GCAA AME Licence Exam flashcards
GCAA AME Licence Exam · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- ICAO Annex 1
- The ICAO annex containing Standards and Recommended Practices for personnel licensing, including the licensing of maintenance personnel such as aircraft maintenance engineers.
- Airworthiness Directive
- A mandatory instruction issued by the State of registry or the type certificate holder's authority that must be complied with within the stated time to maintain airworthiness.
- Maintenance release
- A certification signed by authorised certifying staff confirming that the maintenance performed has been completed and the aircraft is airworthy for the intended flight.
- Fail-safe design
- A structural design philosophy where a damaged element can be detected during inspection and the remaining structure can carry the load until repair.
- Semi-monocoque fuselage
- A fuselage construction where the skin carries shear loads and is supported by stringers and frames that stabilise it and carry concentrated loads.
- Outflow valve
- A valve in the pressurisation system that controls the rate at which cabin air leaves the aircraft, thereby regulating cabin pressure and pressure differential.
- Oleo strut
- A landing gear shock absorber that uses compressed gas and oil forced through an orifice to absorb landing loads and damp rebound.
- Bleed air
- Air taken from the engine compressor and used for cabin pressurisation, air conditioning and anti-icing; leaks are detected by overheat or leak-detection loops.
- Shunt
- A low-resistance element placed in a circuit to measure current by the small voltage drop developed across it.
- Pitot-static system
- A system supplying pitot pressure and static pressure to airspeed, altimeter and vertical speed instruments; blockage causes erroneous indications.
- Rigidity in space
- The property of a spinning gyroscope that keeps its spin axis fixed in inertial space, used as the basis of attitude and heading instruments.
- ILS localiser
- The component of an instrument landing system that provides lateral guidance to the runway centreline using a radio beam.
- Bypass ratio
- The ratio of the mass of air flowing through the fan bypass duct to the mass flowing through the engine core; higher ratios improve propulsive efficiency.
- Detonation
- Uncontrolled, very rapid combustion of the fuel-air mixture in a piston engine, causing high cylinder head temperature, roughness and possible engine damage.
- Wastegate
- A valve that controls the flow of exhaust gas to the turbocharger turbine, thereby regulating the boost pressure produced by the compressor.
- Constant-speed propeller
- A propeller whose blade angle is varied by a governor to maintain a selected engine RPM as power and airspeed change.
- Swiss cheese model
- A human factors model in which latent and active failures align to breach successive defences, allowing an accident to occur.
- Dirty dozen
- A set of twelve common human factors, including complacency, distraction, fatigue, pressure, stress and lack of communication, that contribute to maintenance errors.
- SHEL model
- A human factors model describing the interaction of Software, Hardware, Environment and Liveware, with the human as the central Liveware element.
- Lockwire
- Safety wire installed through fastener heads so that it pulls the fastener in the tightening direction, preventing rotation from vibration.
- Critical angle of attack
- The angle of attack at which the airflow separates from the wing and lift reaches its maximum; exceeding it causes a stall at any speed.
- Induced drag
- Drag caused by the generation of lift, produced by the wingtip vortices; it increases with lift coefficient and decreases as aspect ratio increases.
- Load factor
- The ratio of lift to weight; in a level turn it equals 1/cos(bank angle), so a 60-degree bank gives a load factor of 2.
- Centre of pressure
- The point through which the total aerodynamic force acts on a wing; it moves forward as angle of attack increases on a cambered wing.
- Ohm's law
- The relationship V = IR, where voltage equals current multiplied by resistance; power is given by P = VI = I²R.
- Capacitive reactance
- The opposition to alternating current offered by a capacitor, given by X_C = 1/(2πfC), decreasing as frequency or capacitance increases.
- Galvanic corrosion
- Corrosion caused when two dissimilar metals are joined in the presence of an electrolyte; the more anodic metal corrodes preferentially.
- Anodising
- An electrochemical process that forms a protective oxide layer on aluminium, improving corrosion resistance and providing a key for paint.
- Exfoliation corrosion
- A form of corrosion that attacks along grain boundaries in rolled or extruded metal, causing the surface to lift and flake.
- Service Bulletin
- A document issued by a manufacturer recommending a modification or inspection; it is not mandatory unless required by an AD or the maintenance programme.
- Supplemental type certificate
- An approval granted for a major modification to a type design that is not covered by the original type certificate.
- Independent inspection
- A quality assurance requirement where a second authorised person inspects a critical task or assembly before it is closed or released.