AVAT11005 - Flight Fundamentals

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Aircraft require an array of mechanical, structural, and electrical components to ensure safe, comfortable, and efficient transport of passengers and goods across the world. In this unit, will you will learn the fundamental physics concepts that govern aircraft design and performance. You will study the laws of motion and the concepts of momentum and energy conversion to develop your knowledge of the various power sources used by aircraft and how these power sources propel aircraft forward. You will learn about fluid dynamics and gravitational forces to help understand the lift and aerodynamics of aircraft. You will learn about electrical circuits and wave propagation, which are the basic concepts behind numerous aircraft systems from autopilot to navigation systems to communication systems to inflight entertainment systems. Finally, you will combine your knowledge of these concepts to perform calculations relevant to flight planning, performance, and loading of aircraft.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 3 - 2024 Profile
Cairns
Online
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Cairns
Online
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Cairns
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Written Assessment 30%
3. Online Test 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 33.33% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Have your say comments
Feedback
This unit needs an overhaul in terms of relevance to the aviation industry practices.
Recommendation
Update the unit content to present relevant physics content in the context of how they apply to the operation of an aircraft.
Action Taken
This unit is completely revised with new lecture slides, reference books, and assessment items.
Source: Have your say comments
Feedback
This unit needs revision in terms of applicable theories relevant to the aviation industry.
Recommendation
Assessments are not relevant to aviation - Update the unit assessment to include problem-solving in an aviation context.
Action Taken
This unit is completely revised with new lecture slides, reference books, and assessment items.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
This unit's teaching efforts have been thoroughly revised, which seems favourable for the student's learning outcomes.
Recommendation
Continuous improved teaching efforts should be there for this unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
The overall student satisfaction score differed over the offerings.
Recommendation
Submission and marking guidelines for all assessment items should be developed and presented to the students on Moodle.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
The overall student satisfaction score dropped in term three.
Recommendation
Assessment feedback sessions should be a good addition.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit evaluation data
Feedback
Student overall satisfaction is relatively low due to lacking in useful feedback.
Recommendation
Incorporating sessions for feedback on assessments should be a beneficial enhancement.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Perform calculations relevant to flight aerodynamics
  2. Use Newton's Laws to explain motion and conservation of energy and momentum in flight
  3. Explain DC and AC circuits in an aircraft systems context
  4. Describe the propagation of radio waves in an aircraft navigation context.

In this unit, you will learn to use an E6B or CR3 calculator as necessary for flight-related calculations.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10