wing o Large aircraft use a stick shaker to supplement the natural stall warning of buffet. verb to push around with great force, as by water or wind o The storm buffeted the coast. o The aircraft was buffeted by strong crosswinds as it made its final approach to land.

Comment: Buffet is a warning to the pilot that the smooth airflow over the wing is breaking down and that he should take corrective action to prevent a stall.

buffeting¹ noun an irregular shaking of a part or the whole of an aircraft during flight, usually caused by strong winds

buffet speed‘ noun the speed at which buffet is first noticed bugnoun a fault in computer  software which causes the program to operate incorrectly  build upverb to form by accumulation o In icing conditions, ice builds up on the leading edges. i> built-up (note: building up – built up)

build-upnoun a gradual accumulation o a build-up of static electricity

built-upadjective □ built- up area an area which is full of houses, shops, offices, and other buildings, and with very little open space bulbnoun 1. a glass ball inside a lamp that gives electric light o If a lamp does not work, the bulb may need replacing. 2. something shaped like a lamp bulb o The most common type of hygrometer is the wet and dry bulb thermometer arrangement.

bulkheadnoun a dividing partition across the structure of the fuselage separating one compartment from another for reasons of safety or strength o A fireproof bulkhead is provided to separate the cool area of the engine from the hot area.

bulletinnoun a short report or information on a situation o news bulletin o weather bulletin o A terminal aerodrome forecast bulletin may consist of forecasts for one or more aerodromes.

BUMF » mnemonic burblenoun a break in the flow of air around an aircraft’s wing, which leads to turbulence burstnoun 1. a minor explosion caused by increased pressure o The risk of tyre burst through overheating is increased by hard application of the brakes. 2. a very short period of activity followed by no activity o The ground installation transmits a code in two short bursts. □ burst of energy a very short period of energy  verb to explode because of increased pressure or puncture o Metal debris on the runway may cause a tyre to burst. (note: bursting -burst)

busbarnoun an electrical conductor used to carry a particular power supply to various pieces of equipment o Complex busbars are thick metal strips or rods to which input and output connections are made.

buttonnoun a little round disc which you push to operate something, e.g. to ring a bell

Buys Ballot’s Law noun a rule for identifying low pressure areas, based on the Coriolis effect comment: In the northern hemisphere, if the wind is blowing from behind you, the low pressure area is to the left, while in the southern hemisphere it is to the right.

buzzverb to fly low in an aircraft over people or buildings, or to fly across the path of other aircraft

bypass/ noun 1. an alternative pipe, channel, etc. o A turbine bypass in the form of an alternative exhaust duct is fitted with a valve. 2. same as shunt

C symbol 1. Celsius 2. centigrade CAA abbreviation Civil Aviation Authority cabinnoun a passenger compartment in an aircraft o Air enters at the front of the cabin and leaves at the rear.

cabin attendant noun member of the flight crew who looks after passengers, serves food, etc. o If you need something, press the call button and a cabin attendant will respond within a few minutes. Also called flight attendant cabin compressor and blower system

noun part of the air conditioning system for the cabin cabin crewnoun air line staff who are in direct contact with the passengers and whose in-flight responsibilities include: ensuring correct seating arrangements, serving food and attending to the general well-being of passengers, etc.

cabin environment noun the conditions inside the aircraft cabin, including the temperature, the space, the colour scheme, the seating arrangements, etc. cabin pressure noun the pressure of air inside the cabin which allows people to breathe normally at high altitudes

cabin pressurisation noun the maintenance of an acceptable atmospheric pressure in an aircraft while flying at high altitude o At 35,000 ft (feet) passengers can breathe freely because of cabin pressurisation.

Cablenoun 1. thick metal wire □ control cables thick metal wire linking the pilot’s cockpit controls to control surfaces such as the elevators and ailerons 2. a thick metal wire used for electrical connections o Earth return is by cable to the negative pole of the battery.

Cabotagenoun the right of a country to operate internal air traffic with its own airlines and not those of other countries

calculateverb to find out an answer to a problem by working with numbers o The total flight fuel can be calculated by multiplying the time of the flight by kilograms of fuel per hour. calculationnoun an act of finding out an answer to a problem by working with numbers calculation offuel required noun an arithmetic estimation of fuel needed by using time, distance and fuel-consumption factors calculatornoun an electronic machine for making calculations o Students are not allowed to use calculators in the examination. calibrateverb to adjust the scale or graduations on a measuring instrument or gauge o The international standard atmosphere is used to calibrate pressure altimeters.

Calibrated airspeed noun indicated airspeed corrected for instrumentation and installation errors.

Abbreviation CAS calibrationnoun the adjusting of the scale or graduations on a measuring instrument or gauge o The international standard atmosphere is used for the calibration of instruments.

call buttonnoun a button, often on the arm of a passenger seat, which can be pushed when you need help from an attendant callsignnoun a series of words and/or letters and/or numbers used to identify an aircraft or station o The aircraft’s callsign is ‘College 23′. o VOR stations transmit a two or three letter aural Morse callsign.

calorienoun the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C, equal to 4.186 joules o After 2 calories have been released the temperature will have risen 2 degrees i.e. to 0°C, and so the freezing process ceases temporarily.

Abbreviation cal

calorificadjective refer ring to calories □ calorific value the heat produced by the complete burning of a given amount of fuel o The calorific value of a fuel is an expression of the heat or energy content released during combustion.

camnoun an oval or egg- shaped wheel which, when rotating, converts circular motion into reciprocating motion o In a piston engine, the shape of each cam is designed to give the correct amount of opening to the valve.

CAMFAXnoun the civil aviation meteorological facsimile network

camplatenoun a rotating or non-rotating plate with cams on it o The fuel pump consists of a rotor assembly fitted with several plungers, the ends of which bear onto a non-rotating camplate.

camshaftnoun a rotating shaft carrying cams, which opens and closes valves in a piston engine o As the camshaft rotates, the cam will transmit a lifting force.

canardnoun a projection similar to a small wing fitted close to the nose of an aircraft and designed to increase its horizontal stability candelanoun the SI unit of brightness of a light o The red and green wing tip navigation lights must be at least 5 candela. (note: It is usually written cd with figures.)

candle power noun a unit to measure the brightness of a light o Estimation of visibility is achieved by noting the distances at which lights of a known candle power can be observed.

canopynoun 1. a transparent cover, typically on some fighters, light aircraft and gliders, designed to slide backwards and forwards or hinge upwards to allow pilots to enter or leave an aircraft 2. a covering to protect people in a life raft o The canopy should be erected to provide protection from the weather.

Cantilevernoun a beam fixed and supported at one end only o The mainplanes or wings are of cantilever design.

capnoun a top or lid o the exhaust valve cap CAP abbreviation Civil Aviation Publication

capabilitynoun the capacity or ability to do something □ the flare has a day and night capability the flare is effective in daylight and in the dark ‘France has a large capability in the areas of commercial aviation training and simulation’ [Civil Aviation Training]

capableadjective competent, having an ability o Aircraft used in aerobatics must be capable of withstanding the extra loads imposed on the airframe by the manoeuvres. o In most modern multi-engine jet transport aircraft, each fuel tank is capable of feeding any engine. □ a capable person a person who works well capacitance ,‘ noun the ability of a system of conductors and insulators to store an electrical charge when there is a positive discharge between the conductors o If the supply frequency is low, the voltage has more time to build up a larger charge, or capacitance. (note: Capacitance is measured in farads and can either be a fixed amount or variable amount.)

capacitiveadjective referring to the ability of a system of conductors and insulators to store an electrical charge Overspeed is usually a fault in the constant speed drive unit which causes the generator to over-speed and damage the capacitive loads on the aircraft.

capacitornoun a system of conductors and insulators which store electrical charge (note: A capacitor is used in a circuit to store energy for a short while.)

Capacitynoun 1. the ability to do something easily o Energy is the capacity for performing work. 2. the amount of something which a container can hold o Each cylinder has a capacity of 0.5 litres. □ battery capacity the amount of electrical energy a battery can store and deliver expressed in ampere hours 3. the ability of an ATC system, in a given area, to provide a normal service, expressed in numbers of aircraft ‘…a 500 to 600 seat ultra-high capacity type aircraft is now being studied by Airbus Industrie and Boeing’ [Flight International 1—7 May 1996]