What does it mean when an aircraft does a rotation during takeoff? And how do you explain a sonic boom?

Answer 1

Rotation.
During a takeoff run, the point at which the nose wheel leaves the ground yet the main gear is still on the runway is called rotation. You know, when the airplane looks like its riding a wheelie.

Sonic Boom.
In my crude diagrams below, let's say the ">" character is my airplane and the "|" characters are sound waves. When an airplane is not moving the sound waves radiate away from the plane.

| ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... > ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |

Then when the airplane is moving from left to right at subsonic speed:
| ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ > .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |

Then when the airplane is almost at supersonic speed:
| .......... | .......... | .......... | .......... | .......... > | | | | |

Then when the airplane is at super sonic speed:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \ \ \
| ............ | ............ | ............ | ............ | ............ >
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . / / /

When the airplane passes from subsonic to supersonic there is a "wave" of built up sound. It is actually the sound of the airplane over time all packed together.

The sonic boom is created when the airplane "catches up" to its own sound waves. Once it attains super sonic speed, the boom is the forward edge of the sound waves as they radiate away from the airplane in a conical shape.

Also, notice that the sound waves behind and ahead of the stationary airplane are evenly spaced. However, the sound waves moving out ahead of the airplane in motion are packed tighter together than those behind the airplane. This is known as the Doppler Effect and can be heard when an airplane flies over you at low altitude.

When the airplane is coming toward you, it sounds like a high pitched scream. The sound waves that are reaching you are packed together tightly. Then when the airplane passes you the sound changes to a deeper roar. Now the sound waves that are reaching you are spaced. This is because the sound radiates from the airplane at a constant speed regardless of the speed of the airplane.

If you near an airport and listen to the airplanes pass over you at low altitudes and high speed, you'll experience the Doppler Effect. Think about how the sound waves are being effected by the speed of the airplane. Then you'll have a really good base of understanding to imagine how the sonic boom works.

Answer 2

Rotation is the act of pulling back on the stick, in order to take off. It lifts the nose up and pushes the tail down. That's the rotation.
As a plane approaches the speed of sound, you get a pressure wave that accumulates, as the sound does not radiate away (speed of sound and plane are the same), that is a standing wave, which when it touches the ground, exerts a lot of energy compressed into a narrow physical space. That power (sudden rise in pressure) creates the noise you experience as a sonic boom.

Answer 3

Rotation is an action by the pilot on the control stick that raises the nose of the plane and pushes the tail down to takeoff from the runway and into the air.

Answer 4

I think a rotation is when the aircraft taxis to the end of the runway and rotates around 360 degrees to face the other end of the runway before taking off.

A sonic boom is achieved when an aircraft goes supersonic. It makes a loud boom noise and a cone shaped cloud appears right behind the aircraft. If you want more technical info on this got to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boom

Answer 5

Rotation is pilot talk for take off, in a cessna 152 i aim to rotate at 60knts, but the minimum is 50knts with flaps set to 10degrees.

Answer 6

1. don't know

2. sonic boom happens when a plane travels faster then the speed of sound. the soundwaves can build up and amplify behind the plane - sometimes creating a loud boom