Handling The Big Jets.pdf Site

Swept wings require significantly higher angles of attack to generate lift at low speeds, necessitating complex leading-edge slats and trailing-edge flaps.

Handling the Big Jets is more than a manual; it's a testament to the fact that, regardless of how advanced technology becomes, the pilot's understanding of the physics of flight is the ultimate safety system [2, 3, 4]. Handling the Big Jets.pdf

The 1990 edition of "Handling the Big Jets" (PDF format) is a commonly cited resource in academic and professional aviation discussions. Swept wings require significantly higher angles of attack

This is the foundational theory. Davies explains that simply making an aircraft bigger and heavier has profound consequences on its handling, leading to characteristics like increased momentum, the necessity for powered controls with artificial "feel," variable incidence tailplanes, and a much wider range of center of gravity (C of G) positions. It also introduces the new powerplant: the turbine engine, with its slower throttle response (spool-up time), and the absence of propeller slipstream over the wings and control surfaces—a major factor in low-speed handling. This is the foundational theory

A major focus is on how jet engines behave differently from piston engines. Key areas include the relationship between thrust and throttle lever movement, the delay in engine spool-up time (acceleration lag), and the absence of propeller slipstream and drag, which drastically changes low-speed handling, especially during takeoff and landing. The book also addresses high fuel consumption at low altitude, noise abatement procedures, and engine location effects.

The book is equally practical, offering in-depth advice on handling severe weather, including the history and selection of rough-air speeds and the use of weather radar. It also covers the critical topic of asymmetric flight—managing an engine failure. This includes "engine out ferrying" and training for two-engine-out scenarios on four-engine aircraft like the Boeing 747.