Why Airplanes Do Not Fall Off The Sky
The Amazing Performance Of Jet Aircraft
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
My dream had always been to have a job in law enforcement, so I applied for a position with Los Angeles Police Department as a Crime Prevention Assistant. I also filled out applications for positions with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI as a special agent. I received a letter in February from the police department asking me to come downtown to their medical facilities to take a physical, have a psychological exam, and arrange for a background check. The position of Crime Prevention Assistant was supposed to be a stepping-stone into the police academy. After passing a long battery of tests, I was told I would be going into the police academy with other recruits. Upon successfully completing my time in the academy, I could become a police officer. I was looking forward to an exciting career with the police department.
I was scheduled to start working in the Detective Bureau early in June 1975. I immediately gave the bank my two-week notice because I wanted to spend a couple of months getting physically fit before I started the new job. Joseph was going to help me with my weight training to build my upper body strength. We had filed for our income tax return, and Joseph promised to buy me another car as soon as the refund arrived.
In March, Joseph and I went to the car lot and bought a used but very nice Pontiac Lemans. It was green with a nice, clean interior. Best of all, it ran well. Our old bucket had to be towed away. We had dumped more money into it than it was worth.
Joseph was back on speaking terms with his family since Christmas, but they were still not speaking with me. The next day Joseph drove to his mother’s house to show her the new car he had bought me. While he was there, he borrowed five dollars from Sam Louis with a promise he would pay him back on Friday.
On Friday, Joseph picked up his paycheck and we headed to the racetrack. He wanted to make it there by the third race so we had to rush.
Carmen’s house was on the way and as we neared it, he remembered he had to pay his brother back the five dollars he had borrowed from him.
Joseph pulled up and parked in the driveway behind his mother’s car. Erica and I waited for him in the car.
I wish I could explain the sense of foreboding came over me as I watched Joseph knock on the front door. There was no answer so he walked toward the back of the house where Sam Louis’s room was located, the same cold room where Joseph and I had stayed when Erica was born.
I watched as Joseph walked back to the front door and saw that someone had opened the front door. My eyes were fixed on his every move. Suddenly I heard loud popping noises that I thought was a car backfiring. I could see the front door from where I was sitting, but I could no longer see Joseph. I figured he had gone inside. I saw Sam Louis bent over on the porch.
I continued to hear the popping sounds, and tried to reason that they were perhaps firecrackers being set off by some kids in the neighborhood. Seeing Sam Louis bent over on the front porch, I reasoned that maybe he was spraying ants with bug spray.
I got out of the car and closed the door behind me. Sam Louis noticed me and started walking toward me. I waved at him, and before I could say anything, I saw the gun in his left hand.
“Hi, Sam Louis,” I murmured, despite my growing apprehension and awareness that something really awful was happening. He said nothing; he just kept staring at me with a strange absent expression on his face.
“Where’s Joseph?” I choked out as I felt a sob rise to my throat. The bleak reality of the situation was setting in, as I backed up, realizing I was now in a life-threatening situation. I took cover behind a large tree that was next to the driveway.
“Come back. I’m not going to hurt you!” he kept saying.
“Joseph, Joseph! Oh my God, Joseph!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I was paralyzed with fear and grief. Sam Louis walked back toward the house and went back to the front door. I heard more pops while I looked around to see if there was anyone around to help me. It was about
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Book Details
About the Book
This book describes the performance of an airplane during an entire flight that includes take-off, climb, cruise, descent, and landing.
It provides a succinct theory of aerodynamics, keeping the mathematics to a minimum.
It analyzes lift and drag from both the vorticity point of view, and the pressure distribution point of view. Various forms of drag are considered, including compressibility drag.
Jet engines are briefly described, including the various allowed thrust ratings.
The theory provides the basis to analyze the requirements for optimum performance regimes during all the stages of the flight mission for minimum fuel and/or minimum cost, such as optimum climb, cruise, maximum range, long range cruise, and descent speeds. Optimum rate of climb, altitudes, rate of descent, etc. are also described.
The book includes an original chapter on aircraft stability and Mach excursions in the operating range.
Climb and descent are analyzed, including optimum speeds, rate of climb, rate of descent, etc.
Take-off and landing are analyzed, which includes the nomenclature of the concepts for the various segments and speeds for both.
In an appendix are provided some more elaborate mathematical expressions used in aerodynamics.
The book is intended for pilots, airline personal, students in aeronautics, and to people having a general interest in aviation.
The book reflects the author’s practical experience of flying for three decades as an active aircrew member for EI-Al, the Israel Airlines.
About the Author
This book was written as a sequel to various studies and research on the aerodynamics performance of subsonic aircraft, while the author was an aircrew member for EI-Al, the Israel Airlines for 27 years.
The author holds a Master Degree and a PhD candidacy in Physics. This enabled him to bridge his academic knowledge in mathematics, physics, and aerodynamics, with the practical operation of subsonic aircraft.