Airplane Performance II

AE2-202 I

Lecturers:
Dr. Ir. Mark Voskuijl
Lecture 2
 Course outline
Lecture Subject
1 Unsteady climb / descent part 1
2 Unsteady climb / descent part 2
3 Take-off
4 Effect of wind on take-off
5 Landing
6 Equations of motion with wind gradient
7 Phugoid
8 Cruise / transport performance
9 3D Turn part 1
10 3D Turn part 2
11 Helicopter performance part 1
12 Helicopter performance part 2
13 Example calculations / practice exam
 Course outline
Lecture Subject
1 Unsteady climb / descent part 1
2 Unsteady climb / descent part 2
3 Take-off
4 Effect of wind on take-off
5 Landing
6 Equations of motion with wind gradient
7 Phugoid
8 Cruise / transport performance
9 3D Turn part 1
10 3D Turn part 2
11 Helicopter performance part 1
12 Helicopter performance part 2
13 Example calculations / practice exam
Contents
Summary of last lecture
Performance diagram
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
Contents
Summary of last lecture
Performance diagram
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
Summary previous lecture
Pilot performs climb at constant equivalent airspeed

This results in an accelerated climb (EAS constant, TAS increasing)

If Mach limit is reached, pilot will climb at constant Mach number

The flight can be assumed quasi-rectilinear (almost straight)

 Summary previous lecture
Equations of motion

Kinetic energy
correction factor
RC 1

RC st 1 V dV
g 0 dH

! Be able to derive this

for the exam

Unsteady Steady
W dV Pa Pr
T D W sin RC steady
g dt W
Pa Pr V dV
RC
W g dt
Summary previous lecture
Unsteady climb analysis RC 1

RCst 1 V dV
g 0 dH

Climb technique A Ve2 d 0

(Ve = constant) 1
2 g0 dH
Properties
Climb technique B M2 dT ISA
(M = constant) 1 R
2 g0 dH
Summary previous lecture
Do these derivations at home as
ISA practice. The previous lecture
contains an exam question, including
Troposphere the solution see Blackboard
g g0

T
0 1
R d 0 g T R

; T T0 H 1 0 ; T T0 H
0 T0 dH R T0 T0
g0
R 1
0 T

T0

Stratosphere
g0
0 0 RT H H

d 0 0 g 0
e s
s

s dH RTs
Summary previous lecture
In short, if the indicated airspeed is known and if we
know the properties of the atmosphere (ISA), then
we can calculate RC/RCst

Try this at home!

Contents
Summary of last lecture
Performance diagram
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
 Pa Pr
Performance diagram RC steady
W
P
Pa

Pr

V
V1 V2 V3
Performance diagram
RCsteady

V
Performance diagram
P H2
H1
Pa

Pr

V
Performance diagram
RCsteady
H2
H1

V
 h1
h 1 < h 2 < h3
Excess power h2

h3

Altitude

Mach
Where are we now?
Summary of last lecture
Performance diagram
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
Minimum time to climb problem
During climb at constant Indicated Airspeed, V(H) is
fixed

Easy flight technique for the pilot, but:

Is this really the optimal relation between

V and H (e.g. to reach an altitude as fast
as possible) ?!
Minimum time to climb problem
What is optimal?

Minimum time to climb (time)

Amount of fuel consumed during climb (fuel)
Distance covered during climb (distance)
Minimum time to climb problem
What is optimal?

Minimum time to climb (time)

Amount of fuel consumed during climb (fuel)
Distance covered during climb (distance)

We will only look at the first option, the other two are optimal as well
Minimum time to climb problem
We will focus now on finding the true airspeed (TAS) as a
function of altitude that will yield a climb to a certain altitude
within a minimum amount of time

dH dH Time t is not minimal if the

RC dt
dt RC integrand is minimal at every
H
dH altitude H because the term dV/dH
t is in the integrand
0
RC
Variational calculus is necessary
V dV
H 1
g 0 dH
t dH
0
RC st
Explanation: why variational calculus?
1
RCst
H
2

V
At H1 RCst is maximal at V1
The integrand can be minimized more by choosing (dV/dH)1 < 0
At altitude H2 > H1 no optimum V can be chosen
Conclusion: No local optimum but global optimum (consider
complete flight path)
Minimum time to climb problem

V dV
H H 1
dH g 0 dH
t dH
0
RC 0 RC st

Solution
Simplify (low speed aircraft)
Energy method (high subsonic / supersonic aircraft)
Contents
Summary of last lecture
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
Low speed aircraft
V dV
H H 1
dH g 0 dH Assumption:
t Low speed, low altitude
0
RC 0 RC st
H
dH
t
0
RC st

For a chosen function V(H) the corresponding RCst

can be determined at every altitude
 W dV
T D W sin
Low speed aircraft g dt
Pa Pr W dV
RC V
W g dt
Pa Pr
RC steady
W
P RCsteady
H1 H2 H

V
V(H1) V(H2)
 Example propeller aircraft (Pa = constant)
Pa Pr
RC st
W
Pa
RC st max Pr ,min C L ,opt 3C D Ae
0

W 2 1 1
Vopt Pr
S C L ,opt
V
Corresponding Ve V constant
0
Pr,min
V i constant because V i Vc Ve
 Example World War I fighter planes

C L 3C Do Ae
C D 0.035 Pr
0

A6
e 0.8 Pa
C L ,opt 1.26 (large !)
W 2 1
Ve,ground V
S 0 C L ,opt
Vmin Vmin thin profiles
thick profiles
Where are we now?
Summary of last lecture
Minimum time to climb problem
Low speed aircraft
High subsonic and supersonic aircraft
Conclusions
Approximation of minimum time to
climb for high speed aircraft
Altitude and flight speed are rapidly interchangeable

H Line of constant energy:

W 2
WH V constant
1
2
g
V

Increasing the total energy is much slower because it

depends on the excess power
Curves of constant energy height

D
C
A

B
 H
Large energy Optimal combination
of V and H to
increase the energy

Small energy

So: Minimum time to climb problem

approximated by another problem: find Vopt (H) at
which minimum time to total energy
Energy method
Energy height Equation of Motion
E mgH 12 mV 2 W dV
T D W sin
g 0 dt
W 2
E WH 12 V T D 1 dV
g0 sin
W g 0 dt
E V2
He H Pa Pr V dV
W 2g 0 V sin
W g 0 dt
dH e dH 1 dV 2
1 dV 2 dH Pa Pr
dt dt 2g 0 dt
2g 0 dt dt W

dH e Pa Pr
RC steady
dt W
Minimum time to climb

dH e
RC s
dt

dH e
dt
RC st
H e2
dH e
t H RC st
(time to energy height)
e1
Subsonic
 Excess power,
Altitude h ft/sec h1
h2
h3
h1<h2<h3

Mach
Supersonic
 Transonic drag rise
Dip in excess power is caused
by transonic drag rise:
C D C D M k M C L2
0

supersonic aircraft

High subsonic aircraft

Conclusions
Low speed / low altitude fly at max RCsteady for
minimum time to climb
Energy height method is useful to solve and
understand the minimum time to climb problem
Minimum time to climb is not the only optimal climb
Amount of fuel consumed during climb
Distance covered during climb
Example
Mig 29 can climb to 6000m altitude in less than 1
minute!