Boss.  An enlarged area in a casting or machined part. A boss provides additional strength to the part where holes for mounting or attaching parts are drilled. 

Bottom. (verb)  A condition in the installation of a propeller on a splined shaft when either the front or rear cone contacts an obstruction that prevents the cone from properly seating inside the propeller hub. 

Bourdon tube.  The major component in a gage-pressure measuring instrument. It is a thin-wall metal tube that has an elliptical cross section and is formed into a curve. One end of the tube is sealed and connected to an arm that moves the pointer across the instrument dial, and the open end is anchored to the instrument case. The pressure to be measured is directed into the open end, which causes the elliptical cross section to become more circular. As the cross section changes, the curve straightens and moves the pointer over the dial by an amount proportional to the amount of pressure. 

Brayton cycle.  The constant-pressure cycle of energy transformation used by gas turbine engines. Fuel is sprayed into the air passing through the engine and burned. Heat from the burning fuel-air mixture expands the air and accelerates it as it moves through the engine. The Brayton cycle is an open cycle in that the intake, compression, combustion, expansion, and exhaust events all take place at the same time, but in different locations within the engine. 

British thermal unit (Btu).  The basic unit of heat energy in the English system. One Btu is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of pure water from 60 ˚F to 61˚F. 

BSFC. Brake specific fuel consumption. A measure of the amount of fuel used for a given amount of power produced by a heat engine. BSFC is expressed in pounds of fuel burned per hour for each brake horse-power the engine is producing. 

Buckets. The portions of aft-fan blades that are in the exhaust of the core engine. Buckets drive the fan from energy received from hot gases leaving the core engine. 

Bungee cord.  An elastic cord made of small strips of rubber encased in a loosely braided cloth tube that holds and protects the rubber, yet allows it to stretch. The energy in a stretched bungee cord may be used to crank a large aircraft engine. 

Burner.  See combustor. 

Burnish.  To smooth the surface of a metal part that has been damaged by a deep scratch or gouge. Metal piled at the edge of the damage is pushed back into the damage with a smooth, hard steel burnishing tool. 

Butterfly valve.  A flat, disk-shaped valve used to control the flow of fluid in a round pipe or tube. When the butterfly valve is across the tube, the flow is shut off, and when it is parallel with the tube, the obstruction caused by the valve is minimum, and the flow is at its greatest. Butterfly-type throttle valves are used to control the airflow through the fuel metering system. 

Bypass engine.  Another name for a turbofan engine. See turbofan engine. 

Bypass ratio. The ratio of the mass of air moved by the fan to the mass of air moved by the core engine. 

Calendar month. The measurement of time used by the FAA for inspection and certification purposes. One calendar month from a given date extends from that date until midnight of the last day of that month. 

Cam. An eccentric, or lobe, on a rotating shaft that changes rotary motion into linear motion. A cam is mounted on the magnet shaft in a magneto to push upward on the insulated breaker point to separate, or open, the points when the magnet is in a particular location. 

Cam engine. A reciprocating engine with axial cylinders arranged around a central shaft. Rollers on the pistons in the cylinders press against a sinusoidal cam mounted on the shaft to produce rotation of the shaft. 

Cam-ground piston.  A reciprocating engine piston that is not round, but is ground so that its diameter parallel to the wrist pin is slightly smaller than its diameter perpendicular to the pin. The mass of metal used in the wrist pin boss, the enlarged area around the wrist pin hole, expands when heated, and when the piston is at its operating temperature, it is perfectly round. 

Can-annular combustor.  A type of combustor used in some large turbojet and turbofan engines. It consists of individual cans into which fuel is sprayed and ignited. These cans mount on an annular duct which collects the hot gases and directs them uniformly into the turbine. 

Capacitance afterfiring. The continuation of the spark across the gap in a shielded spark plug after the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder is ignited. Afterfiring is caused by the return of electrical energy stored in the capacitance of the shielded ignition leads. Capacitance afterfiring is eliminated by the use of a resistor in the spark plug. 

