INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

(Autonomous)
Dundigal, Hyderabad -500 043

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
COURSE LECTURE NOTES

Course Name AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE

Course Code AAE011
Programme B.Tech
Semester V
Course Coordinator G Swathi, Assistant Professor, AE

Course Faculty A Rathan Babu, Assistant Professor, AE

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 1

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE

V Semester: AE

Course Code Category Hours / Week Credits Maximum Marks

L T P C CIA SEE Total
AAE011 Core
3 - - 3 30 70 100
Contact Classes: 45 Tutorial Classes: Nil Practical Classes: Nil Total Classes: 45
OBJECTIVES:
The course should enable the students to:
I. Learn the different Regimes of aircraft and performance requirements at different atmospheric
conditions.
II. Understand the different type of velocities and gives differences between stall velocity and maximum
and minimum velocities.
III. Estimate the time to climb and descent and gives the relation between rate of climb and descent and
time to climb and descent at different altitudes.
IV. Illustrate the velocity and radius required for different type of maneuvers like pull-up, pull down and
steady turn.
UNIT-I INTRODUCTION TO AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE Classes: 10
The role and design mission of an aircraft; Performance requirements and mission profile; Aircraft design
performance, the standard atmosphere; Off-standard and design atmosphere; Measurement of air data; Air
data computers; Equations of motion for performance - the aircraft force system; Total airplane drag-
estimation, drag reduction methods; The propulsive forces, the thrust production engines, power
producing engines, variation of thrust, propulsive power and specific fuel consumption with altitude and
flight speed; The minimum drag speed, minimum power speed; Aerodynamic relationships for a parabolic
drag polar.
UNIT-II CRUISE PERFORMANCE Classes:08
Maximum and minimum speeds in level flight; Range and endurance with thrust production, and power
producing engines; Cruise techniques: constant angle of attack, constant mach number; constant altitude,
methods- comparison of performance. The effect of weight, altitude and temperature on cruise
performance; Cruise performance with mixed power-Plants.
UNIT-III CLIMB AND DECENT PERFORMANCE Classes: 10
Importance of Climb and descent performance, Climb and descent technique generalized performance
analysis for thrust producing, power producing and mixed power plants, maximum climb gradient, and
climb rate.
Energy height and specific excess power, energy methods for optimal climbs - minimum time, minimum
fuel climbs. Measurement of best climb performance. Descent performance in Aircraft operations. Effect
of wind on climb and decent performance.
UNIT-IV AIRCRAFT MANOEUVRE PERFORMANCE Classes: 09
Lateral maneuvers- turn performance- turn rates, turn radius- limiting factors for turning performance.
Instantaneous turn and sustained turns, specific excess power, energy turns. Longitudinal aircraft
maneuvers, the pull-up, maneuvers. The maneuver envelope, Significance. Maneuver boundaries,
Maneuver performance of military Aircraft, transport Aircraft.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 2

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS -TAKEOFF AND LANDING
UNIT-V Classes:08
PERFORMANCE AND FLIGHT PLANNING
Estimation of takeoff distances. The effect on the takeoff distance of weight wind, runway conditions,
ground effect. Takeoff performance safety factors. Estimation of landing distances. The discontinued
landing, Baulk landing, air safety procedures and requirements on performance. Fuel planning fuel
requirement, trip fuel, Environment effects, reserve, and tankering.

Text Books:
1. Anderson, J.D. Jr., ―Aircraft Performance and Design‖, International Edition McGraw Hill,
1st Edition, 1999, ISBN: 0-07-001971-1.
2. Eshelby, M.E., ―Aircraft Performance theory and Practice‖, AIAA Education Series, AIAA, 2nd
Edition, 2000, ISBN: 1-56347-398-4.

Reference Books:
1. McCormick, B.W, ―Aerodynamics, Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics‖, John Wiley, 2nd Edition,
1995, ISBN: 0-471-57506-2.
2. Yechout, T.R. et al., ―Introduction to Aircraft Flight Mechanics‖, AIAA Education Series, AIAA, 1st
Edition, 2003, ISBN: 1-56347-577-4.
3. Shevel, R.S., ―Fundamentals of Fligh‖, Pearson Education, 2nd Edition, 1989, ISBN: 81-297-0514-1.

Web References:
1. www.myopencourses.com/subject/flight-dynamics-i-airplane-performance
2. www.scribd.com/doc/185026212/Introduction-to-Flight-Third-Edition-by-John-D-Anderson-Jr
3. www.scribd.com/book/282507871/Performance-and-Stability-of-Aircraft
4. www.scribd.com/doc/203462287/Aircraft-Performance-NPTEL
5. www.nptel.ac.in/courses/101106041/

E-Text Books:
1. www.scribd.com/doc/97544751/Anderson-Aircraft-Performance-and-Design

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 3

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 UNIT I
INTRODUCTION TO AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE

The role and design mission of an aircraft, specification of performance requirements:

Performance can be used as a measure of the capability of the aircraft in many ways. Performance can be defined
as a measure of the ability of the aircraft to carry out a specified task.
In the case of a civil transport aircraft it determines an element of the cost of the operation of the aircraft and
hence it contributes to its economic viability as a transport vehicle. In military combat operations, time, maneuver
and radius of action are some of the more critical performance parameters in the overall evaluation of the
effectiveness and air superiority of the aircraft.
Performance can also be regarded as a measure of safety.
An aircraft has an excess of thrust over drag it can increase its energy by either climbing or accelerating if the
drag exceeds the thrust then it will be losing energy as it either decelerates or descends.
In safe flight the thrust must not be committed to a decrease of energy that would endanger it so that at all critical
points in the mission thrust must exceed the drag. This is a consideration of the performance aspect of the
airworthiness of the aircraft.
The design of an aircraft starts from the statement of the flight path related performance that the aircraft is
expected to achieve.
The basic statement of the performance will be concerned with the payload the aircraft will be required to carry
and the mission profile it will be required to fly.
The payload of a civil transport aircraft may be defined in the terms of no. of passengers, tonnage of freight,
volume of freight or as combinations of freight and passengers.
The definition of military aircraft mission payloads may cover a wide range of possibilities including personnel,
troops, support equipment and supplies in transport aircraft and internally carried stores, externally carried stores
and sensor pods on combat aircraft.

Mission Profile:
Aircraft operations can be classified into civil operations, which are commercial flights transporting passengers
or cargo.
Military operations which are concerned with defensive or offensive flight operations or their associated support
operations.

Fig 1.1 Civil transport aircraft flight profile.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 4

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
A typical mission profile of a civil transport aircraft is shown in the above figure.
The primary mission is to fly a payload from the departure point to the destination. This requires the aircraft to
takeoff from the departure point, climb to the cruising height and cruise to the destination, where the aircraft
descends and lands.
If the aircraft be unable to land the destination when it arrives, it will have to divert to an alternate airfield and the
flight plan will need to include provision for the diversion.

Fig 1.2 Military aircraft mission profiles.

Once the mission profile and the payload of the aircraft have been specified the design process can commence.
From the performance standpoint the total design process extends from the initial project design estimations right
through to the delivery of the aircraft into service.
In the final phase the aircraft is prepared for its operational role. The overall procedure can be divided into 3
broad areas:
Performance estimation
Performance measurement
Operational performance

Performance Estimation:
Performance estimation involves the prediction of the capabilities of the aircraft from the considerations of its
aerodynamic design, power plant and operating environment.
It can be applied to
1) The design of new type of aircraft
2) Modification of existing aircraft type in respect to design changes affecting its aerodynamic
characteristics or power plant or
3) To supplement or extend the full scale measured performance of an aircraft type for conditions outside
those already established
Performance estimation process begins with the proposal of some performance target.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 5

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Initially the estimation will centre on individual elements of the flight path. Performance estimation is usually
based on the assumption of a simple atmosphere model, the international standard atmosphere (ISA). This is a
linearised model of the temperature atmosphere which represents the mean global atmosphere state with respect
to seasonal changes and latitude and is used as the basis for aircraft design.

Performance Measurement:
A performance measurement is required for the three main purposes:
1) To verify that aircraft achieves the estimated design performance targets.
2) To demonstrate that the aircraft can satisfy the safety criteria set down in the worthiness requirements.
3) To provide validated performance data for the performance section of the flight manual
The performance of the aircraft is measured in development trials and compared with the estimated performance
where there is difference in the characteristics of the aircraft and of the power plant can be measured and
compared with those used in the models.
As the design of the aircraft is developed and the flight trials show that it is meeting its performance targets, data
was measured for submission to the airworthiness authority for the certification of the aircraft.
As a part of the certification process validated performance data are required for the performance section of the
flight manual, known as the flight performance manual or the operating data manual(ODM), which contains the
information of the performance of the aircraft needed by the operator for flight planning.

Operational Performance:
The basic requirements for the safe flight are that the space required for the aircraft to maneuver should never
exceed the space available, and that the aircraft carries sufficient fuel for the flight these fundamental
requirements form the basis of performance planning and fuel planning.
Performance planning: It is a part of the flight plan mode in advance of the flight ensures that at any point in the
flight the aircraft has sufficient performance to be able to maneuver within the space available. The space
required for any given maneuver is a function of the weight of the aircraft and the space required increases as the
weight increases.
Fuel planning: It ensures that the aircraft carries sufficient fuel for the mission, taking into account reserves for
contingencies, diversions and safety. Since the fuel required for the mission will depend on the takeoff weight of
the aircraft the fuel planning must follow the flight planning.

The Atmosphere and Air data Measurement:

The state of the atmosphere defined by its temperature and pressure is fundamental to both the design and
operation of the aircraft. The atmospheric air provides the lift force that propulsive force that is necessary to
sustain flight. These forces depend on the properties of the atmosphere and aircraft.

The Characteristics of the Atmosphere:

The atmosphere consists of air which is a mixture of gases, mainly Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%) with traces of
argon (0.9%), carbon dioxide (0.03%) and other inert gases (0.07%) in minute quantities. There are quantities of
dust particles, water vapor and moisture in variable amounts which although they do not affect the gaseous
properties of the air significantly.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 6

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.3 Mean seasonal global temperature distribution.

The atmosphere air can be taken to behave as a neutral gas that obeys the equation of state
p = ρTR

Fig 1.4 General global atmosphere pressure distribution.

Vertical development of the atmosphere:

The radiation that is absorbed by the atmosphere is not absorbed uniformly but selectively by different layers
giving rise to a complex temperature –height profile in the atmosphere.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 7

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.5 Vertical temperature structure of the atmosphere.

At low levels the water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb the terrestrial radiation producing a warm air region near
the ground extending upwards to about 11km, this layer is known as the troposphere. In the troposphere the
temperature decreases with increasing height and the temperature-height gradient which is negative here known
as the temperature lapse rate, L. Above this region there is little water vapor in the atmosphere and its
absorbtivity is reduced, this layer is called the stratosphere which extends upwards to some 50km. The ozone
content of the atmosphere increases with height up to about 80km and in the layer between 5km and 80 km. The
absorbtivity particularly of the ultra violet spectrum increases to form further warm air layer, this is the
mesosphere. Above the mesosphere is a layer of very low pressure the thermosphere, extending up to about
800km and the final layer, the exosphere forms the boundary with space.

The standard atmosphere model:

The performance of the aircraft is depends on the state of the atmosphere in which it is flying. The state f the
atmosphere, as defined by its pressure and temperature is viable, so that the actual performance of the aircraft will
depend on its geographical location and time. In the design of the aircraft assumptions of the state of the
atmosphere will have to be made in order to predict its performance. A model of structure of the atmosphere is
required.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 8

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.6 Measured temperatures – height profiles.

The atmosphere model needs to represent an average atmosphere with respect to geographical and seasonal
variations in pressure and temperature and to have a vertical structure which is similar to that in the real
atmosphere
An atmosphere model has been accepted by international agreement and is used as the basis for all performance
work, it is known as the International Standard Atmosphere.
The reference datum values of the principal characteristics of the international standard atmosphere model are
Reference pressure P0=101325 N/m2
Reference temperature T 0=288.15 K
Reference density ρ0=1.225 Kg/m3

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 9

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.7 International standard atmosphere model; temperature – height profile.

The vertical structure of the atmosphere model is defined by the assumptions of a series of linear relationships
between temperature and height as shown in the above figure up to a height of 32km which is the vertical extent
of the ISA model used in connection with aircraft performance the model consists of three layers in each of
which the temperature height profile is given by
Where the subscript I denotes the height of the layer boundary of the layer considered in kms. Thus at the datum
level i=0 and the temperature lapse rate Li is the rate of change of temperature, weight, height in the layer above
Hi
Pressure height:

Fig 1.8 Design atmospheres. A) Pressure heights. B) Geo-potential heights.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 10

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The difference between pressure height and geo-potential height in an off standard atmosphere can be determined
in any atmosphere

And in the standard atmosphere since H=H p

Where Tstd is the standard atmosphere temperature at the pressure height Hp

Thus a geo-potential height increment dH is related to a pressure height increment dHp by a temperature
correction. This correction is used to obtain geo-potential height intervals from measured height intervals for the
measurement of gradient of climb and other flight path related performance characteristics.

Relative properties of atmosphere:

The atmospheric equation of state applies to all points in the atmosphere so that,

And at the ISA datum

Thus

This can be written

The relative properties are a convenient means of expressing and manipulating the atmosphere properties and
avoiding the need to use the gas constant.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 11

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.9 International standard atmosphere; relative properties.

Pressure height profiles;

8000 ft δ = 0.75 (maximum cabin pressure height for passenger transport)
18000 ft δ = 0.5 (short haul operations)
38000 ft δ = 0.2 (long range transport operations)
53000 ft δ = 0.1 (Concorde and some military operations)
100000 ft δ = 0.01 (TR1, SR71 surveillance aircraft, 80-90 000 ft)

Density Altitude:
It is sometimes more convenient to consider the state of the atmosphere in terms of its density rather than its
pressure and temperature separately. In this case, the relationship between the density and height in the standard
atmosphere model is used as a datum.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 12

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.10 Density atmosphere.

The concept of the density altitude can be illustrated by a simple example. If the observed temperature at a
pressure height 15000ft is -30*C then, from the pressure height relationship, the relative pressure at 15000ft is

And the relative temperature is

Giving the relative density to be

Now from the properties of the standard atmosphere the pressure height at which a relative density of 0.66878
occurs is 13120ft. thus the density altitude is 13120ft since the standard atmosphere density at this height is
equivalent to the actual density at a pressure height of 15000ft and a temperature of -30*C this is shown by point
A in fig 1.10

Measurement of air data:

The essential requirements in the measurement of aircraft performance are first, the knowledge of the state of the
atmosphere in which the aircraft is flying and secondly the relative motion between the aircraft and the air mass.
This information is collected by the air data system.
The air data system of an aircraft in fig 1.11 consists of a pitot-static installation to sense the airflow pressures
from which height, airspeed and Mach number are derived. An air thermometer from which the air temperature

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 13

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
can be determined and in some cases airflow direction detectors (ADD) which sense the local flow directions
relative to the aircraft body axes are part of the system.

Fig 1.11 Air data system of an aircraft.

Both the air data computer and the mechanical instruments use the same basic calibration equations to convert the
measured data into a suitable form for operational use. The calibration equation will be developed in the
subsequent sections. The units used in the display of air data are usually the foot for measurement of height and
the knot for airspeed since international regulation requires primary flight instruments to be calibrated in these
units.

Measurement of height:
In above section relationships were found the related pressure to geo-potential height in the standard atmosphere.
By rearranging these equations height can be expressed in terms of pressure so that in the troposphere in which
L=/0

And in the isothermal lower stratosphere in which L=0

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 14

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Although the standard atmosphere model uses a static pressure of 1013mb as its datum in practice height is
measured with respect to other datum pressures, one of which is mean sea level. Fig 1.12 shows the most
common altimeter datum settings

Fig 1.12 Altimeter reference pressure settings.

In the measurement of height a number of corrections need to be taken into account before the pressure height
and the quantities derived from pressure height can be determined. These can be summarized working back from
the altimeter to the free stream flow.
(a) Altimeter reading; Alt or Hpl
This is the reading of an individual instrument. Since the instrument is a mechanical device driven by the static
pressure, there will be errors due to mechanical tolerance. The instrument error correction can be evaluated by
calibrating the individual instrument against an accurate source of pressure and the correction applied to the
altimeter reading to give indicated altitude.
(b) Indicated altitude; Hpi
This is the altimeter reading corrected for instrument error. The indicated altitude will be measured with
reference to the appropriate altimeter datum pressure setting.
(c) Pressure altitude; Hp
This is the indicated altitude measured with respect to the appropriate datum pressure setting corrected for static
pressure error. This is the error due to the location of the static pressure source within the disturbed pressure field
caused by the presence of the aircraft.
(d) Geo potential height interval; dHp
This is the pressure height interval, dH p measured by the altimeter and corrected for temperature difference from
the ISA model atmosphere
(e) Static pressure p and relative pressure
When the altimeter datum pressure is set to 1013mb the pressure heights can be converted into atmospheric
pressure or relative pressure either by reference to the atmosphere tables or from the ISA pressure height
relationship.

Measurement of airflow characteristics:

Airspeed is the relative velocity between the aircraft and the air mass in which it is flying. It is one of the most
important parameters in aircraft performance since the aerodynamic forces acting on the aircraft, and upon which
its performance is based are functions of airspeed.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 15

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Since the total energy of the flow is constant the energy relationship neglecting the potential energy term can be
written in the form

Integrating above equation for adiabatic flow in which

Gives

Relating the flow pressure to the flow velocity or true airspeed V

Alternatively from the equation of state 2.1

And expressing the gas constant R in the form

Above equation can be written in the form

This relates the flow temperature to the true airspeed.

Above two equations are alternative statements of the energy equation of the adiabatic flow of an ideal gas and
can be used in the measurement of the airflow characteristics.

Measurement of airspeed:
The airspeed can be measured by comparing the total and static pressures of the airflow relative to the aircraft.
From above equation the energy at any two points in the flow are equal, thus

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 16

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
If point 1 refers to the undisturbed free stream conditions in which the pressure p1 is the static pressure p and V 1
is true airspeed of the flow V and point 2 refers to the stagnation conditions in the pitot tube in which the airflow
velocity, V2 is zero and the pressure p2 is the total or pitot pressure pp then above equation becomes,

Now the speed of the sound a is given by

So that above equation reduces to

Comparing the total and static pressure provides the relationship between airspeed and the differential pressure or
impact pressure pd

THE FORCE SYSTEM OF THE AIRCRAFT AND THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION

The equations of motion for performance:

The equations of motion of the aircraft are statements of Newton‘s law, F = ma, in each of three mutually
perpendicular axes. The general force F is the sum of the components of a system of forces acting on the aircraft,
which results in the inertial force, ma. The system of forces acting on the aircraft can be categorized into four
groups; the gravitational forces, Fg, the aerodynamic forces, Fa, and the propulsive forces, Fp, which result in the
inertial forces, F1, so that the statement of Newton‘s law becomes,

There will also be a system of moments acting on the aircraft but, as these do not affect the flight path directly,
they do not need to be taken into account in the equations of motion for performance. Each group of forces acts
in its own axis system and needs to be resolved into the velocity axis system before the equations of motion for
performance. Each group of forces acts in its own axis system and needs to be resolved into the velocity axis
system before the equations of motion can be developed. The axis systems are described in full in Appendix A
and the full equations of motion for aircraft performance are developed in Appendix B. Only a summary of the
characteristics of the forces and the equations of motion will be considered here.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 17

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
In these equations of motion some simplifying assumptions have already been made, three include the
assumption that all engines are operating at equal gross thrust. For conventional aircraft, additional assumptions
can be made to simplify the equations further, these are:
 That the rate of change of aircraft mass is negligible, m = O.
 That the aircraft is in symmetric flight so that = O and Y = O.
 That the gross thrust acts in aircraft body axes, = 0.
 That the total net thrust Fn = and
 That the thrust component Tsin is small when compared with the lift force.
When these assumptions are made, the equations of motion reduced to a simplified form that can be used for
most performance analysis takes:

The majority of performance analysis is based on the longitudinal equation of motion in which the term, Fn – D,
is known as the excess thrust and provides the increase in potential energy (climb), or the increase in kinetic
energy (acceleration).
The equations of motion stated above are written in terms of aircraft with thrust-producing engines. If the
ai4rcraft haspower-pr4oducing engines, which drive propellers to convert the power in to thrust, then the
equations must be converted into their power form; this will be considered later in the section on propulsive
forces.

The aircraft force system:

In the development of the equation of motion, the forces acting on the aircraft are represented as simple force
terms and appear as constants. However, the forces stated in eqn (3.1) and in the equations of motion are not
simple forces but depend on the performance variables, aircraft weight, airspeed (or flight Mach number) and the
state of the atmosphere. In particular, the aerodynamic forces and the propulsive forces are of great importance
to the performance of the aircraft. Their characteristics will define, for example, the airspeeds for best climb rate
and gradient and for optimum range or endurance in the cruise part of the flight.
Each group of forces can be considered in turn to determine how its characteristics very with the flight variables.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 18

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The inertial forces, f1
The inertial forces arise from the mass of the aircraft and its acceleration. The accelerations may be linear
accelerations or result from the combination of the forward speed of the aircraft with its rates of pitch and turn.
The inertial forces act in the velocity axis system, which is discussed fully in Appendix B.
The gravitational forces, fg
The gravitational force acts downwards in the Earth axis system and is the product of the aircraft mass, m, and
the acceleration due to gravity, g. It may be referred to either as weight, W, or ass the product mg; each form of
reference has its own applications within the theory and practice of aircraft performance.
The aerodynamic forces, fa
The aerodynamic forces arise from the relative motion between the aircraft and the air mass in which it is flying;
they act in the wind axis system. It will be assumed that the reader is familiar with the concepts of aerodynamics
and this treatment will only consider the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft that are directly applicable to
the study of performance.
The dynamic pressure of the airflow, q, may be considered in terms of either airspeed or Mach number,

Whilst either form may be used when considering the non-dimensional aerodynamic forces, the form involving
the mach number is particularly useful when considering operational performance. If the airspeed is considered
in terms of the flight Mach number, then the temperature of the atmosphere is implicit in the statement of the
Mach number and the atmosphere pressure can be considered independently. Since altitude is related uniquely to
the static pressure of the atmosphere, the altitude becomes a basic variable of the aerodynamic forces. Therefore,
the forces need to be considered only in terms of their variation with aircraft weight, flight Mach number and
altitude a rather than in terms of aircraft weight, airspeed, altitude and temperature.
The aerodynamic forces that concern performance are the lift, L, the drag, D, and the side force, Y. In the case of
an air4craft, the speed of flight is relatively high and the non-dimensional flow variables that characterize the
flow are,

(i) The Reynolds number,

Typically the flight value of Re is large, 10 to 10 , and the flow can be treated as continue flow. If the
aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft have been determined from experimental sources (e.g. wind tunnels),
any Reynolds number effects should have been accounted for before being used in any performance estimation
process. It is unlikely that the Reynolds number will influence the analysis of the full scale flight performance of
the aircraft significantly, except in extreme cases.

(ii) The Mach number, M = V/a

This may vary from almost zero up to a typical maximum of 2.2 for conventional aircraft; higher Mach number is
possible but raises special problems. Since this treatment of performance is concerned mainly with subsonic
flight, the supersonic flow characteristics will not be considered in depth. Only in the transonic region, where the
Mach numbers Will the effects be considered. In flight up to Mach number of 0.5 the flow can be regarded as
incompressible and Mach number effects ignored; for 0.5<M<0.8 compressibility becomes significant and may
lead to small changes in the lift and drag force characteristics. For most subsonic aircraft the critical Mach
number occurs typically around M = 0.8; at this Mach number the local flow at points on the aircraft becomes
supersonic and shock waves begin to form. This effect starts the change from subsonic to supersonic flow and
affects the characteristics of both the lift and drag forces, leading to significant effects on the performance of the
aircraft. March number is one of the most important variables of performance and its effect on the aerodynamic
forces needs to be considered.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 19

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The aerodynamic force characteristics:
The lift force, l
The lift force is generated mainly by the wing, but other parts of the aircraft will also produce contributions to the
overall lift. The general expression for the lift force relates the lift to the angle of attack of the airflow relative to
the aircraft,

Where is the lift curve slope, / and is the angle of attack measured from the zero-lift angle of attack,
The lift characteristic of the plain, cambered aerofoil is shown in Fig 1.13. There is an angle of attack, at which
the aerofoil produces zero lift; the zero-lift angle of attack is zero if the aerofoil is symmetrical, and negative in
the case of a positively cambered aerofoil. As the angle of attack increases, the lift coefficient increases in
proportion and the slope of the lift characteristic is known as the lift curve slope. The lift curve slope has a
theoretical value of 2 per radian I the aerofoil is a flat plate of infinite span, but this is increased by the thickness
of the aerofoil section and reduced as the aspect ratio decreases. A typical range of values for the lift curve slope
is between 4 and 6 per radian depending on the aerofoil section and wing geometry. A straight wing of aspect
ratio around 10 and an aerofoil with a thickness of about 12% will have a lift curve slope of about 5.7/rad.
As the angle of attack increases, so the lift coefficient increases until the pressure distribution over the aerofoil
section starts to cause separation of the flow. This

Fig 1.13 Lift Characteristic of a plain, cambered aerofoil.

Causes the lift curve slope to decrease as the angle of attack increases and a point is reached when the slope
becomes zero; this is the point of maximum lift coefficient, C1 max, which denotes the stall. The angle of attack
at the stall, is known as the stalling angle of attack and is the greatest angle of attack at which the aircraft can be
maintained in steady, ‗1g‘ flight. Any further increase in angle of attack will produce a decrease in lift
coefficient and the lift force is then less than the weight of the aircraft. In this state, the aircraft will sink and,
usually, pitch nose-down in the stall. The stall denotes the boundary of controlled flight and defines the low
speed limit of the performance envelope of the aircraft. The stall is normally preceded by aerodynamic buffeting
caused by the separation of the flow. This acts as a natural stall warning and the stall buffet boundary is
sometimes used as the low speed limit to performance; the airworthiness requirements contain a number of
definitions of the stall and stall boundaries. Since the stall is an uncontrollable state of flight, all speeds
scheduled for operational maneuvers will have a margin of safety over the stall speed.
The lift characteristic can be modified by leading edge and trailing edge flaps (and other devices), so that the
aerodynamic properties of the wing are better suited to the different performance regimes. Figure 1.14 shows the
general effects of leading and trailing edge flaps.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 20

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
  The basic plain aerofoil is optimized for cruising flight; it has low drag and cruising flight takes place at a
low angle of attack and hence a low lift coefficient. However, the stalling lift coefficient of the plain
aerofoil would be too low for the take-off and landing maneuvers and would result in speeds for these
maneuvers that would be too high. Assuming a safety margin of speed over the stall, the minimum speed
in a maneuver will be typically 1.2Vs and the speed scheduled for take-off or landing will be based on a
lift coefficient of 0.7Clmax (Fig.1.13).

Fig 1.14 The effect of flaps on the lift characteristic.

 Leading edge flap deflection has the effect of extending the lift curve to a higher stalling angle of attack,
and hence lift coefficient. This would enable the take-off and landing speeds to be reduced, but it would
result in a high nose-up attitude because of the large stalling angle of attack. The leading edge flap will
also increase the drag, particularly at a low angle of attack.
 The deflection of the trailing edge flaps has the effect of increasing the camber of the aerofoil section and
thus shifting the lift characteristic upwards as the zero lift angle of attack becomes more negative. There
is also a tendency to decrease the stalling angle of attack slightly. The trailing edge flap allows higher lift
coefficients to be achieved at lower angle of attack and, thus, at lower pitch attitudes. The deployment of
the trailing edge flap is often made in several stages. First, a rearward translation of the flap without
significant deflection extends the wing area. Effectively, this decreases the wing loading and permits
increases in lift coefficient. Secondly, deflection of the extended flap increases the aerofoil camber.
Effectively, this shifts the lift curve upwards and increases the lift coefficient for a given angle of attack.
There may be a number of stages of deflection optimized for take-off, climb, descent, approach and
landing.
Flap systems are often combined with slats and slots, and a flap extension may open a slot between the flap and
wing, or expose a slat, to assist the flow over the aerofoil. A combination of leading edge and trailing edge flap
can be found that permits the take-off and landing maneuvers, and other maneuvers, to be carried out at
reasonable speeds and safe pitch attitudes. Fig 1.14 shows typical flap and angle of attack combinations for the
principal states of flight.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 21

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.15 The compressible lift coefficient.

The effect of Mach number on lift:

The main flight variable that affects the characteristic of the lift force is the Match number. As the Mach number
of the airflow increases, so the characteristics of the flow change from those of an incompressible fluid to those
of a compressible fluid. This modifies the pressure coefficients, and hence the force coefficients, generated by
the aircraft. The compressible flow coefficients are related to the incompressible flow coefficients by the
Prandtl-Glauert factor, So that the compressible lift coefficient is given by,

Where
The ratio between the compressible and in compressible lift coefficients is shown in Fig 1.15
Whilst this effect appears to be very significant when seen in terms of the lift coefficient, its real effect is felt on
the angle of attack of the aircraft. Since the aircraft flies at (almost A) constant weight, the lift coefficient
decreases with Mach number on the angle of squared and, at high subsonic Mach numbers, the angle of attack of
the aircraft will be small. Figure 1.16 shows the typical effect of Mach number on the angle of attack required
for steady, legal, flight at constant aircraft of Mach number on the angle of attack required for steady, level, flight
at constant aircraft weight in compressible flow when compared within compressible flow. It can be seen that the
effect of Mach number on the angle of attack is relatively small. Therefore, it is not likely to produce very
significant effects on angle of attack dependent variables in the normal, subsonic, range of the operating Mach
number.

The side force, Y

The aerodynamic side force generated by the aircraft arises from side slipping flight. If can be regarded as a
‗lateral lift‘ due to the sided slip angle, which acts as a ‗lateral

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 22

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.16 The effect of Mach number on Angle of Attack

Angle of attack; the comments on the lift force can be generally applied to the side force. In symmetric flight
there is no sideslip and the aerodynamic side force will be zero. Except in special cases in which the aircraft is in
asymmetric flight, for example – flight with asymmetric thrust following an engine failure – the side force has
little significance on performance.

The drag force, D

The drag force is the most important aero dynamic force in aircraft performance. In subsonic flight, it is made up
of several components, each of which has its own characteristics. The components are the lift independent drag,
Dz, the lift dependent drag, Di, and, at high subsonic Mach numbers, a volume dependent wave drag, D wv. The
sum of the drag components makes up the total drag of the aircraft.
It is usually assumed in the analysis of subsonic performance that the drag polar of the aircraft is parabolic and
represented by the lift dependent and lift independent terms only, the drag coefficient being given by,

Where and K are constants.

Whilst this approximation is used to develop the basic functions of aircraft performance it should be remembered
that the real drag characteristic will not be purely parabolic but will contain terms dependent on Mach number.
Moreover, particularly at the higher subsonic Mach numbers, the drag characteristic of the aircraft may deviate
considerably from the parabolic approximation. In the following subsections, each element of the drag force will
be considered separately and the

Fig 1.17 The zero-lift drag coefficient

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 23

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Effect of the flight variables, Mach number, weight and altitude, will be assessed on each element.

The lift independent drag, Dz

The lift independent drag coefficient can be broken down into two parts, the surface friction drag and the profile
drag. The surface friction drag coefficient, usually accounts for about 75 of the lift independent drag and tends to
decrease slightly as the Mach number increases, as the result of a Reynolds number effect. The profile drag
coefficient, which accounts for the other 25% of the lift independent drag, is a pressure dependent drag. This is
affected by the Prandt–Glauert factor in the same manner as the lift coefficient, increasing rapidly as the Mach
number approaches unity, see Fig 1.17.
Here, it can be seen that the value of remains almost constant up to a Mach number of about 0.7; this is typical
for a conventional subsonic aircraft.
When the compressible, zero-lift, drag coefficient is multiplied by the dynamic pressure, to turn to into a force,
the effect of the Mach number can be seen when compared with the assumption of the constant from the
parabolic drag polar, see Fig 1.18. There is good agreement between the predicted drag forces up to a Mach
number of about 0.8, above which the compressible flow drag force increases significantly.
The forces are expressed here as Drag Area, D/S, which is a convenient way of expressing the drag without
involving the scale of the aircraft:

The zero-lift drag force is directly proportional to the atmospheric pressure, p, since the drag force is proportional
to the dynamic pressure, q, and above equation. Thus, for flight a given Mach number, the zero-lift drag force
will decrease as altitude increases since the atmospheric pressure decreases as a function of altitude (see Chapter
2)

Fig 1.18 Effect of Mach number on the zero-lift drags force.

Aircraft weight has no effect on the zero-lift drag force.

The lift dependent drag D1

The lift dependent, or vortex, drag coefficient, is a function of the angle of attack, and is usually taken to
be

Where K is generally assumed to be 1/ Ae in compressible flow

His approximation is based on the aspect ratio of the wing, A, and the span efficiency factor, e, which is a
function of the span wise wing load distribution. However, there may be contributions to the lift force from parts

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 24

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
of the aircraft other than the wing, notably the tail plane, and basing the lift dependent drag factor, K, on the wing
alone is likely to be optimistic. Flow separation at low airspeeds may also contribute to the effective value of the
lift dependent drag factor; although it may not be strictly dependent on the lift force itself. In addition, the vortex
drag is a function of angle of attack, and the Mach number effect on shown in Fig 1.16, will produce a further
contribution to the value of K. The value of the lift dependent drag factor, K, will usually have to be determined
experimentally but it can be generally accepted as being reasonably constant over the working range of the lift
coefficient.
The lift dependent drag force, Di, is given, as a drag area, by

And is shown in Fig 1.19, for a given weight and altitude combination;.
Since the lift dependent drag force is inversely proportional to the dynamic pressure q, it will decrease with Mach
number squared and increase with increasing altitude. Increasing aircraft weight will also increase the lift
dependent drag force.

Fig 1.19 The lift dependent drag

The volume dependent wave drag, Dwv

As the aircraft passes though the air mass its volume displaces the flow and produces local disturbances in flow
velocity. At the critical flight Mach number, Mcrit, the local flow at points on the aircraft becomes supersonic and
shock waves begin to form, growing in strength as the flight Mach number increases. The energy required to
sustain these shock waves manifests itself as a drag force that increases rapidly as the flight Mach number
exceeds its critical value. There is no simple expression for the volume dependent wave drag. However,
experimental results indicate that, above the critical Mach number, the volume dependent wave drag coefficient
is related to the volume, and other dimensions, of the aircraft by a relationship – based on the slender body theory
– of the form,

Where Ko is a shaping factor, which is a function of Mach number. A first-order approximation to Ko is that Ko
increases as Mach number squared above Mcrit in the transonic region. In supersonic flight beyond the transonic
region, KJo tends to decrease. On this assumption, the volume dependent wave drag can be expected to increase
as the fourth power of Mach number in the transonic region. This indicates the significance of the wave drag
term in the drag characteristic of the aircraft above the critical Mach number, as shown in Fig 1.20.
As in the case of the zero-lift drag, the volume dependent wave drag will decrease as altitude increases for a
given Mach number and is independent of aircraft weight.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 25

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The overall drag force, D
The overall drag force is the sum of the components of the drag force, the zero-lift drag, the lift dependent drag
and the volume dependent wave drag. Each component has been shown to be a function of Mach number,
altitude (or pressure) and, in the case of the lift dependent drag, aircraft. The drag characteristic is shown in Fig.
3.9 for a given weight and altitude combination.

Fig 1.20 The volume dependent wave drag

Figure 1.21 shows that, below the critical Mach number, there is a reasonable comparison between the
compressible flow drag characteristic and the incompressible approximation. This justifies the use of the simple,
incompressible, parabolic drag polar in the development of the basic expression of performance. However, it
should be remembered that the parabolic drag polar is an approximation and that any performance characteristics
estimated on the assumption of a parabolic drag polar will not be exact. In practice, it will be necessary to
measure the performance of the aircraft in flight to define the actual performance achieved. At Mach numbers
above are critical value, the drag force increases rapidly and the approximation becomes invalid; any estimation
of the aircraft performance above Mcrit will need consideration of the full drag characteristic of the aircraft.

Fig 1.21 The aircraft drag polar.

The minimum drag speed

In above equation the drag characteristic was taken to be

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 26

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
and has been shown reasonably to represent the subsonic aircraft at Mach numbers below M crit. If the drag
characteristic is factored by to convert it into force units, above equation becomes

Where Y = ½ and Z = K ½ S, both of which are constants. Figure 1.22 shows the total drag force,
and its two components, for a given aircraft weight, W.
Differentiating above equation with respect to EAS leads to the expression for the minimum drag speed.

This occurs when the two components of the drag force are equal. The minimum drag speed is important to
performance and it will be seen in later chapters that it determines the best operating speeds of aircraft with thrust
producing engines. The relative magnitudes of the zero-lift drag, Dz, and the lift dependent drag. D1 will affect
the minimum drag force and the minimum drag speed. If the zero-lift drag is reduced then the total drag will be
reduced but the minimum drag speed will be increased. If the lift-dependent drag is reduced then the total drag
will be reduced and the minimum drag speed will be reduced. The ability to adjust the minimum drag speed in
this way is an important tool in the design of the aircraft performance characteristics for different regimes of
flight.

Fig 1.22 The minimum drag speed

Fig 1.23 The minimum power speed

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 27

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The minimum power speed
Power is the product of force and velocity and the performance equation can be considered in terms of the thrust-
power, P, required, rather than the thrust force required. The drag-power is given by multiplying the drag force,
D, by the true airspeed, V, so that, in terms of EAS the drag power equation becomes,

and is shown in Fig 1.23. (Here it should be noted that the true airspeed, V has been converted to equivalent
airspeed, before the multiplication.)
Differentiating above equation with respect to EAS leads to the expression for the minimum power speed,

The minimum power speed is important to the performance of aircraft with power producing engines. It will be
seen in later chapters that it determines the best operating speeds of aircraft with power producing engines in the
same way that the minimum drag speed determines the optimum performance of aircraft with thrust producing
engines. The relative magnitudes of the zero-lift drag, Dz, and the lift dependent drag, Di, will affect the
minimum drag power and the minimum power speed in the same general way as they affected the minimum drag
fore and minimum drag speed.
Although the minimum drag speed and minimum power speed are related by a simple numerical factor fourth
root three = 1.316, they should not be considered to be simply related in their application to aircraft performance.
The minimum drag speed relates to the performance of aircraft with thrust producing engines, whilst the
minimum power speed relates to aircraft with power producing engines.
Some further relationships of the drag characteristic will be summarized.

The propulsive forces:

There are two basic forms of power plant used for aircraft propulsion
 The thrust-producing power plant, which produces its propulsive force directly by increasing the
momentum of he airflow through the engine, and
 The power-producing power plant, which produces shat power that is then turned into a propulsive force
by a propeller.
Each form of power plant has different characteristics and needs to be considered separately.

The thrust-producing power plant:

The usual from of thrust-producing engine is the turbojet or turbofan, although rocket could be included in this
category.
The turbojet or turbofan engine uses atmospheric air as its working fluid and, with the addition of fuel, burns the
air to increase its energy. The high-energy air is then expelled through a nozzle with increased momentum to
produce the thrust force. The principle is shown in Fig 1.24. Atmospheric air flows into the intake where it is
slowed down to a velocity hat can be accepted by the compressor. After compression, fuels are mixed with the
air and the mixture is burned in the combustion chamber. The hot gas produced is passed through a turbine that
extracts energy to drive the compressor and the exhaust is expelled through a nozzle that converts its remaining
energy into thrust.
In simplified terms, the turbojet engine can be considered to produce thrust by increasing the momentum of its
internal flow stream. The net propulsive force, Fn, is the difference between the stream force entering the engine
and the stream force exiting the engine. The thrusts produced at the exit plane of the nozzle is known as the gross
thrust, Fg, and is equal to the rate of change of momentum of the exhaust gas flow, Fg = mVj. The flow into the
intake also contributes to the engine thrust. In this case, the momentum of the flow is lost as the air enters the
engine.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 28

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.24 The thrust-producing power plant

The force due to the intake flow, known as the momentum drag, Dm, is equal to the rate of change of momentum
in the intake airflow, Dm = mV. The net propulsive thrust is given by

Turbofan engines may have more than one flow path, a core or hot flow and a bypass or cold flow. Strictly, each
needs to be considered separately but, in this treatment, a mean, gross thrust will be assumed for the engine. It
will also be assumed in the simple analysis that the intake and exhaust mass flow are equal. This is reasonable
since the increase in mass flow at the exhaust due to the addition of the fuel mass flow may well be offset by
compressor air bleeds for aircraft pneumatic services, e.g. pressurization and anti-icing.
The gross thrust, Fg, acts in ‗thrust axes‘, which may not be parallel to the aircraft body axes. Thus, there may be
a need go resolve the gross thrust into aircraft body axes before it can be used in the equations of motion. An
example is seen in the case of the vectored thrust engine in which the thrust axes are variable with respect to the
aircraft body axes (Appendix B).
The momentum drags Dm, acts in velocity axes since it represents a hang of momentum of the airflow in the
direction of flight. The momentum drag is the product of the engine air mass flow and the aircraft rule airspeed.
Although referred to as a ‗drag‘ force, the momentum drag is past of the engine thrust as it results from the
engine internal flow stream. Any forces resulting from the eternal flow to the engine will be included in the
airframe drag (Appendix B). The allocation of flow forces to the airframe drag or to the propulsive thrust is
known as thrust-drag accounting. It is important to distinguish between these contributions since the optimum
operating airspeeds of the aircraft are determined by its drag characteristic. Allocation of a force contribution
into the wrong side of the thrust-drag ‗balance sheet‘ will result in inaccurate estimations of the performance of
the aircraft.
The net thrust of the power plant will be affected by the flight Mach number and altitude. It is not possible to
postulate any precise function that will relate thrust to Mach number or altitude for all thrust-producing power
plants. However, simple relationships can be developed that will enable the general characteristic of the thrust
variation with Mach number and altitude to be deduced. From above eqution the net thrust can be expressed as,

The turbine engine is a volumetric device and the air mass flow, m, is the product of the volume of air passed by
the engine per second (which is controlled by the engine rotational speed), and the density of the air entering the
engine. Since the airflow needs to be slowed down to a Mach number of about 0.5 before it can be accepted by
the compressor there will be an isentropic change to the density of the flow as it enters the engine intake. The
density of the air entering the engine, pt, will be given by

Where subscript I refer to the conditions at the engine compressor face.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 29

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 1.25 The effect of Mach number on intake density

The rise in density at the compressor face is shown in Fig 1.25. The increased density will increase the air mass
flow through the engine at any given engine rotational speed and hence the thrust will tend to increase with
increasing flight Mach number.
From above equation, it can be seen that the net thrust is also proportional to the difference between the velocity
of the engine exhaust flow, Vj, and the aircraft true airspeed, V. The velocity of the engine exhaust flow is a
function of the temperature of the exhaust gas and will be determined by the engine throttle setting. For any
given engine thrust setting at the exhaust gas velocity can be considered constant. The airspeed, and hence the
net thrust, decreases, Fig 1.26
The overall effect of Mach number on the net thrust is the product of the two functions, above eqautions, and is
shown in Fig 1.27. Here it can be seen that the thrust characteristic is substantially influenced by the temperature
of the exhaust gas. If the exhaust gas is relatively cool, as for example in the case of a high bypass ratio turbofan,
then the exhaust gas Mach number will be low and the effect of the density function will be small. The thrust
will decrease almost linearly with flight Mach number. A pure turbojet, which has no bypass flow, will have a
relatively hot exhaust gas flow. Therefore, the density function will tend to dominate the thrust function and help
to maintain the thrust level as the flight Mach number increases. Figure 1.27 shows the form of the thrust
characteristics of low, medium and high bypass ratio engines.
It is emphasized that the thrust characteristics shown in Fig 1.27 have been developed to show the likely
variation of thrust with Mach number and do not represent a means of calculating or estimating he thrust of an
engine.
The thrust produced by an engine decreases with altitude. Empirical data show that the decrease in thrust can be
reasonably approximated by a function of

Fig 1.26 Thrust decrease due to flight Mach number

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 30

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The form,

where the exponent x has a value of about 0.7 in the troposphere and unity in the stratosphere. These values may
vary with characteristics of the engine cycle, particularly the bypass ratio.
The specific fuel consumption, C, is similarly affected, in this case as a function of temperature. The values of
the exponent y are about 0.5 and may be influenced by bypass ratio.

Fig 1.27 Thrust variation with Mach number and bypass ratio

Fig 1.28 The effect of altitude on thrust and specific fuel consumption

These functions are shown in Fig 1.28.

From eqn (3.3), the longitudinal performance equation of motion for aircraft with thrust-producing engines is
given by,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 31

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The excess thrust, Fn – D, which is available for climb or acceleration is the difference between the drag
characteristic and the thrust characteristic of the aircraft, see Fig 1.29.

Fig 1.29 Excess thrust

Figure 1.29 is drawn in terms of equivalent airspeed so that the drag characteristic is independent of altitude.
However, the thrust decreases with increasing altitude so that the excess thrust tends to decrease as altitude
increases and the aircraft will eventually reach a performance ceiling at which the excess thrust is zero. This
occurs at airspeed equal to the minimum drag speed of the aircraft.
In Fig 1.29, the thrust is shown as being independent of airspeed for the purpose of illustration. This is not
generally the case and the thrust characteristic will be of the form shown in Fig 1.27. This will lead to a
maximum excess thrust close to, but not necessarily equal to, the minimum drag speed.

The power-producing power plant:

The power-producing power plant delivers its power through a rotating shaft to a propeller that converts the
power into propulsive thrust. The power plant may be either a piston engine or a gas turbine that converts the
energy of its gas flow into shaft-power rather than into thrust. In either case the shaft-power output is not greatly
affected by airspeed and, to a first-order approximation, the power can be regarded as independent of airspeed.
The shaft-power, P, is converted into thrust, T, by the propeller. In the process, losses occur and the thrust-power
produced will be less than the shaft-power delivered. The propeller efficiency, n, is the ratio of the thrust-power
output to the shaft-power input so that,

where V is the true airspeed.

This implies that the propulsive thrust increases as airspeed decreases at constant engine power and that the thrust
will become infinite at zero airspeed. In practice, the propeller efficiency will vary with airspeed and a constant
engine shaft-power produces a finite thrust at zero airspeed, known as the Static Thrust, which decreases as the
airspeed increases. The propeller efficiency, n, is a characteristic of an individual propeller and depends on the
Advance ratio, J, of the propeller, and the Power coefficient, Cp, of the engine.
The propeller Advance ratio is given by

And the engine Power coefficient by,

Where n is the rotational speed in rad/s and is the propeller diameter.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 32

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The propeller efficiency generally can be regarded as being reasonably constant in the cruising range of airspeed
in the case of a variable pitch propeller. A typical relationship between the thrust and drag of an aircraft with
power-producing engines is of the form shown in Fig 1.30.
The longitudinal performance equation of motion for aircraft with power producing engines differs from that for
aircraft with thrust-producing engines since

Fig 1.30 The trust characteristic of a power-producing engine

The propulsive thrust is a function of airspeed, eqn (3.21). The equation is now written in the form.

Or, rearranging and writing in terms of equivalent airspeed gives,

Which leads to the conclusion that the excess power is the difference between the equivalent-thrust power, and
the equivalent-drag power, DVe, see Fig 1.31?

Fig 1.31 excess thrust power

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 33

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Figure 1.31 is drawn in terms of equivalent airspeed so that the equivalent-drag power, DVe, is the independent
of altitude. However, the equivalent-thrust power decreases with increasing altitude so that the excess thrust
power tends to decrease as altitude increases and the aircraft will eventually reach a performance ceiling at which
the excess thrust power is zero. This occurs at an airspeed equal to, or very close to, the minimum power speed
of the aircraft.
The simplified power plant characteristics described are intended to give a general understanding of the manner
in which propulsive thrust may vary with the performance variables airspeed (or Mach number), altitude and
temperature. They are not intended to be a means of calculating power plant performance or of scaling
performance for the effects of those variables.

Aerodynamic relationships:
If it is assumed that the aircraft has a parabolic drag polar, above equations, then a number of relationships can be
deduced that can be used in the derivation of some simplified expressions for the performance of the aircraft.
These relationships, which were addressed, are well known and will be quoted without proof.
Figure 1.19 shows that the parabolic drag polar have a minimum value that is important in determining the
airspeeds for optimum performance. At minimum drag, it can be shown that

This implies that the lift coefficient for minimum drag is given by,

And the minimum drag speed, and minimum drag Mach number, are given by,

Respectively
The power required for level flight is given by the product of the drag force and the true airspeed, DV, since in
steady level flight T = D. The airspeed for minimum power, Vmp, can be shown to be given by,

Although there is a simple numerical constant linking the minimum drag speed and he minimum power speed
these terms should only be applied to aircraft with the appropriate power plant. The minimum power speed
relates to the performance of aircraft with power-producing engines whereas the minimum drag speed relates to
the performance of aircraft with thrust-producing engines. Only in the case of the glider, which has no engines,
do both minimum power speed and minimum drag speed have significance.
The lift-drag ratio, L/D, is a measure of the aerodynamic efficiency, E, of the aircraft and has a maximum value
at the minimum drag speed so that,

The relative airspeed, u, is the ratio between the air4speed and the minimum drag speed.

Using the relative airspeed, the ratio of the drag to minimum drag can be expressed as,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 34

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
In addition, the power plant propulsive thrust can be expressed in terms of the minimum drag, Dmin, of the
aircraft; this form of expression will be used in the generalized performance equations. In the case of thrust-
producing engines the dimensionless thrust, r, is given by,

and, in the case of power-producing engines, the dimensionless power, , is given by,

Using above equations the performance equation, above, can now be written in a generalized, dimensionless,
form

This equation can be used to determine the performance characteristics of aircraft with either form of power
plant, or a maximum of thrust- and power-producing engines, as in the case of the turbo-prop.
These relationships will be used in the following chapters for the development of expressions for the estimation
of the performance of the aircraft.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 35

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 UNIT II
CRUISE PERFORMANCE

Introduction:
The cruise performance of an aircraft is one of the fundamental building blacks of the overall mission.
In the cruising segment of the mission, both height and airspeed are essentially constant and the (airspeed)
aircraft is required to cover distance in the most expedient manner.
Usually, the majority of the fuel carried in the aircraft will be used during the cruise.
The distance that can be flown, on the time that the aircraft can remain aloft, on a given quantity of fuel are
important factors in the assessment of the cruise performance.

Maximum and minimum speeds in level flight:-

In the analysis of cruise performance, the aircraft is considered to be in steady, level, straight, symmetric flight
with no acceleration on manicures.
Under those conditions the aircraft can be taken to be in a state of equilibrium in which the forces and moments
arte in balance; this is referred to as being in TRIM
In practice cruising flight may involve very low levels of climb (on) acceleration.
In addition, it may be required to make gradual maneuvers associated with the mission.
For example, turning to change track and to correct errors in its course, on climbing to change cruising altitude.
Usually these maneuvers can be neglected to design estimations on, if it is considered necessary, correction s
applied to account for the errors produced.
In practice, an aircraft carries a fuel contingency allowance over and above the estimated cruising fuel
requirement to allow for such unscheduled maneuvers.
When the aircraft is cruising in trim the equations of motion of a conventional aircraft

The above equations can be reduced to the simple statements

L=W

The development of the basic expression for cruising flight is based on these simplified statements. (It should be
remembered that the simplified statements given in eq.2 contain a number of assumptions that must be fulfilled if
the expressions developed from them are to be used to estimate the performance of the aircraft.)

Specific air range and specific endurance:-

Cruising efficiency can be measured in terms of either the range or the endurance of the aircraft. The Specific
Air Range (SAR) is defined as the horizontal distance flown per unit of fuel consumed and the Specific
Endurance (SE) is defined as the time of flight per unit of fuel consumed.
The distance travelled, x, in still air is given by the time integral of the true airspeed, V, so that

And in cruising flight the true airspeed is usually quoted in knots, or nautical miles per hour (nm/hour)
In addition, during cruise, fuel is burned and the fuel mass flow, Qf, will determine the rate of change of mass of
the aircraft,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 36

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The fuel mass flow is usually quoted in kg/hour and is negative since the mass of the aircraft decreases with time
as fuel is burned.
The specific air range is an expression of the instantaneous distance flown per unit of fuel consumed and can thus
be expressed as,

And has units of length/mass. It would normally be quoted in nautical miles per kilogram (nm/kg).
The specific endurance is an expression of the instantaneous flight time per unit of fuel consumed and can be
expressed as,

and would normally be quoted in hr/kg.

Since the drag of the aircraft is a function of the aircraft weight, which is continuously decreasing as fuel is
burned; the specific air rage and the specific endurance will be point performance parameters, relating to the
range and endurance at that point on the cruise path. To find the cruise range or endurance, the SAR or SE must
be integrated over the curse flight path as functions of the aircraft weight. Neither the SAR nor the SE is
conveniently formulated for integration in the form given in above equations. They need to be written in terms of
the performance variables before they can then be integrated to give the range or endurance of the aircraft.
Because of the fundamental difference of the propulsive characteristic of thrust producing and power producing
engines, the performance of the aircraft with each type of engine must be considered separately.

Range and endurance for aircraft with thrust – producing engines:-

If the aircraft is powered by thrust-producing engines (turbojets or turbofans), the fuel flow is seen to be a
function of engine e thrust which, in cruise, is equal to aircraft drag above equation.
The specific fuel consumption, C, is defined as the fuel flow per unit thrust

And has units of kg/N hr.

(NB It should be noted that, in the subsequent analysis of the cruising performance of the aircraft, dimensional
consistency of the expressions might not be strictly observed. This is particularly the case where the specific fuel
consumption is used; sine the units in which it is quoted may vary. The expression ns that arte developed here
will be kept in their simplest possible form and may not include all the terms necessary to maintain their strict
dimensional consistency. Therefore, it may be necessary to include the gravitati0onal constant, g, or other
constants, to make the units consistent, a check on units of the expressions will show when this is needed.)
Although above equation suggests that the fuel flow is proportional to thrust, the specific fuel consumption (sfc),
may be a function of other performance-related parameters and a number of alternative fuel flow laws may be
considered. Examples of some of the commonly assumed laws are,
(i)

Assuming a constant value for SFC is the simplest fuel flow law. It implies that the fuel flow is directly
proportional to thrust. This law is usually accepted in the determination of the general expressions for range and
endurance (e). In practice, it does not reflect of changes in engine operating conditions or in flight conditions and
so it should only be applied when variations in thrust or Mach number are small and cruising conditions are
constant.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 37

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
(ii)

This is a reasonable approximation to the fuel flow law of a turbojet or turbofan engine. It takes into account
variations in the temperature of the atmosphere, O, and of the effects of flight Mach number. The exponent n
may vary and empirical
Data indicate values ranging between about 0.2 for a turbojet and about 0.6 for a high byp0ass ratio turbofan.
This law is not particularly difficult to apply in the integration of SAR or SE.
(iii)

These are further attempts to produce approximations to empirical fuel flow data over a range of thrust and Mach
numbers but they tend to be more cumbersome when introduced to the range and endurance equations.
In the following analysis of the cruise performance, the simple fuel law, eqn (4.7), will be used. The effects of
using eqn (4.8) as an alternative law will be discussed later.
Using eqns (4.1) and (4.6) in the expre3ssions for SAR and SE, Eqns (4.4) and (4.5) lead to expressions in a form
suitable for integration,

And

Since these point performance characteristics include the air craft lift-drag ratio, they will have maximum values
at airspeeds related to the minimum drag speed of the aircraft. Writing above equation in coefficient form, and
substituting for airspeed, gives.

And

If it is assumed that the aircraft has a parabolic drag polar and that the simple fuel flow law for thrust-producing
engines, above equation, applies, then, for the instantaneous or point performance of the aircraft, the maximum
SAR would be obtained by flying at an angle of attack corresponding to This gives an
optimum airspeed fort maximum range of These results apply to any
point along the flight path but, in some methods of cruising, do not necessarily apply continuously along the
flight path. Above equations are in a form that can be integrated to give the path performance of the aircraft in
cruising flight. As the aircraft cruises, and fuel is consumed, the weight of the aircraft decreases. It can be seen
that the cruise performance is a function of, firstly, the quantity of fuel available for cruise and, secondly of the
effect of the change of weight on the minimum drag speed. The range and endurance are found, as path
performance functions, by integrating the SAR and SE over the change in weight between the beginning and end

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 38

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
of cruise. If the initial weight of the aircraft is W and the final weight is W then the fuel ratio, w, can be defined
as,

So that the weight of fuel consumed can be related to the initial, or final, cruise weight,

In the cruise, lift equals weights so that,

As weight decreases during the cruise the variables on the right-hand side of above equation must vary to
compensate. These are air pressure (which can be controlled by the cruise altitude), flight Mach number and lift
coefficient (controlled by angle of attack). Three methods of cruise can therefore be considered, in each of which
one of the variables is varied to compensate for the decrease in weight and the other two are maintained constant.
Each method produces a different result and has its particular application in aircraft operations.

Cruise method 1
Constant angle of attack, constant Mach number:-
In this method, the air pressure must be allowed to decrease to allow for the decrease in air craft weight as fuel is
consumed, thus

This implies that the aircraft must be allowed to climb during the cr4uise to maintain the parameter W/p constant
and the method is known as the Cruise-Climb technique. Since the angle of attack is constant throughout the
cruise the lift coefficient, and hence lit-drag ratio. L/D, will be constant. The constant Mach number implies
flight at constant true airspeed.
Let the range under cruise method 1 be then from above equation,

This becomes,

This expression is the best known expression for the range of an aircraft and is known as the Breguet Range
expression. Although it offers the optimum performance in terms of distance flown on a given fuel load there are
practical reasons that make its application to flight operations difficult, and further consideration of this cruise
method is necessary.
Substituting for the true airspeed, V, and writing eqn (4.19) in coefficient form gives,

This has a maximum value that occurs at an airspeed corresponding to 1.316V However, it may not be possible,
or expedient, to cruise at the optimum airspeed and the effect of cruising at an alternative airspeed needs to be
considered.
Since the cruise-climb is flown at constant angle of attach the ratio will be constant and, therefore, the relative
airspeed, will be constant throughout the crust. Also since the airspeed is constant in this method of cruise, V =
V1 = Vf and therefore the initial and final relative airspeeds in the cruise are given by

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 39

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 written in
term of either the minimum drag speed at the beginning of cruise, or at the end of cruise, Using above
equations in given equation gives

This consists of three parts.

The square bracket is known as the range factor, It contains a term that is a function of the airframe-engine
combination and can be regarded as a constant scaling factor, although it contains two variables – the initial
cruise weight and air density. This term can be used to determine the effect of modifications to the aircraft (in
respect of either the airframe or the power plant) on the cruise performance through the drag characteristic, the
specific fuel consumption and the aircraft weight.
The curly bracket is a function of the relative airspeed. It acts as a shaping factor, which is characteristic of the
method of cruise.
The third term is a function of the fuel ratio. This is also a characteristic of the method of cruise and the
magnitude of this term will determine the relative range of the cruise methods.
The product of the curly bracket and the function of the fuel ratio is known as the range function of the cruise
method.
Figure 2.1 shows the range function of the cruise – climb method for three values of fuel ratio representing the
cruise fuel required for short, medium and long-range aircraft. Maximum range is obtained by flying at a relative
airspeed u = 1.316 and the rage penalty for operation at any airspeed other than this can be determined. The
range of the aircraft, in navigational units, can be found by multiplying the range function by the range factor.
The values of the fuel ratio shown in Fig 2.1, and subsequent figures, arte typical of very long range aircraft, w =
1.5, medium to long range aircraft, w = 1.3, and short-range aircraft, w = 1/1.

Fig 2.1 Range function cruise method 1.

The endurance of the aircraft can be found by integrating above equation over the weight change during the
cruise, in the same manner as the integration of the SAR. This leads to the expression for the endurance of the
aircraft under cruise method 1. E1.

This shown that maximum endurance is obtained by flying at the minimum drag speed.

Writing above equation in terms of the relative airspeed, u, gives.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 40

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Where the square bracket is the endurance factor for the airframe – engine combination and the relative airspeed
and fuel ratio terms provide the endurance function. The product of these gives the endurance of the aircraft in
hours. The endurance function is shown in Fig 2.2.
Although the cruise – climb method gives the best possible range for a given quantity of fuel, its use is limited by
practical restrictions to aircraft operations. Due to the constraints of the control of air traffic and the need to
provide vertical separation between flights in different directions, air craft cannot be allowed to change height
freely. This means that, in practice, it is unusual to be able to take advantage of the benefits of the cruise – climb
unless the aircraft is operating in airspace with no conflicting traffic. As a compromise, aircraft are sometimes
allowed to ‗step – climb‘ during the cruise; this involves discrete increments in height, compatible with the
requirements for vertical separation , at intervals along the route to keep W/p close to the required value. In a
typical transport flight, cruising at about 30000 ft a step climb of 2000 ft would be required after about 2 hours
flying to bring the value of W/p back to its initial value.

Fig. 2.2 Endurance function cruise methods 1 and 2.

The operation of the aircraft in the cruise – climb differs in the troposphere and in the stratosphere because of the
effect of the structure of the atmosphere on the engine thrust characteristic. This can be explained by considering
the thrust – drag balance, in parametric form (see Chapter 8). In the cruise – climb the aircraft is cruising at
constant Mach number and constant angle of attack, thus the drag coefficient is constant, and

Which are constants under these cruise conditions?

Now the parametric form of the engine thrust (Chapter 8) shows that the thrust is related to the engine rotational
speed, N, and the flight Mach number by a functional relationship of the form,

In the troposphere, the relative temperature, 0, decreases with height so that, during the cruise – climb the
parametric engine rotational speed, N/o, increases and hence the parametric thrust increase and will cause the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 41

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
aircraft to climb or to accelerate. This tendency will need to be checked by a continuous reduction in engine
rotational speed to maintain the parametric rotational speed constant during the cruise – limb so that, with the
constant cruise Mach number, the parametric thrust – drag balance is maintained.
In the isothermal stratosphere, where the parametric engine rotational speed will remain constant if the actual
engine rotational speed is constant, the rates of the change of the parametric thrust and parametric drag as height
increases are equal. The cruise – climb is achieved by trimming the aircraft to the required angle of attack and
setting the thrust, governed by the engine rotational speed, to give the required Mach number. The aircraft will
then cruise 0 climb as weight decreases without the need for any further correction to thrust setting or to trim
other than to account for any shifty of the centre of gravity (CG) as fuel is burned. Cruise – climb is the ideal
cruise method for operation in the stratosphere.

Cruise method 2
Constant angle of attack, constant altitude:-
In this case, the Mach number, or true airspeed, must be reduced during cruise, so that

This implies that the lift coefficient, and lift – drag ratio, will be constant during the cruise and that, substituting
for airspeed in above equation, the range under cruise method 2, R2, and will be given by the integral.

Which, on integration, becomes?

As in cruise method 1, this gives maximum range when the cruising airspeed is 1.316V md since he angle of
attack is maintained constant.
As in method 1, this is a constant angle of attack cruise method so that the relative airspeed is constant
throughout the cruise and writing above equation in terms of the relative airspeed gives the range factor and range
function for cruise method 2.

The range factor is identical to that found in cruise method 1. The range function has a similar general form to
that of cruise method 1, but its value is smaller for a given value of fuel ratio, w, so that the overall range. R2 is
less than R1. The range function is shown in Fig. 4.3.
The endurance of the aircraft, found by integrating above equation over the weight change during the cruise, is
seen to produce the same expression as that found under cruise method 1, if the constant fuel flow law is
assumed. This is because it is also a constant angle of attack method.
Cruise method 2 has the disadvantage that the cruise Mach number, and hence true airspeed, is continuously
reduced to compensate for the decrease in aircraft weight. This will increase the time of flight and the cost of the
time penalty incurred is likely to far outweigh any fuel advantage the method may have. This method of

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 42

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig. 2.3 range function cruise method 2

Cruise can be considered for petrol or surveillance operations, in which endurance is more important than
distance travelled, but it will require a constant reduction in engine thrust to maintain the cruise conditions. It has
the advantage of being a constant attitude cruise method that may be favorable to some surveillance sensors.

Cruise method 3
Constant altitude, constant Mach number:-
In this case, the angle of attack must be allowed to decrease as the weight decreases to maintain W/Cl constant.

Assuming that the aircraft is cruising at a speed greater than its minimum drag speed then the decrease in lift
coefficient during the cruise will cause the drag coefficient and hence the drag force, to decrease. This will
require a progressive decrease in the thrust required to maintain the Mach number or true airspeed constant.
Since the lift – drag ratio w2ill not be constant, the range will need to be found by integrating the drag over the
weight change during cruise.

Now for an aircraft with a parabolic drag polar.

Substituting in above equation and integrating gives,

Now

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 43

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
And, similarly,

Since the airspeed is constant in this method of cruise, = V 1 = V1 and, therefore, the initial and final relative
airspeed in cruise are given by and thus Also, and writing above equation in terms of the relative airspeed gives.

This expression for the range of the aircraft is considerably more complex than those found in the other two
cruise methods, and the cruising speed for maximum range is found to be a function of the fuel ratio, w. This can
be seen by considering the relative airspeed, u, at the beginning and end of the cruise. The cruising speed is
maintained constant so that but the minimum drag speed will decrease with aircraft weight causing the relative
airspeed, u, to increase during the cruise. This means that the op0tgimum airspeed for maximum range will be a
function of the weight change during the cruise and, therefore, of the fuel ratio, w. Figure 2.4 shows the range
function

Fig: 2.4 range function cruise method 3.

Fig: 2.5 Endurance function cruise method 3.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 44

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
For cruise method 3 and the variation of the initial relative airspeed for maximum range as the fuel ratio
increases.
Following the integration of above equation, the endurance under cruise at constant altitude and Mach number is
given by

And the relative airspeed for best endurance will, similarly, be a function of fuel ratio; Figure 2.5 shows the
endurance function that indicates that the optimum endurances can only be achieved by commencing cruise at
airspeed less than the minimum drag speed. This will require cruise on the backside of the drag curve, which
lends to be speed unstable. This cruise method, therefore, is not ideal for mission to be flown for endurance.

Comparison of cruise methods:-

It has been possible to write the range and endurance attained by each method of cruise in the form of a product
of a range factor and a range function, and of an endurance factor and an endurance function, given

And

Fig: 2.6 Comparison of cruise methods for range.

This enables the methods of cruise to be compared in terms of the relative magnitudes of the range and endurance
functions.
The range function are compared in Fig. 2.6 for a fuel ratio of 1.5 and show that the cruise – climb is the
optimum method of cruise, indicating that, at its best, it gives about 10%$ better range than the other methods.
However, operational considerations generally demand the constant altitude, constant Mach number cruise,
which tends to be the least efficient in terms of fuel consumption.
The comparison between the cruise methods for endurance, Fig. 2.7, shows less disparity but favors the constant
angle of attack methods. This is particularly the case when flying the endurance, as the cruise would generally be
performed at airspeed slightly above the minimum drag speed to avoid the backside of the drag curve and to give
flight path stability.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 45

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig. 2.7 Comparison of cruise methods for endurance

Fig. 2.8 Effect of bypass ratio on fuel flow low

The effect of alternative fuel flow laws:

The range and endurance functions developed above have used the simple fuel flow law, above equation which
assumes that the fuel flow is proportional only to net thrust. It was accepted that this fuel flow law is idealized,
probably not full describing the characteristics of the engine, and that a more realistic law should be applied. If
an alternative fuel flow law is considered, for example above equation then it may produce different optimum
operating airspeeds.
Above equation states a fuel flow law of the form:

Where n may vary from about 0.2 for a turbojet to about 0.6 for a high bypass ratio turbofan, see Fig. 2.8
When the SAR above equations, are written in terms of Mach number and the alternative fuel flow law
substituted they give.

And

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 46

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
When these expressions and differentiated, they give the airspeeds for maximum SAR and SE to be,

Fig: 2.9 Effect of bypass ratio on optimum speeds for range and endurance.

And

Figure 2.9 shows how the optimum speeds vary with the bypass ratio of the engine. This implies that as the
exponent, n, increases (i.e.; as the bypass ratio of the engine increases), the relative airspeed for best range or
endurance will decrease This may be advantageous when cruising for maximum range but when cruising for
endurance it will demand a cruising speed below the minimum drag speed with the consequence of flight path
instability.
The SAR and SE equations can 1w integrated to produce the full range and endurance functions under the
alternative fuel flow laws. These will be similar in form to shoes produced by the assumption of the simple law
but will show different relative speeds for optimum cruise performance.

The effect of weight, altitude and temperature on cruise performance:

The range factor determined for each of the cruise performance expressions can be written as,

In which the square bracket contains the variable elements of the expression.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 47

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
From above equation the range factor is seen to be proportional to the square root of the initial cruising weight
which appears to suggest that the range of the aircraft will increase with its weight. It should be remembered that
the fuel ratio is the ratio of the initial to final cruise weights, above equation so that

Therefore, for a given final weight of the aircraft, the increase in initial weight implies an increase in the fuel
available for the cruise; it is this that extends the range not the weight of the aircraft itself. If the additional
weight consists only of payload or of aircraft zero-fuel weight – that is, an increase in the final weight – that the
fuel ratio will be decreased and hence the range will be reduced.
An increase in air temperature increases the range since the TAS is increased and the aircraft flies further in a
given time, during which it burns the same quantity of the fuel. However, in above equation the specific fuel
consumption is assumed to be a simple constant, which may not be the case. If the specific fuel consumption is a
function of air temperature, as in above equation, then the effect of the temperature may be lessened and the
range may even decrease as temperature increases.
Increasing altitude will produce an increase in the range as the ambient relative pressure decrease. In the
troposphere, the effect will be reduced by the accompanying decrease of temperature, with altitude and further
affected by any dependency of the specific fuel consumption on air temperature. Generally, cruising at higher
altitude will lead to better range performance. However, it has been seen that the optimum subsonic performance
of an aircraft, in terms of the range or endurance it can attain from a given quantity of fuel, is a function n of its
minimum drag speed. Therefore, operation at airspeeds other than its optimum airspeed will incur a range or
endurance penalty. The minimum drag speed in terms of equivalent airspeed in un effected by altitude.
However, as the altitude of operation increases, so that true Mach number will approach its critical value. The
aircraft drag will then increase due to the onset of the wave drag. And the parabolic drag polar no longer
describes the drag characteristic of the aircraft.
The optimum altitude for cruise will be determined by combining the optimum cruise airspeed and the critical
Mach number, M citg, as that best range is flown at the highest true airspeed. This gives the greatest economy of
operation by minimizing the fuel consumed and the time of flight. Assuming that the best range is obtained by
flying at 1.316 V ms then, from above equation,

And the parameter W/p can be evaluated. From this, the optimum cruise altitude can be found for a given aircraft
weight, this is shown in Fig. 2.10.
If the aircraft is flown at a higher than optimum altitude then the critical Mach number is exceeded and the
increase in drag will reduce the range. To avoid this, the aircraft must be flown at airspeed less than the
optimum, again with a range penalty. If the cruise is at lower than optimum altitude then it would be usual
practice to cruise at the critical Mac h number to take advantage of the higher airspeeds. In this

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 48

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig. 2.10 optimum altitudes for cruise

Case, it would be necessary to accept that the relative airspeed will be greater than the optimum.
It is also assumed in eqn. (4.42) that the specific fuel consumption does not vary with altitude or Mach number.
In practice, the fuel flow law may be a function of the atmospheric variables, and of Mach number, and
contribute to the altitude effects within the range factor. A further effect an be seen in above equation in which
the optimum relative airspeed is seen to be a function of the bypass ratio of the engine. In this case, the fuel flow
law produces an optimum relative airspeed that is less than 1.3126 Vmd. Therefore, from above equation, the
optimum cruise altitude at which the best range speed the critical Mach number is balanced will be increased and
better cruise economy can be achieved.
The endurance factor of the aircraft shows that the endurance is unaffected by altitude, other than through any
dependence of the specific fuel consumption on the atmospheric variables.

Range and endurance for aircraft with power producing engines:

If the aircraft has power-producing engines, which produce shaft power with negligible residual thrust, the power
is converted into propulsive thrust by a propeller. In this case, the performance equation is written in terms of the
thrust power available and drag power required for cruising flight,

Where n is the propeller efficiency.

The specific fuel consumption is defined in power terms as,

This is usually quoted in kg/kW hr.

(NB In the subsequent analysis of the cruise performance of the aircraft with power producing engines,
particularly where the specific fuel consumption is used, it may be necessary to include the gravitational constant,
g, and other constants, to make the units of the expressions consistent. A check on the units of the expressions
will show when this is needed.)
The specific air range and specific endurance of the aircraft with power-producing engines are given by,

And

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 49

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Respectively
From these expressions it can be deduced that the SAR is a maximum when the aircraft is flying at its minimum
drag speed, V and that the SE is a maximum when flying at the minimum power speed, V now, since it can be
further deduced that the optimum airspeeds for the performance of aircraft with power-producing engines are
related to the minimum power speed in the same way

Fig. 2.11 Range function, power-producing engines.

Fig. 2.12 Endurance function, power-producing engines.

as the optimum airspeeds of aircraft with thrust-producing engines are related to the minimum drag speed. Above
equations can be integrated to give expressions for the cruise performance of the aircraft with power-producing
engines in the same way as above equations were used to give the cruise performance for aircraft with thrust-
producing engines. For example, in the case of the rise – climb the range and endurance would be given by

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 50

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
And

These are shown in Figs. 2.11 and 2.12.

Since the best endurance speed is very low, it may be too close to the stalling speed for safe operation. It is likely
that the aircraft would have to be flown at airspeed in excess of the theoretical optimum when it is being operated
for patrol missions in which maximum endurance is the primary requirement.

Aircraft with mixed power plants:

Some aircraft have power plants with both thrust-producing and power-producing characteristics. Although
there have been aircraft designed with a combination of turbojet engines and piston engines, the most common
example is that of the turbo-prop. Here, the shaft power of the turbine engine is converted into thrust through the
propeller and the residual energy in the exhaust gas is converted into thrust by the exhaust nozzle. The cruising
performance characteristic of an aircraft with missed power plants lies between those of the aircraft with pure
thrust- or pure power-producing power plants. It needs to be estimated by taking the proportion of direct thrust to
thrust power produced by the engine.
Using the cruise – climb range expression as an example, the principle can be demonstrated. From above
equation the range of the aircraft with thrust-producing Engines is given by

And from above equation the range of the aircraft with power-producing engines is given by.

Where subscript T refers to the thrust-producing engine and subscript P refers to the power-producing engine.
As an approximation to the cruise performance of an aircraft with a mixed power plant, these can be combines
into a common equation.

When II is the proportion of the thrust derived from the shaft power in the overall thrust of the power plant and
Cp and Cr are the specific fuel consumptions based on the shaft power and net thrust respectively. It can be seen
that the expression in the square brakes proportions the thrust and power terms and, since it also contains a term
in u, modifies the range function in the curly brackets (The same expression can be applied to the endurance
equation.)
In the case of the turbo-prop power plant, the specific fuel consumption is usually based on the equivalent shaft
horsepower, ESHP, of the engine. ESHP is the combination of the trust output with the shaft power output to
give the total output in power form as if the engine was a pure power-producing engine. In effect, the expression
in the square bracket in above equation describes the combination of thrust and power into ESHP so that the
performance can be estimated as if the aircraft had a pure power producing engine. However, it is unlikely that
the proportions of thrust and power will be independent of speed or engine output, and so the expression will
need to be calculated for each combination of engine e power setting and aircraft speed. Because of this, cruise
performance calculations for turbo-prop aircraft will usually need to be performed in a ‗point-to-point‘ manner
rather than by a continuous function.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 51

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 UNIT III
CLIMB AND DESCENT PERFORMANCE

Introduction:
In the overall mission of the aircraft, there will be a climb phase in which the aircraft increases its height to the
required cruising level and a descent phase from the end of the cruise to the landing. In these phases of the flight,
the difference between the propulsive thrust and the airframe drag is used to change the potential energy, and the
kinetic energy, of the aircraft. If the thrust exceeds drag, the aircraft will climb and if the drag exceed thrust it
will descend; the rate at which this occurs will depend on the relative magnitudes of the thrust and drag forces.
Although climb and descent imply changes in height, they may also involve changes in true airspeed sine the air
density decreases with altitude. If the rates of climb or descent are high, the acceleration of the aircraft implicit in
the climbing maneuver will have to be taken into consideration.
Climb performance is important from both economic and flight safety points of view. In a climb, the potential
energy of the aircraft is increased and fuel energy must be expended to achieve this. This fuel required climbing
to a given height and be minimized by the use of the correct climb technique and optimum economy of operation
can be attained. Economy, however, is not the only criterion of operation. The safety of the aircraft depends on
is ability to climb above obstructions at all points on the flight path. Sufficient excess thrust must be available to
ensure that the aircraft can meet certain minimum gradients of climb in any of the safety critical segments of the
flight.
The descent is less critical than the climb economically since the aircraft will be operating at low thrust and hence
low fuel flow. However, several safety-related considerations will affect the choice of the flight path in the
descent. Among them are the attitude of the aircraft, the rate of change of cabin pressure and the need for the
engines to supply power for airframe services. The descent strategy will need to consider all of these.

Fig 3.1 Speed relationships in climbing flight.

A climb, or a descent, will usually be performed with reference to an indication either of airspeed o of Mach
number. If he climb were based on an airspeed reference them, strictly, it would be the calibrated airspeed,
assuming that any instrument error and pitot-static pressure errors had been accounted for (Chapter-2) At the
typical climbing speeds of a subsonic transport aircraft the scale-altitude correction is small and the calibrated
airspeed (CAS) is close to the equivalent airspeed (EAS). Therefore, for all practical purposes, the climb can be
assumed to be performed at constant EAS. This implies that, as the aircraft cl9imbs, the ambient air density will
be decreasing and the true airspeed (TAS) will be increasing, thus the aircraft will be accelerating throughout the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 52

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
climb. If the climb is based on Mach number then , in the troposphere, as altitude increases, the ambient
temperature will be decreasing and with it the speed of sound. This implies that the true airspeed will be
decreasing as the aircraft climbs. In the isothermal stratosphere, a climb at constant Mach number results in a
constant TAS and there is no acceleration. Figure 3.1 shows the relationship between true airspeed, equivalent
airspeed and Mach number in climbing flight. It is evident that if a climb is performed at a constant EAS then the
Mach number will in ease with height and the critical Mach number will eventually be reached. Alternatively, if
the climb is performed at constant Mach number then the EAS will decrease towards the stalling speed as height
increases.
In practice, an aircraft climb in to a height at which the Mach number would approach its critical value would
usually start the climb at a constant EAS and the Mach number would be allowed to increase. In this state, the
angle of attack is constant and the climb can be made at a constant, and possibly optimum, lift-drag ratio. As the
Mach number increases, it becomes necessary to avoid the drag rise as the critical Mach number is reached. The
climb would be converted into a constant Mach number climb allowing the EAS to decrease as the climb
continues. The aircraft will no longer be climbing at the optimum aerodynamic efficiency but the drag rise will
be avoided and a good compromise can be achieved between climb performance, EAS and Mach number, and
see Fig. 3.2. The descending flight path is usually structured in a similar manner.

Fig. 3.2 Typical climb or descent speed/mach number schedule

In the case of a subsonic aircraft, with a normal thrust-to-weight ratio at take-off, the rate of climb is usually low
enough to allow the acceleration term in the performance equation to be neglected sine the rate of change of air
density, and hence TAS, with time is small. Under these conditions, the climb can be treated as being quasi-
steady for the purposes of performance analysis. Similarly, the rates of descent involved with subsonic aircraft
operations are usually low enough to allow the same assumption to be made in descending flight. This chapter
will deal principally with the climb and descent performance of aircraft with the moderate thrust-to-weight ratios
of a transport aircraft, typically around a maximum of 0.3 at take-off, as a steady-state analysis.
If the thrust-to-weight ratio is high, as in the case of a military combat aircraft, then the acceleration during climb
cannot be omitted and the simultaneous change of potential and kinetic energies must be taken into account. This
is known as the total energy limb and requires a quite different approach to its analysis.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 53

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Steady-state climb and descent can be measured in terms of rate or gradient. The rate of climb is the vertical
velocity, dH/dt, and is usually quoted in feet/min. The gradient of climb, y2, is defined by,

Where the height, H, is geo-potential height.

The gradient is often expressed as a percentage gradient, or grade %, which is defined as,

Climb and descent performance analysis:

The power plant of the aircraft may be thrust producing or power producing. Thrust-producing engineers,
turbojets and turbofans, produce thrust that is relatively constant with small change of airspeed in subsonic flight.
Power-producing engines, piston engines or turbo-shaft engineers, produce shaft power, which is relatively
constant with change of airspeed, and which needs to be converted into propulsive thrust by a propeller. The
differing characteristics of these power plants lead to different criteria for optimum climb performance and each
need to be considered separately.

Aircraft with thrust-producing engines:

The equations of motion of an aircraft with thrust-producing engines in a climb (or a descent) can be taken from
above equation. In a straight, wings level, climb, in which the flight path gradient is constant the eqns. Of motion
can be written,

(It should be remembered that these equations of motion contain simplifying assumptions and can only be used
when those conditions apply.)
If the aircraft has a normal take-off thrust-to-weight ratio of about 0.3 then the rates of climb will be low enough
to assume that the acceleration associated with the rate of climb is negligible. The climb can then be assumed to
be made either at constant airspeed or at constant Mach number. Also, the gradient of climb and descent will be
low enough to allow the assumption that = 1 in above equation and the equation can be simplified further
to the form.

These equations will be used to derive the climb and descent perfror4mance expressions for the quasi-steady
flight path.
From above equation the excess thrust (Fn- D) providers the gradient of climb,

So that, if the thrust is constant, the best gradient of climb will be obtained by flying at the minimum drag speed
Figure 3.3 shows the ideal thrust and drag relationship (relative to the minimum drag) win which the thrust does

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 54

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
not vary with airspeed and the maxi mum excess thrust occurs at the minimum drag speed. It should be noted,
however, that, in practice, the airspeed is likely to influence the thrust to some extent. Therefore, the airspeed for
optimum climb gradient will be found to be close to, but not necessarily at, the minim um drag speed.

Fig. 3.3 Excess thrust, thrust-producing engines.

Using above equations leads to an expression for4 the best rate of climb,

This indicates that the airspeed for the best rate of climb occurs when the excess thrust power, FnV, over drag
proper, D V, is a maximum. Since the ideal thrust power increases linearly with true airspeed, the best rate of
climb is predicated to be at airspeed greater than the minimum drag speed; this is seen in Fig. 3.4. In this case,
there is no simple solution for the airspeed for best rate of climb, this will occur

Fig.3.4 Excess thrust power, thrust-producing engines.

When the difference between the thrust power and drag power is a maximum and is a function of the excess
thrust-power.

Generalized climb performance for rate and gradient of climb or descent:

The climb and descent performance can best be analyzed in a general manner by considering a dimensionless
form of the performance equation, above equation. The generalized climb performance equation can be written
for thrust-producing engines as.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 55

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Where the dimensionless rate of climb, v, is defined as,

Above equation can be applied to any aircraft for which the drag characteristic, the thrust and the weight are
known. By differentiating above equation, the relative airspeeds for best climb or descent performance can be
found.

Climb gradient:
From above equation the gradient of climb is given by,

For maximum gradient dy2/du = 0, which ours when u = 1 if T is constant, and confirms that the steepest climb
occurs at the minimum drag speed above equation. Figure 3.5 shows the dimensionless climb gradient as a
function of relative airspeed for several values of dimensionless thrust, ; combinations of and u that positive
values of sin produce climbing flight. Descending flight occurs when the

Fig. 3.5 Gradient of climb, thrust-producing engines

Fig. 3.6 Rate of climb, thrust =- producing engines.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 56

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Combination of r and u give negative values of sin . Typical values of r for a transport aircraft at take-off thrust
usually lie between 3 and 4.
In the special case of gliding flight, in which r = zero, flight at the minimum drag speed will give the shallowest
glide angle, which will give the greatest range of glide this speed is used when cruising between thermals. The
minimum glide angle will be,

Climb rate:
From above equation the rate of climb is given by,

And for maximum rate of climb dv/du = zero. In this case, there is no simple solution and the relative airspeed
for best rate of climb is found to be a function of the dimensionless thrust,

Figure 3.6 shows the dimensionless rate of climb as a function of relative airspeed for several values of
dimensionless thrust, and the relative airspeed for best rate of climb is seen to in tease with dimensionless thrust.
In gliding flight, the minimum sink rate is attained by flying at a relative airspeed of which is the minimum
power speed of the air4crafrt. Flying at this speed will maximize the time (or endurance) of gliding flight and is
the speed used for climbing in thermals.

Aircraft with power-producing engines:

Using the same assumptions that were used in the case of the aircraft with thrust-producing engines, the equation
of performance for the aircraft with power-producing

Fig. 3.7 Excess propulsive thrust, power-producing engines.

Engines above equations can be written in parallel with those for aircraft with thrust-producing engines, as

Where ndP/V is the propulsive force developed by the engine – propeller combination.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 57

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The gradient of climb is given by,

which has a maximum value when the excess propulsive force is a maximum. This ours at airspeed less than the
minimum drag speed in climbing flight. Figure 3.7 shows the excess propulsive force (relative to the power at the
minimum drag speed, V; md x D md). It indicates that the maximum occurs at an airspeed that is less than the
minimum drag speed and which tends to decrease as the power available increases.
The rate of climb is given by,

And is a maximum at the minim um power speed. Fig.3.8 has shown the excess thr4ust power that occurs at the
minimum power speed of the aircraft, assuming that the thrust power is independent of airspeed.

Generalized performance:
The generalized performance equation for climb and descent is given, from above equation for aircraft with
power-producing engines, as

Fig. 3.8 Excess thrust power, power-producing engines.

Climb gradient:
From above equation the gradient is given by,

By differentiating above equation the relative airspeed for best limb gradient is found to occur when dy2/du = 0
which gives,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 58

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
This has no simple solution but shows that the relative airspeed for maximum gradient of climb is a function of
engine power. The dimensionless climb gradient is shown in Fig. 3.9 as a function of relative airspeed for several
values of dimension-less power, In gliding flight, = 0, and the shallowest glide angle is given by flying at the
minimum drag speed. As the power increases, the airspeed for maximum, climb gradient decreases and, for
values of dimensionless power greater than unity, the best gradient is attained by flying at airspeeds less than the
minimum power speed. In practice, this may be impractical sine the aircraft may be operating too close to the
stalling speed for safety; this will be referred to later.

Climb rate:
From above equation the rate of climb is given by,

For maximum rate dv/du = zero which occurs when u = 1 which is the minimum power speed, above equation.
Figure 3.10 shows the dimensional rate of climb as a function of relative airspeed for several values of
dimensionless power. The best rates of climb are attained by flying at the minimum power speed at all levels of
power. In gliding flight, the minimum sink rate occurs at the minimum power speed.
An alternative method is to measure the maxim um excess thrust or power by level accelerations. In this
technique, the aircraft is flown as slowly as possible in level flight; maximum thrust or power is selected and the
airspeed recorded in a level acceleration to maximum airspeed. For the acceleration, the excess thrust or power
can be deduced and thus so can the speeds for best climb performance. The level acceleration method is best
suited to aircraft with thrust-producing engines. The partial climb method is best suited to aircraft with power-
producing engines since the best climb speeds tend to be towards the lower end of their speed range.

Climb performance in aircraft operations:

In practice, the climb may be performed to give either a steep gradient of climb or a high climb rate; the choice
will depend on the most critical consideration of the phase of light.

Climb gradient:
In the take-off and initial climb phase, the most critical consideration is that of flight safety and the ended the
ensure that the aircraft can avoid all known obstructions along its flight path. In the licensing of the airfield, a
departure path is defined along which no obstructions are permitted and the aircraft is guaranteed a clear flight
path. The definition of the departure path is complex and depends on the size of the airfield and the type of
aircraft operations that are intended. For large, international, airports, the obstacle limitation surface – which
defines the safe departure path – is a surface, of gradient 2% extending from the end of the take-off distance
available on the runway to a distance of 15000m (A full definition can be found in ICAO International Standards
and Recommended Practices, Annex 14, Aerodromes) Therefore, to guarantee a safe departure from the airfield
the aircraft must be capable of climbing at a gradient of atleast 2% under all conditions, including emergency
condition s with one engine inoperative. Clearly, in this phase of flight the aircraft needs to be operated at an
airspeed that will produce the best gradient of climb so that the departure flight path will be steep enough to
exceed the minimum safe gradient specified. Therefore, the airspeed chosen for the after-take-off limb should be
that for maximum gradient. However, the airspeed for best gradient is usually a low speed and may be losing to
other critical operating airspeeds, such as the stalling speed or minimum airspeeds for lateral-directional control.
Restrictions on the airspeed scheduled for the climb are based on a safe margin over the stalling speed and the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 59

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
ability to maintain lateral-directional control in the event of a sudden loss of propulsive thrust on an engine. This
will often result in the scheduled airspeed for the climb being higher than that for optimum climb gradient; this is
particularly true in the case of aircraft with power-producing engines.
One of the most critical parts of the flight path is the after-take-off climb. This is made with the aircraft in the
take-off configuration, initially with landing gear extended, and with flaps set to optimize the take-off speed and
runway distance requirement. In this state, the climb gradient with one engine inoperative will often be the
critical limiting factor in determining the maximum allowable take-off weight of the aircraft.

Climb rate:
One the aircraft has climbed to a safe height, usually taken to be 1500ft above the airfield, the need to avoid
ground-based obstacles is no longer critical and the climb can continue in the most expedient manner. In the case
of transport operations, this will usually be the most economic climb. This will be based on either the minimum
lime to climb to operating height, the minimum fuel consumed in the climb or some com promise between these
which will give the best overall economy.
The maximum rate climbs will enable the aircraft to reach its operating height in the minimum time so that the
cruise phase can commence. The airspeed for best climb rate is higher than that for best gradient. Therefore,
following the after-take-off climb, the aircraft can be alerted to its climb speed for best climb rate in its reroute
configuration and continue to climb to cruise altitude following a convenient schedule of airspeed and Mach
number.
Aircraft with power-producing engines will usually climb at their airspeed for best rate of climb, which will be
losing to their minimum drag speed. The climb will then continue to the cruising height where the aircraft will
accelerate to its cruising speed.
Aircraft with thrust-producing engines have airspeed for best rate of climb that is a function of their excess thrust;
the greater the excess thrust the higher will be the airspeed for best climb rate, above equation. As the aircraft
climbs, the thrust will decrease and with it the optimum airspeed for climb rate. The airspeed used in the climb
will generally be a compromise based on he4xcess thrust, which will be a function of the weight, altitude and
temperature (WAT) conditions at the start of the limb. It will take into account the anticipated WAT changes
during the climb to give the best average climb performance throughout the climb. As the limb continues, the
flight Mach number will increase as the relative pressure of the atmosphere decreases. It may become necessary
to convert the climb to constant Mach number to a void the3 drag rise that would reduce the climb performance
(Fig.3.2).

Minimum fuel limbs:

The fuel consumed in the climb can be depressed in terms of the specific climb, SC, as,
SC = (dH/dt)/Qf
And is expressed in terms of ft/kg
If the fuel flow is measured during the flight trials to determine the optimum limb speed, then the specific climb
function can be formed to give the airspeed for a minimum fuel climb. In the simple analysis, in which the
assumption of constant specific fuel consumption is made, the thrust or power is set to the maximum continuous
setting. The minimum fuel climb will then occur at the airspeed for best rate of climb. However, in practice, the
specific fuel consumption, together with the output of the power plant, may vary with air temperature and Mach
number and airspeed – Mach number schedule may be found that will optimize the climb for minimum fuel
consumption. Any analysis of the economic benefits of a minim um fuel climb will depend on the direct
operating costs of the aircraft and therefore, cannot be conclusive on performance grounds alone.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 60

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Noise limitations:
Transport aircraft are required to conform to stringent noise regulations on take-off and climb-out from airports;
operators of aircraft that exceed the noise limits may be subjected to the penalties. To conform to the regulations
it may be necessary to reduce the thrust or power in the after-take-off climb before the aircraft has reached the
noise measuring station that will be positioned at a point under the departure path. The thrust reduction will
reduce the rate, and gradient, of the climb and will extend the time taken to reach the cruising altitude. Engines
with a low noise signature, or which do not require a large thrust reduction to comply with the noise regulations,
will provide the aircraft with a better performance in the limb. This is; because they can operate at higher thrust
levels witho0ut exceeding the noise limits.

Descent performance in aircraft operations:

If the propulsive thrust is less than the airframe drag then the aircraft will decelerate or descend, as can be seen
from the generalized limb performance characteristics, Figs 3.5 and 3.6. The descending flight path can be varied
from a shallow descent to a very steep descent either by reducing the engine thrust or by increasing the airframe
drag. The drag can be increased either by aerodynamic means or by varying the airspeed. Thus, the aircraft has a
very wide range of descent path profiles available to it. In the special case of gliding flight, in which there is no
propulsive thrust, the descent will be determined by the lift – drag ratio, E. In this case, the minimum rate of
descent occurs at the minimum power speed and the minimum gradient occurs at the minimum drag speed.
Although in Fig. 3.5 it is apparent that a descent can be produced by flying at airspeed less than the minimum
drag speed, the aircraft will not have flight path stability in this condition. Flight path stability occurs when the
flight path gradient can be controlled by the use of the elevator control only, Fig. 3.9. If the aircraft is flying at
airspeed greater than the minimum drag speed then the flight path gradient of descent can be increased
(steepened) by increasing the airspeed. This is achieved by a nose down pith change with no need to adjust the
engine thrust setting. Conversely, a decrease in descent gradient can be made by a nose up pith change that will
decrease the airspeed; this control can be achieved by using the elevator control alone. However, on the backside
of the drag curve (that is, at airspeeds less than the minimum drag speed), the rate of change of drag with airspeed
is negative and the flight path gradient cannot be controlled by the elevator alone. To maintain precise

Fig. 3.9 Effect of minimum drag speed on flight path control

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 61

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Control of the flight path gradient, changes n thrust setting will be necessary in addition to the elevator control
inputs to control the descent gradient, otherwise; large excursions from the flight past will occur. Descents at
airspeeds less than the minimum drag speed (or, in the case of aircraft with power-producing engines, below the
minimum power speed), are generally to be avoided. Unless an auto-throttle is employed to maintain airspeed,
accurate manual control of the flight path will be difficult.
In practice, limitations to the descent performance may be necessary. In transport operations it would be
undesirable to make a very steep, high airspeed descent sine this would entail a steep nose-down attitude that
could be uncomfortable, if not dangerous, to persons in the cabin. In addition, the rate of increase of cabin
pressure during descent must be kept to a reasonably low value to prevent discomfort due to the re-pressurization
of the passengers‘ ear passages. The rate of change of cabin pressure should not exceed the equivalent of
300ft/min at sea level. This implies that, if the cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of 8000ft pressure height,
the descent to sea level should take not less than 24 minutes regardless of the pressure ;height from which the
aircraft commenced its descent. An exception to this general rule is the emergency descent following the loss of
cabin pressure. In this case, the aircraft must descend to a safe altitude as quickly as possible and the highest rate
of descent must be used.
The optimization of the descent is not as straightforward as the optimization of the climb. Since the engines will
be operating at a low thrust or power, the fuels consumption will be low and the optimization based on fuel;
consumed is not usually considered to be the most critical condition. Normally, the power plant will produce
some propulsive force that will contribute to the performance equation and the aircraft cannot be considered to be
in a true glide. A turbojet or turbofan engine will usually produce a residual thrust, even when operating at the
flight idle setting. There will be a small, but not negligible, thrust contribution, which will reduce both the
descent rate and the gradient that would occur in the glide. It is not

Fig. 3.10 Phases of descending flight.

Uncommon to have to increase the drag of the aircraft to enable it to descended at a sufficiently high rate to
gradient. Flaps, spoilers, airbrakes and landing gear are all used as means of increasing the drag to obtain a
suitable descent performance. Propeller driven aircraft can usually develop sufficient drag from the propeller to
avoid the need for airbrakes or spoilers; the flaps and landing gear together with the propeller will normally
produce a steep enough descent for all practical purposes. The engine, however, must be operated in such a way

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 62

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
that all essential aircraft systems remain fully operative. Pressurization must be maintained and generators,
hydraulic pumps and engineer air bleeds will need to provide the necessary output. Therefore, the minimum
engine settings in the descent may be determined, for example, by the need to provide power for the anti-icing
systems.
There are several phases of a typical descent flight path from cruising altitude down to landing. Each phase of
the descent has different criteria that govern the manner in which the aircraft is flown. Figure 3.10 shows the
phases of atypical descent.
From cruising height, the aircraft will descend towards the terminal area of the airfield in the en-route descent
phase. In this phase, the descent will usually be made at a high airspeed and a rate of descent commensurate with
the requirement for re-pressurization of the cabin, and engine power settings necessary to keep the aircraft
systems operative. Typically, this phase may be flown by reference to a simple rule of thumb, such as
commencing the descent at a distance of 30 nm from the destination for each 100 000 ft of altitude. This type of
strategy will often produce a good working compromise between rate of descent and airspeed for large transport
aircraft. The strategy could be improved by using a flight management system to provide a more exact
optimization of the descent. It would adjust the air speed and rate of descent to complete the descent to the
required height over the reporting point at the required time. This is referred to as 4-D navigation since it
combines area navigation with height and time. During then-route descent, it may be necessary to fly a schedule
of Mach number and airspeed, as in the climb, to avoid the critical Mach number and stalling speed boundaries of
the flight envelope.
From the boundary of the terminal area the aircraft will normally be subject to air traffic control restrictions that
demand that it files at a given airspeed to maintain traffic separation as it is maneuvered onto the final approach.
The descent is likely to be at a low rate and priority given to the positioning maneuvers. Since the airspeed is
now constrained, the aircraft performance must be optimized by changes in its configuration. Flaps and other
aerodynamic devices can be used to ensure that the necessary safety margins of airspeed are complied with and
that the aircraft is being flown in the most economic manner. In this phase, the aircraft should be flown at a
speed close to its maximum endurance speed for the best economy as it is maneuvered on to the final approach.
On the final approach, the gradient of the flight path is the main criterion. The gradient must be steep enough to
exceed the slope of the minimum obstacle limitation surface, but not so steep that the flare to touchdown requires
an excessive pitch attitude change. Typically, the gradient of the descent flown by large transport aircraft will be
about 3˚, which is equivalent to a 5% gradient. Smaller transport aircraft are often capable of using steeper final
approach gradients for approaches into airports with restricted approach paths or to assist in the separation of
airport traffic arrivals. During the final approach to the landing, the aircraft will need to be flown at the lowest
airspeed at which the safety margins can be met and at a pitch attitude that allows for a smooth flare and
touchdown. In this phase of flight, the handling qualities must be such that the aircraft can be flown with
accurate flight path control. This implies that the airspeed should not be less than the minimum drag speed to
maintain flight path stability. The minimum drag speed is determined by the drag characteristic of the aircraft
and by its weight above equation.

By increasing the zero-lift drag coefficient, Cdz, the minimum drag speed will be reduced although the overall
drag force will be increased; doubling the zero-lift drag will usually decrease the minimum drag speed by almost
20%. The zero-lift drag increase can be produced by lowering the landing gear and flaps and by using airbrakes,
spoilers or other devices specifically designed to produce high zero-lift drag forces. The final approach will
usually be flown in a high drag configuration with landing gear extended, flaps fully extended and probably with
airbrakes deployed. In this way, the minimum drag speed is reduced to its lowest value and the aircraft will have

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 63

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
the ne3ce3sary rlitht5 path stability at its minimum approach speed. A further benefit is that the increased drag
will require the engines to be operating at a fairly high thrust setting. In this state, should the aircraft have to
abandon the approach and go around, the engines will respond quickly to the demand for maximum climb thrust?
At the same time, the high drag devices can be retracted and an excess of thrust over drag for the limb can be
achieve d in the minimum time. If the aircraft was operating at lower engine thrust without the high drag devices,
the engine response time to achieve climb thrust would be much longer and the aircraft drag could not be
reduced. This would lead to a delay in achieving the necessary climb gradient.
The emergency descent is used, for example, when the aircraft needs to descend rapidly to recover cabin pressure
should the pressurization system fail. In this case, the descent to a safe altitude, below 10 000 ft, at which the
ambient pressure of the atmosphere is high enough to breathe without the assistance of supplementary oxygen,
must be made in the shortest possible time. Two strategies can be considered. First, a high airspeed descent
using minimum thrust and with the aircraft in a clean configuration. This strategy will be limited by the
maximum Mach number that can be achieved before the onset of Mach buffet or handling problems occur. If the
cruising Mach number was already close to the limiting Mach number, the excess drag that would be achieved
may not be sufficient to produce a high enough rate of descent. Furthermore, the high airspeed may lead to
restrictions on the maneuvering of the aircraft. Secondly, a low airspeed, high drag descent can be used. In this
strategy, the aircraft must first be slowed down to an airspeed at which the flaps, landing gear and other high drag
devices can be extended. The descent will then be made at the highest structural limiting airspeed and minimum
thrust. In this case, time is lost in the deceleration process and the aircraft may have a very steep nose down
attitude in the descent, which could cause difficulties in passenger to cargo restraint. There is no absolute rule for
the emergency descent strategy, a procedure will have to be developed for each aircraft type that will minimize
the descent time and keep the aircraft within its design limitations.

The effect of wind on climb and descent performance:

Wind is the relative velocity between the general air mass and the ground. Usually the wind can be assumed to
have only a horizontal component of velocity. However, in close proximity to the ground, it will tend to follow
the ground profile and so may have considerable vertical velocity components where sloping or undulating
ground occurs, in some cases this effect may extend to considerable heights. For the purpose of this analysis, the
aircraft will be taken to be operating over level ground so that only the horizontal component of the wind velocity
will be considered. Close to the ground the relative velocity of the wind produces a boundary layer in which the
wind speed decreases as height decreases, this will produce further effects on the flight path of the aircraft.
The flight path of the aircraft is calculated relative to the air mass and, so far, the development of the theory
covering the climb and descent performance achieved by the aircraft has been assumed to occur in still air
conditions. In a moving air mass the actual performance of the aircraft relative to the air mass is not affected
since the reference axes for performance are velocity axes. Since their origin is at the centre of gravity (CG) of
the aircraft and moves with the aircraft, it assumes zero velocity datum within the air mass. The aircraft will
achieve the same rates and gradients of climb, and descent, relative to the air mass regardless of the wind.
However, the performance relative to the ground will be affected by the wind. This is the perceived performance
seen by the observer, from either the aircraft or the ground, and which affects the ability of the aircraft to clear
ground-based obstructions.
Figure 3.11 shows the effect of a headwind or tailwind on the climb and descent gradients. The rate of climb, or
descent, relative to the air mass is un-affected by the wind but the horizontal component of the true airspeed is
increased by the tailwind

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 64

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig 3.13 Effect of wind on climb gradient

Or decreased by the headwind the perceived gradient of the flight path relative to the ground thus becomes.

Where Vw is the headwind velocity component and y2 is the actual gradient of climb or descent relative to the air
mass.
The perceived gradients are reduced relative to the actual gradients in a tailwind and increased in a headwind.
Thus, if an aircraft climbs down wind, the ability to clear obstructions will be reduced although the aircraft is still
producing its predicted climb gradient with respect to the air mass. The effects of wind on the perceived climb
gradient has caused incidents to occur, particularly in cases where the air craft has encountered tail wing in a
critical climb situation. Spirally, the downwind approach is a well-established cause of landing incidents due to
the reduction in perceived gradient of descent. The situation is made more difficult as the aircraft enters the
boundary layer region in which there is a wind velocity gradient caused by the rate of change of wind-speed with
height. Because of these effects, it is normal practice when taking the wind component into account to use a
factor of 50% fort the headwinds and 150% for tailwinds. This factor will be seen in the wind-speed correction in
the take – off and climb performance of the aircraft performance manual.
An extreme case of the wind effect on the flight path is that of Wind-shear, in which the rate of change of wind
velocity is very large. Wind shear is caused by severe meteorological conditions associated with rainstorm that
create very strong local downdraughts, known as a microburst, which separated out rapidly as they contact the
ground. This results in localized hands in wind speed and direction that may be large and occur very suddenly.
Since wind-shear occurs close to the ground, air-craft on final approach or making their after-take-off climb are
particularly at risk. On encountering wind-shear, a sudden change in airspeed will occur, together with a change
in the flight path gradient through the mechanism described above. To recover to its former stage of flight the
aircraft will need a repaid response in both engine thrust and single of attack which is very as bay be beyond the
performance capability of the aircraft. Wind-shear warning systems, which sense changes in airspeed and
vertical motion, can enable an early response to be made, which will minimize the effect of a wind-shear
encounter.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 65

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 UNIT IV
AIRCRAFT MANEUVER PERFORMANCE

Aircraft maneuver performance

Introduction:
An aircraft can be said to be in maneuvering flight when its flight path is in a continuous change of state and in
which there is an inertial fore due to acceleration. In Appendix B, it is shown that the inertial forces acting on the
aircraft give rise to the statement of the accelerations acting in a general maneuver above equation. Usually the
rate of change of aircraft mass can be neglected and the statement of the inertial forces can be expressed as,

which describes the three linear accelerations that occur in maneuvering flight. These can be summarized as
follows.
The linear acceleration, V, arises from then imbalance of the forces in the direction of flight; this may be due to
an excess of thrust or drag, or due to a component of weight in non-level flight. The linear acceleration is
employed to control the airspeed in which thrust is increased or decreased to provide the necessary thrust – drag
balance to achieve, or maintain, the required airspeed. When the aircraft is climbing or descending, the
component of weight in the direction of flight will contribute to the accelerating force; thus, a rate of climb or
descent can also be used to control the airspeed is non-level flight.
The lateral acceleration arises from the rate of turn, or rate of change of heading, y3, which produces the centre
usual force in a turning maneuver. The balancing centripetal force is provided by a component of the lift force by
banking the aircraft in to the turn. The effect of the lateral acceleration will be perceived as a no4rmal force, or
‗g‘ force, acting on the aircraft during a turning maneuver.
The normal acceleration arises from the pith rate of the aircraft, y2, which produces the ‗g‘ force experienced in a
symmetric pull-up, or looping, maneuver.
The general maneuver produces combination of these accelerations and the equations of motion for performance,
developed in Appendix B, above equation, describing the general maneuver, can be expressed as,

In which the term for rather of change of aircraft mass as fuel is consumed has been omitted. The power plant
thrust is expressed as net thrust Fn, and the total gross thrust component, T (Appendix B, above equation).
In a coordinated maneuver the side force, Y, and the sideslip angle, B, are both zero and it is assumed that
themanoe4uveres are coordinated. The equations of motion can then be reduced to the form.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 66

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Where the term (L + T sin (a + r1) represents the total normal force as the sum of the lift and the normal
component of gross thrust from the engines.
The load factor, n, which characterizes the ‗g‘ force, is defined as the ratio of the overall normal fore produced by
the air4craft to the aircraft weight, thus

This definition of the load factor allows the normal component of the gross thrust from the power plant to be
taken into account during a maneuver. This enables the equations of motion to be used to analyze the
performance of vectored thrust aircraft and aircraft maneuvering at a very high angle of attack. However, in the
case of conventional aircraft, with lift – drag ratios of 10 or more, operating at angles of attack up to about 10*,
and having little or no downward thrust deflection, the thrust component is small enough to be neglected. The
load factor can then be taken to be the ratio of the aerodynamic lift fore to the aircraft weight for all practical
purposes, thus the approximation can be used.

Substituting above equations gives the equations of motion for coordinated flight.

in this form, the equations can be used to develop the basic expressions for co-ordinate maneuvers.

The maneuver envelope:

The maneuver performance of the aircraft will be limited by the structural strength of the airframe; there are two
basic reasons for this.
The pressure loading produced by the dynamic pressure of the airflow increases with the square of the airspeed
and with it the air loads on structural com opponents of the aircraft. This is particularly obvious in the case of the
deflection of devices such as flaps or landing gear into the airstream. The design maximum dynamic equivalent
airspeed, EAS.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 67

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The normal acceleration associated with maneuvering flight produces structural loads in the airframe. The
maximum allowable load factor in a maneuver is determined by the load bearing capability of the airframe
structure.
These limitations do not always apply universally. Since the configuration of the airframe may be changed for
certain parts or the flight, for example by the lowering of the landing gear or the deflection of flaps, the structural
loading and strength limits may be affected. Therefore, different maximum airspeed and load factor limitations
may exist for each configuration. The design maneuver envelope, or n-V diagram, describes the design
limitations on airspeed and load factor.
The structural strength of the airframe must be capable of sustaining the structural loading generated by flight
maneuvers and gusts at a given air4raft weight5 and by the dynamic pressure of the airflow at the maximum
permissible airspeed. The load factor limits and maximum airspeeds depend on the role of the aircraft.
A military combat aircraft requires a high level of maneuverability and, therefore, the capability of sustaining a
high load factor. In addition, it will be called upon to perform the maneuvers over a wide range of airspeeds.
These requirements lead to the need for a strong airframe to withstand the combined aerodynamic and maneuver
loading; this implies that the airframe will be relatively heavily constructed.
A large, subsonic, transport aircraft need only low maneuverability and can meet the entire maneuver and gust
loading requirements with a relatively low load factor.

Fig. 4.1 The maneuver envelope

The airspeed is likely to be limited by a sub sonic Mach number, which may enable a relatively low maximum
EAS to be scheduled. These considerations lead to a much lower structural strength requirement and,
consequently, a lighter airframe construction.
Fig 4.1 shows the main elements of a typical maneuver envelope. Although the maneuver envelopes for civil and
military aircraft differ in detail, the definitions of the boundaries and the principal airspeeds are similar enough to
be generalized.

The structural boundaries:

The load factor limits, n1 and n3, are the maximum positive and negative normal acceleration loadings
respectively.
The positive load factor, n1 (boundary A – B in Fig. 4.1),d is defined by requirements for the aircraft and the
minimum load factor limit is laid down by the airworthiness for the aircraft and the minimum load factor limit is
laid down by the airworthiness codes of practice. The requirement for a high structural strength of the airframe

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 68

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
increases the weight of the aircraft. Therefore, the maximum load factor needs to be kept as low as possible,
commensurate with the ability of the aircraft to maneuver and to be able to sustain the loads induced by gusts.
The positive load factor limit, n1, is defined in FAR/JAR as a function of aircraft weight and is given by the
expression.

When W is the weight of the aircraft in Newton‘s. However, n1 need not exceed the range 23.5<n1< 3.8 for
normal category aircraft, which includes large transport aircraft.
For aircraft in the utility category, n1 is taken to be +4.4, and for aerobatic aircraft, n1 is taken to be +6.0.The
maximum n1 for military aircraft or -0.5n1 for aerobatic aircraft. In the case of large transport aircraft, n3 is
usually taken to be not less than -1/0 at speeds up to Vc decreasing to zero at Vd. For military aircraft the value
of n3 is taken to be – 0.6(n1 – 1) up to Vh decreasing to n2 = 1 – 0.3n1 at VGd.

The airspeed boundaries:

The airspeed limits, which are defined as equivalent airspeeds, are determined by the stall boundaries, O-A and
O-E, and by the design diving speed, Vd, B – C.
The stalling speed or the minimum airspeed at which threw aircraft can maintain steady flight in a specified
configuration, forms the low-speed boundary of the maneuver envelope. Since the lift for4ce is a function of the
load factor, the stalling speed is defined under steady, level, straight flight conditions to be Vs1 or Vs1g, the 1g
stalling speed. The minimum, practical, airspeed may be set by the stall buffet, which is caused by the initial
separation of the airflow as the stalling sped is approached. Stall boundaries will usually be shown for fraps up
and flaps down cases.
The high-speed boundary is determined by the maximum structural dynamic pressure loading, q =½ which
sets the design diving speed of the aircraft, Vd. Since Vd is defined in terms of equivalent airspeed, the Mach
number associated with it will increase with altitude and may further limit the maneuver envelope. The high-
speed boundary may be quoted as the lower of either Vd or Md.
Other notable speeds within the maneuver envelope are as follows.
Va, the design maneuvering speed, where this is the minimum airspeed at which the aircraft can
achieve the maximum positive load factor in a steady maneuver.
Vdc/Mc, the design cruising speed or Mach number (civil transport aircraft), this is the normal cruising speed at
which the structure can sustain the maximum load factors; Vc defines the corner D of the civil aircraft maneuver
envelope.
Vh, the maximum speed in level flight with maximum continuous power, this airspeed defines the corner D of the
military aircraft maneuver envelope.
(The relationships between these speeds depend on the size and pur4pose of the aircraft and are defined in more
detail in the airworthiness code of practice under which the aircraft is to be certificated.)
In normal, civil, aircraft operations, a large transport aircraft uses only a portion of the available maneuver
envelope, as indicated in Fig,. 4.1. Operational speeds are usually limited by a safety margin over the stalling
speed and by the cruise Mach number, turns do not generally exceed 30* bank angle so that load factors due to
maneuver will rarely exceed 1.2g.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 69

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The longitudinal maneuver:
The longitudinal maneuver is the result of an imbalance of trust and drag, which results in either a linear
acceleration or a steady rate of climb, or in a combination of both acceleration and climb, in the direction of
flight. It does not involve directly the accelerations that result from rates of pitch or turn, although those
maneuvers may produce increase in the drag force, which will have an indirect effect on the longitudinal force
balance.
By expressing the gradient of climb in terms of the true rate of limb and true airspeed the longitudinal equation
of motion for maneuvering flight can be written as,

The term (H +V2/2g) is the specific energy, Es of the aircraft per unit weight. It is also known as the energy-
height sine it represents the height the aircraft would attain if all the kinetic energy were to be converted into
potential energy.
The term (Fn – D)V/W, the product of the excess thrust and the true airspeed per unit weight, is known as the
specific excess power (SEP), of the aircraft and determines the rate of change of the specific energy. The excess
power can be used to increase potential energy (climb), or to increase the potential and kinetic energies in
combination to achieve the maximum rate of change of total energy, the sum of the PE and KE, to minimize the
time required to climb and accelerate the aircraft to its operating height and Mach number,. This principle is
employed by high performance aircraft in the optimization of their climb profile through the transonic flight
region where the excess power is reduced by the increase in drags. This is also discussed in Chapter 5 under the
climb performance of aircraft with a high excess thrust.
Any change in the specific excess power arising from an increment in either the thrust or the drag will produce
either a rate of climb or an acceleration of the aircraft. If height is maintained constant then the airspeed will vary
or, conversely, if the (true) airspeed is maintained constant the height will vary. This principle is important in the
consideration of the overall effect of a maneuver on the flight path of the aircraft.

The lateral maneuver or the level turns:

In a level, constant airspeed, coordinated turn, the rate of climb, y2, the rate of pitch, y2, and the rate of change of
true airspeed. V, are all zero and the equations for maneuver performance become.

It should be noted that the bank angle used in the equations of motion is y1, and the aircraft body axes relative to
velocity axes, and not the Euler angle, the body axes relative to Earth axes. This enables the analysis to be
applied in the general maneuvering case in which the aircraft may be in a maneuver combining g both turning
and pitching motions.
The turn is shown diagrammatically in Fig 4.2. From the normal force equation the load factor, n, is seen to be a
function of the bank angle of the aircraft and is given by,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 70

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
From the lateral force equation the rate of turn is given b,

Where R is the radius of the turn which, using above equation, can be expressed as,

From this expression, it can be seen that both the rate and radius of the turn are functions of true airspeed and
bank angle only and are independent of the weight of the aircraft.

Fig.4.2 The turning maneuver

Fig. 4.3 The maneuver boundaries

The turning performances will be constrained by the aerodynamic and structural limitations of the aircraft,
together with the limit imposed on the turning maneuver by the excess thrust available. These are defined by the
maneuver envelope, and are shown in Fig. 4.3 in terms of the rate of turn, y3, and EAS.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 71

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
From above equation the maximum bank angle in the steady, level turn is determined by the limit load factor, n1.
Therefore, from above equation, the maximum rate of turn permitted by the structural strength of the aircraft.
The boundary will tend to more down wards as the air density decreases with increasing attitude and temperature.
The maximum angle of attack at which the aircraft can be flown in steady flight is limited by the stall (or stall
buffet) boundary, this will determine the minimum airspeed in the steady, level turns. From the lift equation in
turning flight, the airspeed and load factor arte related by the expression.

Where Cl, is the maximum steady, level-flight, lift coefficient.

The rate of turn is a function of the airspeed and load factor, above equation, so that there will be a minimum
airspeed boundary set by the value of determined from above equation. The maximum airspeed boundary is set
by the maximum design sped, Vd, which is a structural strength limitation determined from the maxim um
dynamic pressure loading. However, there may be further restrictions to the high speed boundary caused by the
maximum design Mach number, Md, and set by the aerodynamic limitation associated with changes in airflow
characteristics leading to stability and handling qualities issues.
The maximum excess thrust power limitation is found from above equations in turning flight. The maximum
non-maneuvering excess thrust-power is given from above equation and is reduced by the increment in drag-
power resulting from the rate of turn; above equation the curves in Fig. 4.3 represent the maximum level flight
maneuver boundaries for increasing WAT limits.
Figure 4.3 shows the limit of maneuver of the aircraft under these constrains. The maximum rate of turn occurs
at Va, the design maneuver speed. However, it should be noted that in steady, level flight the limiting maneuver
is only possible if there is sufficient propulsive thrust to overcome the aerodynamic drag. The aircraft will be
further limited in the maneuver by the thrust available if it is climbing. In the design of a combat aircraft the
thrust and drag characteristics need to be developed to provide the maximum excess thrust-power as close as
possible to the design maneuver speed. This is to avoid the thrust available limiting the turning performance as
the most critical maneuver point.
The increase in the drag force in maneuvering flight can be found from the drag characteristic of the aircraft. The
drag polar of a conventional, subsonic, aircraft is assumed parabolic so that the drag coefficient can be expressed
in the form.

And the drag force in level flight is given by,

In the turn, the load factor of the aircraft is increased so that the lift generated by the wing will have to be
increased to balance the forces. If the engine thrust component in the normal axis is negligible, the drag force
becomes.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 72

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Thus, the increment in drag, D, due to the turn is the difference between equations, and

Which, from above equations, can be written in the form?

Here, the square bracket is a quasi-constant for the aircraft in the turn at a given weight and height. The
increment in drag is thus seen to be proportional to the square of the rate of turn, Now, in the turn, the drag
increases and, if the thrust is not increased to compensate, the drag increment D will lead to either a rate of
descent or a deceleration relative to the non-turning flight state. This can be deduced from above equation.

In turning flight, the increase in the lift dependent drag coefficient leads to a modified expression for the
minimum drag ratio, this is now given by,

Fig. 4.4 The effect of load factor on the drag characteristic

And the minimum drag speed in the turn Vmd(turn) is given by,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 73

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
So that the minimum drag speed increases as a function of the rate of turn. Figure 4.4 shows the increase in drag
and in the minimum drag speed with load factor as the rate of turn is increased.
Unless the thrust is increased to compensate for the increased drag then the turn will cause the specific energy of
the aircraft to decrease. If airspeed is maintained, then a rate of descent will occur or, if height is maintained,
then the aircraft will decelerate. If the turn is initiated at an air4speed sufficiently above the minimum drag speed
the airspeed will decrease, reducing the drag until the force equation is re-balanced and the level turn will
continue at the lower airspeed. However, if the initial airspeed is close to or below the minimum drag speed, then
any decrease in airspeed will lead to a further increase in drag and a consequent increase in the rate of loss of
airspeed. If the thrust available is limited then the maximum airspeed in the level turn will decrease as the turn is
tightened until the aircraft is at its minimum drag speed with maximum available thrust. At that point, the aircraft
is performing its tightest, constant speed, level turn.
These effects can be very important in climbing turns with very little excess thrust available, for example, the
after-take-off climb with one engine inoperative (Chapters 5 and 9). In such cases, the additional drag due to a
turn can reduce the climb gradient to an unacceptably low level or even to a descent.

The pull-up maneuver or the loop:

The pull-up maneuver is a coordinated maneuver in the vertical or pitching, plane with nor rate of turn or sideslip
so that, the equations

Fig.4.5 The load factor in the pull-up maneuver

Of motion thus become,

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 74

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Using the definition of the load factor, above equation, and writing the instantaneous rate of pitch as V/R, where
R is the radius of the loop, leads to the load factors in the pull-up maneuver given b ,

And the radius of the maneuver given by,

The pull-up maneuver is shown in Fig.4.5

The load factor in the loop is not uniform and will vary with airspeed and flight path angle as the air4craft
progresses around the loop, Fig. 4.5. In practice, the variation is complex since the increased load factor increases
the drag force, above equation, which, together with the weight component, affects the balance of the longitudinal
forces acting on the aircraft. This causes a continuous change in airspeed throughout the maneuver. To control
the airspeed within acceptable limits the engine thrust must be increased tin the upward segment of the loop and
reduced in the downward segment, thus the loop cannot be regarded as a steady maneuver. Similarly, the radius
of the loop is not uniform but tends to decrease to a minimum at the top of the maneuver and increase again on
the descending path. Beyond aerobatic flight and some military aircraft combat maneuvers, there are few
practical applications of the extended pull-up, or looping, maneuver.
An extreme case of the pull-up maneuver is the ‗Cobra‘ which is a post-stall maneuvers involving a rapid pitch-
up to increase in angle of attack to a state far beyond the stalling angle of attack. In this state, the lift force
becomes small, since the aircraft is in the stalled condition, but the drag increases to a very large value and acts in
the wind axis direction. Since the lift force is no longer significant, the aircraft will not enter a looping maneuver
but will tend to continue in its original direction of flight together with a rapid deceleration. When an aircraft is
engaged in combat with another aircraft of similar performance, they may become locked into a circular tail-
chase, each turning at maximum rate. Neither will be able to tighten the turn to bring its adversary into line of
sight to fire its weapons. The aircraft will re-burn fuel at a high rate. Particularly if afterburners are being used,
unless the statement can be broken one aircraft will have to break off the combat because its fuel state is
becoming critical – that aircraft is then at risk from its adversary. If the aircraft has suitable aerodynamic
characteristics, a means of breaking the stalemate is for the aircraft to be pitched up to a very large angle of
attack, far beyond the stalling angle of attack, in the ‗Cobra‘ maneuver. This enables it to bring its adversary
briefly into line of sight for the weapons to be fired. The angle of attack in the Cobra may be greater than 70*
and although the aircraft is described as ‗flying at post-stall angle of attack‘ this is an overstatement. The aircraft
may be stable in this condition (inasmuch as it does not have a tendency to rotate uncontrollably about any of its
axes), its engines may continue to produce thrust and it may possess some degree of controllability. However, it
will not be producing aerodynamic lift and so cannot be described properly as ‗flying‘. It will produce a very
large drag force, which will cause the aircraft to lose energy at a very high rate. This may assist it to escape
retaliatory attack since its adversary is likely to over-fly the rapidly decelerating air5raft before it can aim and fire
its weapons. Once the Cobra has been performed, the loss of total energy may have left the aircraft unable to
resume normal flight without a great loss of height. It is an extreme maneuver that normally would only be used
where no alternative escape is available.
In combat missions, turning maneuvers are often combined with an extended pull-up and most maneuvers,
whether attacking or evasive, will contain rates of turn and pitch as well as longitudinal acceleration. If the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 75

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
maneuver is coordinate, above equation can be used to analyzed the combined maneuvers including those of
aircraft with vectored thrust. These aircraft have the ability to rotate the gross thrust vector in their Oxz plane so
that the normal force consists of the aerodynamic lift and a large component of the engine gross thrust. If this
facility is used in flight, the thrust component forms part of the normal force vector and some of the assumptions
made in the development of the expression s for turning flight no longer apply. The rates and radii of turn will no
longer be restricted by the maximum lift coefficient.
Some aircraft with thrust vectoring capability arte able to perform a similar maneuver to the Cobra to avoid attack
from behind by vectoring thrust in forward flight, known as ‗Viffing‘. In this case, the engine nozzles are rotated
downwards together with some pitch-up of the aircraft. The result is a rapid deceleration that cannot be matched
by the attacking aircraft, which is likely to overtake the decelerating aircraft before it can aim sand fire its
weapons. Since the vectored thrust aircraft must not need to have been pitched up to an angle of attack beyond
the stall, it may be able to recover normal flight relatively quickly without great loss of height. This is an
example of the way in which tact6ical combat maneuvers can be developed to take advantage of the performance
characteristics of a combat air4craft. By usi9ng the aerodynamic and propulsive characteristics of the aircraft
type, offensive and evasive maneuvers peculiar to that type can be developed from the equations of motion for
maneuver and used to give that aircraft an area of air superiority in combat.

Transport aircraft maneuver performance:

The effect of maneuvers on the flight path performance of civil transport aircraft its generally not very
significant. They spend only a very low proportion of their time in tur4ning flight and since the maximum bank
angle used in the turn is typically 20*, the turns are generally of very low rate. The effect of such turns on the
overall performance is minimal. En-route turns, which are generally associated with heading changes, are usually
made through angles of less than 900. If the aircraft is stacked in the hold during the descent to landing it is
required to fly an oval flight path, with a 180* turn at each turn, known as the holding pattern. The holding
pattern turn is flown at Rate1, or 3*/s, and takes one minute. This is probably the most sustained turn that the
aircraft will be required to carry out in normal operations and will be flown at a speed commensurate with flight
safety and air traffic control considerations. This speed should be losing to the maximum endurance speed if
possible.
The rate and radius of the turns made by aircraft with differing airspeeds can be used to advantage in control of
air traffic. The smaller ‗regional‘ aircraft, often turbo-props, can fly at lower speeds than the big jets and can use
bank angles up to 30* compared with the normal maximum of 20* in the case of the big jets. This enables the
regional aircraft to turn at a higher rate and with a smaller radius. These differences in performance can be used
to aid the separation and flow of traffic in airport terminal areas.
The only case in which the effect of turning would be significant to a transport aircraft, in terms of its effect on
flight safety, is a turn made with marginal excess thrust available. For example, during the after-take-off climb
with one engine inoperative, the additional drag due to the turn may decrease the already small gradient of climb.
Similarly, the sustained pull-up is not a maneuver associated with civil transport operations. The most significant
pitching maneuvers, other than the transition at take-off and the flare on landing, will be transient maneuvers
between the limb and cruising states or between cruising and descending flight.

Military aircraft maneuver performance:

Military transport aircraft may be required to maneuver more aggressively than civil aircraft and sustained
turning performance may be significant in the operational profile of the mission. Although pure pull-ups are still
unlikely to be more than transient maneuvers in path, they may extend, in the case of tactical transport aircraft, to

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 76

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
‗pop-up‘ maneuvers from low-level flight that would demand a higher rate of pitch than the simple gradient
changing maneuver. The increased fuel burned due to the turning maneuvers may need to be accounted for in the
analysis of the fuel requirement for the mission.
The combat aircraft (or the aerobatic aircraft) spends a significant proportion of its mission time in maneuvering
flight and the design criterion for the aircraft is that it will be capable of sustaining high-g maneuvers with high
rates op turn. In the design phase of the development of the aircraft, estimates will be needed of the thrust
required to achieve the design target maneuvers combining turning with pull-ups and acceleration will also need
to be considered to establish the limits of the aircraft in air-to-air combat situations. The performance in these
maneuvers will be part of the design specification of the aircraft. However, in service combat maneuvers will be
developed from combinations of the three basic maneuvers to take advantage of the performance equalities
peculiar to the aircraft. It is unlikely that such maneuvers could be foreseen at the design stage, but their
development in service through experience of the aircraft, is a necessary phase of the maintenance of the aircraft
air superiority.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 77

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 UNIT V
SAFETY REQUIREMENTS- TAKE-OFF AND LANDING AND FLIGHT PLANNING

Take-off performance:
In the conventional take-off maneuver, the aircraft is accelerated along the runway until it reaches a speed at
which it can generate sufficient aerodynamic lift to overcome its weight. It can then lifts of the runway and start
its climb. During the take-off, consideration is given to the need to ensure that the aircraft can be controlled
safely and the distances required for the maneuvers do not exceed those available. The take-off maneuver is
shown in Fig.5.1 and some of the principal speeds and events described.
The aircraft starts the take-off at rest on the runway, take-off thrust is set and the brakes released. The excess
thrust accelerates the aircraft along the runway and, initially, the directional control needed to maintain heading
along the runway would be provided by the nose-wheel steering. This is because the rudder cannot provide
sufficient aerodynamic yawing moment to give directional control at very low airspeeds. As the air4speed
increases the rudder will gain effectiveness and will take over directional control from the nose-wheel steering.
However, should an engine fail during the take-off run the yawing moment produced by the asymmetry loss of
thrust will have to be opposed by a yawing moment produced by the rudder. There will be an airspeed below
which the rudder will not be capable of producing a yawing moment large enough to provide directional control
without assistance from either brakes or nose-wheel steering or a reduction in thrust on another engine e. This
airspeed is known as the minimum control speed, ground, Vmcg.; if an engine failure occurs before this airspeed
is reached, the take-off run must be abandoned.
During the ground run the nose wheel of the aircraft is held on the runway to keep the pitch attitude, and hence
the angle of attack in the ground runs, low. This will keep the lift produced by the wing to a small value so that
the lift-dependent drag is minimized and the excess thrust available for acceleration is maximized. As the aircraft
continues to accelerate, it will approach the lit-off speed, Vlof, at which it can generate enough lift to become
airborne. Just before the lift-off speed is reached, the aircraft is rotated into a nose-up attitude equal to the lift-off
angle of attack. The rotation speed, Vr, must allow time for the aircraft to

Fig.5.1 Take-off speeds and distances.

rotate into the lift-off attitude before the lift-off speed is achieved. As the aircraft continues to accelerate it
reaches the lift-off airspeed and becomes airborne; this is the end of the ground run distance. So the lift-off sped

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 78

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
must allow a sufficient margin over the stalling speed to avoid an inadvertent stall, and a consequent loss of
height. This may be caused by turbulence in the atmosphere or any loss of airspeed during the maneuvering of
the aircraft after the lift-off. The lift-off speed will usually be taken to be not less than 1.2Vsl, where Vsl is the
stalling speed of the aircraft in the take-off configuration. This will give a lift coefficient at lift-off of about 0.7
Cl max and provide an adequate margin of safety over the stall. If the aircraft is over-rotated to a greater angle of
attack at the rotation speed then lift-off can occur too soon and the aircraft start the climb at too low an airspeed.
This can occur if, for example, the elevator trim control is set incorrectly or turbulence produces an unexpected
nose-up pitching moment. The minimum speed at which the aircraft can become airborne is known as the
minimum unstuck speed, Vmu. It occurs when extreme over rotation pitches the aircraft up to the geometry
limited angle of attack with the tail of the aircraft in contact with the runway. Tests are usually required to
measure the take-off performance in this condition.
During the take-off run, should an engine fail between the minimum control speeds (ground) and the rotation
speed, the decision either to abandon or continue the take-off will have to be made. This decision is based on the
distances required either to stop the aircraft or to continue to accelerate to the lift-off speed with one engine
inoperative. There will be a point during the acceleration along the runway at which the distances required by the
two options are equal. This point is recognized by the indicated airspeed of the aircraft and is known as the
decision speed, V1. The decision speed also determines the minimum safe length of runway from which the
aircraft can take off. If an engine fails before the decision speed is reached then the take off is abandoned,
otherwise the take-off must be continued.
Once the lift-off has been achieved the aircraft must be accelerated to the take-off safety speed (V2, one engine
inoperative, V3, all engines operating). This is the air-speed at which both a safe climb gradient and directional
control can be achieved in the case of an engine failure in the airborne state; this phase of the take-off path is
known as the transition. The ability to maintain directional control in the climb is determined by the minimu m
control speed, airborne, V mca. The minimum control speed, airborne, will be greater than the minimum control
speed, ground. V mcg, since the aircraft is not restrained in roll by the contact between the landing gear and the
runway. In the event of an engine failure in the climb, the aircraft will depart in yaw, which will cause the
aircraft to roll and enter a spiral dive if the yaw cannot be controlled. The take-off is complete when the lowest
part of the aircraft clears a seen height of 35 ft (ore 10.5m) above the extended take-off surface. The distance
between the lift-off point and the point at which the screen height is cleared is known as the air4borne distance,
Sa.
The total take-off distance required will be the sum of the ground run distance. So, and the airborne distance, Sa.
To ensure that the take-off is performed safely, the take-off distances will be suitably factored to allow for
statistical variation in the take-off performance of the individual aircraft and in the ambient conditions.
This outline of the events, which take place during the take-off, applies to CTOL and RTOL operations and,
broadly, to STOL operations. The relationships between the various speeds referred to above are set out in the
airworthiness requirements and depend on the classification of the aircraft and the particular code of practice
under which it is certificated.

Estimation of take-off distances:

At the design stage of the aircraft, estimates of the take-off distances will be needed to determine the minimum
size of airfield from which the aircraft will be able to operate. Any such estimation will depend on the ability to
estimate the thrust of the power plant at very low forwards speeds and the drag of the aircraft at low speeds and in
gr4ound effect. In addition, there will be other forces acting on the aircraft, for example, wheel spin-up runway
friction and side-wind loads, some of which are very difficult to quantify. In practice, although reasonable

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 79

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
estimates of the take-off distances can be made, it will be necessary to determine the actual take-off performance
by measurement.
There are several methods for the estimation of the ground run and airborne take-off distances; the methods given
here are among the simplest but give reasonable off distances; the methods given here are among the simplest but
give reasonable results for convention aircraft with moderate thrust.
The equations of motion of the aircraft are given in Appendix B, above equation. Using the simplifying
assumptions and including g the runway reaction force, the equations of motion during the take-off run can be
written.

Where yR = the runway slope, R = wheel load or runway reaction force, and uR= runway coefficient of rolling
friction.

The ground-run distance, Sg:

The ground run distance can be estimated from the time integral of the ground speed of the aircraft.

Where F = the accelerating force acting on the aircraft.

Now, from above equation, the accelerating force, F, can be written in the form.

In above equation, the curly bracket {} represents the net propulsive thrust – weight ratio, taking into account the
runway rolling friction and the runway slope. The thrust force produced by the power plant is unlikely to vary
substantially during the take-off and, for the a purposes of a simple estimation of the ground run, the net
propulsive thrust – weight ratio can be assumed to be a constant, A. The round bracket ( ) is predominantly the
aerodynamic drag – lift ratio at the ground run angle of attack, it also includes a runway friction term since any
lift generated by the aircraft will alleviate the total runway friction force. The lift force, L, is the lift force that
occurs during the take-off run and will be produced by the angle of attack, , determined by the ground run pitch
attitude of the aircraft. Since the aircraft pitch attitude is constant up to the point of rotation the angle of attack is
constant, which implies that the lift and drag coefficients will be constant during the ground run. Therefore, the
aerodynamic drag term can be evaluated as.

Where B is a quasi-constant determined by the aircraft configuration and ground run attitude.
Above equation is now being expressed in the form.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 80

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
And above equation becomes

This can be integrated to give

If A >BV2 a further simplifying approximation can be made by evaluating above equation at 0.7Vlof and
integrating above equation on the assumption that (A – BV2) is a constant, this gives

Equations above can be used to estimate the ground runoff a CTOL or RTOL aircraft up to the lift-off point.
However, it may be necessary to divide the ground run into two parts. First, the ground run to the rotation, during
which the ground attitude is constant. Secondly, the ground run during and after rotation in which the angle of
attack increases to the lift-off angle of attack and the lift dependent drag will become significantly larger.

The airborne distance, Sa

After lift-off, the aircraft is accelerated to the safe climbing speed as it is rotated into the climb. The take-off is
complete when the aircraft clears a screen height of 35ft above the extended take-off surface at a speed not less
than the take-off safety speed. The flight path in the airborne phase of the take-off is not, thereof, a simple path
but combines both acceleration and climb. An approximation to the airborne distance can be made by
considering the change of energy of the aircraft during the airborne phase. This form of approximation does not
presuppose the flight path to be a smooth curve and allows for a variation in take-off technique. The energy
change is given by,

Giving

Now, the energy change between the lift-off and the end of the airborne distance, at which the airspeed has been
increased to the take-off safety speed, V2 or V34 as appropriate, and the potential energy has been increased by
35 ft, is,

So that, from above equations, the airborne distance is given by

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 81

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Assuming that the horizontal airborne distance travelled is very much greater than 35 ft.
The difference between the lift-off speed and the take-off safety speed should be as small as possible to minimize
the time during which the aircraft may be unable to meet the requirement for directional control following an
engine failure. In most case4s, the increment required in the kinetic energy is about equal to the change in
potential energy.
The operation of an aircraft usually requires the take-off distances to be as short as possible this applies to the
ground run , the airborne distance and to their sum as the overall distance. For an aircraft with a given air frame-
engine combination, any such optimization process will depend on the aerodynamic characteristics of the
airframe, since the maximum available thrust of the engines is fixed. The ground run can be minimized by
selecting the combination of high-lift devices that will produce the lowest lift-off speed together with a high
lift—drag ratio. This will need to take into account the drag is in the phase between rotation and lift-off and the
performance with one engine inoperative. Similar criteria can be applied to the airborne distance and the overall
distance, but will need to include the difference between the lift-off speed and the take-off safety speed. Clearly,
such a problem cannot be solved by analytical means alone and, in practice, the final combination of high lift
devices will be optimized by flight trails.

The effect on the take-off distances of the flight variables:

The take-off distances will be affected by the weight of the aircraft, the state of the atmosphere and the airfield
conditions. Equations above enable the approximate effect of variation of the flight variables to be discussed

Aircraft weight:
If above equation is expressed for a take-off on a level runway in still air then the approximation for the ground
run distance is.

An increase in aircraft weight can be seen to have two direct effects on the ground run distance.
First, the ground run distance is directly proportional to aircraft weight, so that the ground run will increase in
proportion to the weight increase.
Secondly, the ground run distance is direct fly proportional to the square of the light-off speed. Vtof. Now, the
lift-off speed is proportional to the stalling speed, Vsl. Which, in turn, is proportional to the square root of the
weight of the aircraft? Therefore, the take-off ground run distance will be increased, again in proportion to the
aircraft weight.
In addition to the direct effects, the increased weight will increase the runway friction force acting on the aircraft,
but the effect of this on the ground run will be relatively small compared with the direct effects of weight.
Summing the individual effects of a weight increase, it can be expected that increasing the aircraft weight by 10%
will increase the take-off ground run distance by at least 20%
The airborne distance will be similarly affected.
First, from above equation it can be seen that the airborne distance is directly proportional to the aircraft weight.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 82

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Secondly, both the lift-off speed and the take-off safety sped will be increased by the increase in aircraft weight.
This will produced a proportional increment in the kinetic energy related term since the airborne distance is a
function of the square of the airspeeds, which are proportional to the square root of the weight. However, as the
potential energy and kinetic energy terms in the expression for the airborne distance are roughly equal, the effect
of weight increase of 10% on the kinetic energy term is to increase the airborne distance by about 5%.
Also, the increase the airframe drags and reduces the excess thrust available. The magnitude of this effect will
depend on the excess thrust and on the lift-dependent part of the drag characteristic of the airframe. For a
transport aircraft, it will probably equate to a reduction in the excess thrust of the order of 2% for a weight
increase of 10%.
By summing these effects, it can be expected that increasing the weight of the aircraft by 10% will increase the
airborne distance by between 15% and 20%.

Atmosphere state effects:

The state of the atmosphere has two basic effects on the take-off distances.
The take-off is performed with reference to indicated airspeed (IAS) displayed by the airspeed indicator. In the
absence of pitot-static errors, the IAS will be the same as the equivalent airspeed, EAS (since the take-off is
made at low speed and flow attitude and the scale-altitude correction will be negligible). However, the take-off
distances are functions of true airspeed (TAS), since they are determined by the motion of the aircraft in Earth
axes. Since the ground run distance is proportional to the TAS2 it will be proportional to the inverse of the
relative density. I/o, or 0/8. This implies that hot or high (low relative pressure) conditions will increase the
take-off ground run since the TAS will be increased for a given EAS determined by the aircraft weight. The
airborne distance will also be increased but, because only the kinetic energy term is affected, the effect will be
about halved.
The output of the power plant is roughly proportional to the relative density since the engine output is dependent
point‘s air mass flow. Therefore, the net thrust will decrease in hot or high conditions increasing the take-off
distances; the magnitude of the effect will depend on the characteristics of the power plant.
Head wind:
The effect of the headwind, Vw, is to change the datum speed of the take-off; the aircraft now only needs to be
accelerated to a ground speed of Vl of – Vw. From above equation, it can be seen that the effect of a headwind
equal to 10% of the lift-off speed is to decrease the ground run by almost 20%. Conversely, the same tailwind
would increase the ground run by a little over 20%
The effect of the headwind on the airborne distance is approximately half as severe as it is on the ground run
distance since it only affects the kinetic energy term.
Runway conditions:
The effects of a runway slope (uphill) and the runway friction coefficient on the ground run distance can each be
accounted for by considering them as equivalent to a decrease in the take-off thrust-to-weight ratio. There is, of
course, no effect on the airborne distance.
It will be seen later, that account is taken of the effect of the flight variables on the take-off performance data in
their presentation in the aircraft performance manual. The effects of the weight, wind and runway slopes are each
accounted for by using the corrections developed above to factor the datum performance measured at a known
atmosphere state.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 83

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Landing performance:
In the landing phase of the flight, the aircraft is on a descending flight path towards the runway. As it approaches
the runway, the airspeed and the rate of descent are reduced in the flare so that a touchdown is achieved at a low
rate of descent. After touchdown, the nose is lowered onto the runway and the aircraft brought to a halt. During
the landing, consideration is given to the need to ensure that the aircraft can be controlled safely and that the
distances required for the maneuvers do not exceed those available. The landing maneuver is described in Fig.
5.2.

Fig.5.2 landing speeds and distances.

The approach path to the runway is protected by a safe approach sector, sloping downwards to the threshold of
the runway, which is required to be clear of obstructions. The gradient of the approach sector is determined by
the classification of the airfield and is a minimum of 2% for large airfields. The gradient of the approach path of
the aircraft must be steeper than the minimum approach sector gradient and will usually be about 3* or 5%
gradient for CTOL aircraft. However, it may be steeper for RTOL and STOL aircraft; a STOL aircraft may be
able to make an approach at a gradient of 7* or more. The landing distance commences when the aircraft just
clears a screen height of 50ft above the extended landing surface.
The approach to the landing a made with the flaps and other high lift devices set to a high lift (and high drag)
setting to enable the approach to be made at a low air speed. The approach airspeed will usually be not less than
1.3V so to provide a safe margin over the landing configuration. To maintain flight path stability, in which an
increase in airspeed will produce an increase in drag, which will tend to restore the airspeed to its former value,
the aircraft must be flown on the forward side of the drag curve. Since the approach speed is relatively low, it
may be necessary to increase the zero-lift drag of the aircraft so that the minimum drag speed is less than the
approach speed. Extending the landing gear will increase the zero-lift drag (in some cases to twice the value with
the landing gear retracted), and usually flaps will be lowered to a high-lift, high-drag setting. If additional drag is
needed, airbrakes and spoilers can be used. In the high drag state, the engine thrust required to hold the approach
gradient would be relatively high. This is a further advantage since, if the approach has to be abandoned and a
go-around has to be initiated, the engines are already producing high thrust and the time required for them to
accelerate to maximum thrust will be shortened. By retracting the landing gear and high drag devices, the drag
can be reduced quickly. This enables the maximum excess thrust for the go-around to be achieved quicker than
by the acceleration of the engines from idle thrust to maximum thrust with the aircraft in a low drag
configuration.
As the aircraft passes the screen height, its combined airspeed and gradient of descent will produce a rate of
descent that would be too high for an acceptable touch-down. It would exceed the capability of the landing gear
to absorb the kinetic energy of the descent. A maneuver, the flare, is needed to reduce the rate of descent for the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 84

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
touchdown. In the flare, the thrust is reduced to flight idle and the nose of the aircraft is steadily raised to
increase progressively the angle of attack. This will allow the airspeed to decrease to a safe touchdown speed and
the rate of descent to be reduced, ideally to almost zero, as the aircraft touches down. The pitch attitude of the
aircraft at touchdown will be equal to the angle of attack, sine the flight path gradient is zero, and the touchdown
is made in a nose up attitude. The height at which the flare comments is judged by the pilot or, in auto-land
systems, determined by reference to a measurement of true height above the runway from a radio altimeter.
Since the aircraft is in a high drag configuration there will be a lar4ge declaring force acting after the thrust is
reduced. This will cause the airspeed to bleed away quickly enough to avoid a long float during the flare as the
airspeed decreases. The distance between the 50ft screen height and the touché down point is known as their
borne landing distance, Sa.
At the touchdown, the aircraft will be in a nose up attitude with the nose wheel clear of the runway at the
touchdown speed, Vtd. In this attitude, the large angle of attack will produce a high lift-dependent drag that will
help to decelerate the aircraft. as the airspeed decreases there will come a point at which there will be insufficient
pitching moment produced by the elevator control to hold the nose-up attitude. The aircraft will than pitch down
onto the nose wheel at the nose-down speed, Vnd. (In practice, the spared at which the nose wheel is lowered
onto the ground will be controlled by the pilot.) The ground run distance with the nose wheel clear of the ground
is known as the free roll distance, Sfr, since it is not generally possible to use any retarding system, other than the
aerodynamic drag of the aircraft in the landing configuration, to assist the deceleration. The reason for this is the
possibility of producing a pitching moment that could not controlled by the elevator. This could result in a pitch
up, which might result in the aircraft becoming air borne again, or a pitch down which would result in the nose
wheel slamming down onto the runway.
Once the nose wheel is on the ground, the aircraft can be decelerated to a halt in the braking distance, Sv. The
deceleration in this phase can be assisted by various devices. Reverse thrust from the engines and the wheel
brakes provide direct retarding forces. Flaps can be deployed to a high drag, ‘lift-dump‘, setting in which they
are deflected to a very large angle to provide a high zero-lift drag. In this setting they also act as spoilers to
decrease the lift produced by the wing, thus assisting the wheel braking by increasing the load on the wheels.
Spoilers, airbrakes or drag parachutes can be employed to increase the aerodynamic retarding force; in some
cases the aerodynamic retarding systems and wheel brakes can be armed in flight to activate automatically as the
nose wheel contacts the ground. The landing run is complete when the aircraft has been brought to a halt on the
runway.
The landing ground run, Sg, is the sum of the free-roll distance and the braking distance and can be minimized by
selection of the best nose-down speed. I of the aircraft produce a large lift-dependent drag force in the free-roll
phase; it might be advantageous to maintain the nose up attitude as long as possible. The nose can then be
allowed to descend onto the runway and braking used to bring the aircraft finally to a halt. If the lift-dependent
drag is small then the nose should be lowered onto the runway as soon as possible and the declaration assisted by
any other means available; this is the more us all case for transport aircraft.
The landing distance, Sldg, is the sum of the airborne landing distance and the landing ground run.

The estimation of the landing distances:

The landing distances can be estimated in a very similar manner to the take-off distances.

The airborne distance, sa:

This is the distance required for the aircraft to clear the50ft screen height at the landing reference speed, V ref,
and to decelerate and descended to the touchdown. The distance can be estimated in the same way as the

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 85

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
airborne take-off distance by considering the energy difference between the screen height and the touchdown
point, this gives,

In applying this method of estimation, it should be noted that during the flare there would be a thrust reduction
and a drag increase that may need to be taken into account. It should also be noted that in landing a large aircraft
having a high kinetic energy, it might be necessary o start the flare before reaching the 50ft screen height. A
small aircraft with less kinetic energy may not need to flare until well below 50fgt.

The ground-run distance:

The landing ground run distance can be estimated by using the same technique that was employed for the take-off
run by considering the integral,

Where is the retarding force acting on the aircraft given by?

In which the drag, D, represents the aerodynamic drag force of the airframe and of any drag-producing regard
action devices. Equation above can be expressed in the form,

(The terms A and B are not the same as those used in above equation and integrating leads to a general
expression for the ground run distance.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 86

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
 Fig. 5.3 Retarding forces acting during the landing ground run.

This will need to be evaluated between the touchdown speed and the nose-down speed, and the nose-down speed
and zero, to give the free-roll and the braked distances respectively. The evaluation will depend on the
determination of the nose-down speed from the relative magnitudes of the terms A and B, which will be different
in the free-roll and broke ground run.
In the free-roll, the retarding force will be dominated by the aerodynamic drag of the airframe in its landing
configuration and in ground effect. The rolling coefficient of friction will be small and the angle of attack, and
hence the lift efficient, CL, will be large. This will lead to a high drag-to-lift ratio, Cd/CL, for the aircraft in its
landing configuration, which may be further increased by being in ground effect; the thrust – weight ratio at flight
idle thrust will be small. In this case the term A will be very small compared with BV2.
In the braked ground run the regarding force will be dominated by the non-aerodynamic retarding devices, the
brakes and reverse thrust. The braking coefficient of friction will be large, probably as high as 0.5. The angle of
attack will be small, and hence the coefficient of lift will be small, but the aerodynamic drag coefficient, which
includes the effects of any high drag devices, could be large. This would lead to a large drag-to-lift ratio at the
higher airspeeds. If reverse thrust is used, Fn/W will be large and negative. In this case A will be of similar
magnitude to, or larger than, BV2 and will dominate at low speeds. The relative retarding forces are shown in
Fig. 5.3.
Comparison between the two cases will determine the optimum nose-down speed for the aircraft, see Fig. 5.3 at
high airspeeds, the aerodynamic drag of the air4dframe w2ill tend to be dominant and favor the free-roll
technique, whereas at low airspeeds braking will be more effective. However, the capacity of the brakes to
absorb the kinetic energy of the aircraft as heat must be taken into account. If the aircraft is equipped with thrust
reversers it is likely that there will be no benefit in using the free-roll retardation. The nose will be lowered onto
the runway immediately after touchdown so that mechanical retardation and thrust reversal can be employed. It
is not usual to pre-arm thrust reversers prior to landing so that they operate automatically when the nose wheel
touches the runway.

The effect on the landing distances of the flight variables:

The landing distances will be affected by the weight of the aircraft, the state of the atmosphere and the airfield
conditions, in a broadly similar manner to the take-off distances.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 87

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Aircraft weight:
In the approach phase of the landing the thrust produced by the engines will be less than the maximum thrust
available. Therefore, the gradient of the approach flight path can be controlled by the engine thrust and will not
be affected by the weight of the air craft. In the flare, the thrust is reduced to idle and the aircraft decelerates as
the angle of attack is steadily increased towards the touchdown angle of attack to arrest the rate of descent. Since
the angle of attack on the approach and at touchdown is usually determined by the stalling speed of the aircraft in
the landing configuration, the lift – drag ratio during the flare will be practically independent of the aircraft
weight. This implies that, unlike the airborne take-off distance, the only significant effect of the weight on the
airborne landing distance will be due to the kinetic energy term in the flare. Because the approach is made at
about 1.3Vso, the kinetic energy loss during the flare will be about twice as much as the potential energy loss.
Therefore, a weight increase of 10% would be expected to increase the distance in the flare by about 7%.
The effect of the weight on the landing group under distance is similar to the take-off case; it increases the ground
speed at touchdown through its effect on the stalling speed. The direct effect of the increased weight on the
kinetic energy will increase the ground run distance by about 20% for a weight increase of 10%. This affects
both the free roll distance and the braked ground run.

Atmosphere state effects:

The state of the atmosphere will affect the landing distances through its effect on the TAS. There will be no
significant effect through the engine thrust since the thrust is either being controlled to maintain the approach
gradient or will be at idle. As in the take-off case, the ground run distances will be increased in proportion to the
inverse of their density and the flare.

Headwind:
The effect of the headwind on the ground run distance is to change the datum speed of the landing since the
aircraft now only needs to be declared from an effect touch-down speed. The effect of a headwind equal to 10%
of the touch-down speed would be to reduce the landing ground run by about 20%.
The effect of the head window the airborne distance is only felt in the flare since the approach gradient is relative
to the ground and is controlled by engine thrust or power. A headwind of 10% of the tough down speed will
reduce the kinetic energy loss during the flare by 20% and the distance in the flare by about 14%

Runway conditions:
The effects of a runway slope (uphill) and the runway friction coefficient on the ground run distance can each be
accounted for by considering them as equivalent to an increase in the braking force. There is, of course, no effect
on the airborne distance.

Landing performance:
The requirements for landing commence when the aircraft is 1500ft above the landing airfield and cover the
approach and landing to bring the aircraft to a complete stop on the runway. The landing flight path was
discussed and was seen to be in two parts, an airborne phase and a ground phase. Methods of calculation or the
landing distances were determined for the estimation of the airfield performance at the design stage of the aircraft
showing the effects of the flight variables.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 88

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
As in the case of take-off, landing performance data are required for the performance manual. However, due to
the nature of the landing maneuver, the provision of that data from measurement of the landing distances is not
straight forward. In the measurement of the take-off distances, there was a clearly defined datum point maneuver
is subject to very much greater statistical or than the take-off sine it is not possible to position the aircraft with
absolute accuracy at the screen height above the runway threshold on the approach. Neither is it possible to
guarantee that the aircraft is flying as exactly the correct approach speed, Vref, maneuver is not well fixed, as it is
for the take-off, and this leads to a statistical error in the touchdown point on the runway. The distance required
to bring the aircraft to a halt following the touchdown depends on the level of braking and other methods of
retardation applied. If a minimum distance landing were attempted, the service braking required and the extreme
use of retardation devices would not be avertable for normal operations. It would compromise passenger comfort
and safety and cause unacceptable wear and tear on the aircraft. Defining a ‗normal‘ landing maneuver thus
becomes a subjective problem. Due to the statistical errors implicit in the landing maneuver, large safety factors
need to be applied to the landing distances required to ensure that the landing will not exceed the space available.
For these reasons, the landing distances required for the aircraft flight manual are mainly determined by
calculation rather than from measured data, but usually there will be some measured data to provide
gfer5ifricfation. In the landing case, calculation of performance data for the flight manual is acceptable because
of the large factors applied to the calculated distances require. A parametric analysis will enable the effect of the
flight variables to be assessed.
 The maximum landing weight of the aircraft is the lowest of the weights necessary to comply with the
limitations imposed by,
 The maximum design structural landing weight,
 The landing distance available, and
The WAT knot set by the climb performance following a discontinued approach or a baulked landing.
The maximum design structural landing weight is an absolute limit that must not be exceeded. It is determined
by the structural strength of the airframe needed to with and the loads imposed by the vertical velocity of the
aircraft at touchdown.
The space available:
As in the case of take-off the space available for landing is limited by the dimensions of the air5frield and the
approach to the runway in the landing direction, see Fig 5.4.
The approach path is protected by an obstacle limitation surface in a similar manner to the take-off net flight path.
The definition of the obstacle limitation surface depends on the classification of the runway. Figure 5.4 shows
the limitations for a large airfield with a precision approach category; full definitions for all runway
classifications can be found in ICAO Annex 14. As in the case of the take-off obstacle free zone, it may not be
possible to comply fully with the requirements, and the flight planning will need to consider any known
obstructions near the airfield.
The first section of the obstacle limitation surface starts from a point 60m from the threshold of the runway and
edxt5ends rfo4r a distance of 3000m along the appr4oadh path at a gradient of 2%. The second section extends a
further 3600m at a gradient of 2.5%. The horizontal section extends a further 8400m with a base height of 150m
above runway surface. The total length of the approach obstacle limitation su4rface is 15000m. There are of
course, lateral dimensions associated with the obstacle limitation surface to enable the air45craft to make turning
and positioning maneuvers on the approach. As these do not affect the performance considerations addressed
here, they need not be considered in detail.
In the event of a missed approach or a baulked landing, in which the aircraft abandons the landing and climbs
away from the airfield, there needs to be an obstacle free area in the direction of the climb-out. The baulked-

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 89

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
landing obstacle clearance surface extends from 1800m beyond the threshold of the landing runway, or the end of
the runway whichever is the lesser, at a gradient of 3.33%, to a distance of 4000m.
The landing distance available (LDA) is defined as the length of runway that is declared available and suitable for
the ground run of an aircraft landing.

Fig 5.4 Landing approach obstacle limitation surface.

The space required:

The landing distance required (LDR) is the gross distance required o land on a legal, smooth, hard-strafed runway
from a specified screen height at the runway threshold and to come to a complete stop, multiplied by a suitable
safety factor.
The landing flight path assumes that6 the aircraft approaches the runway in a steady descent to a screen height of
50ft at the runway threshold. The gradient of the descent in the approach is usually 5% (or 3*), but may be
steeper in some restricted airfield oper4ations. The airspeed at the screen height should be not less than the
greater of V mcl of 1.3Vs in the land in configuration. Between the screen height and touchdown, the airspeed is
reduced to a safe touchdown speed in the flare. This is done by progressively increasing the angle of attack, so
that the touchdown is achieved at an acceptable vertical speed avoiding excessive vertical acceleration or any
tendency to bounce, in the flare, no changes to the configuration, addition of thrust or depression of the nose
should be required. After touchdown, brakes and other means of retardation, for which a satisfactory means of
operation has been approved, can be used to decelerate the aircraft to a halt. If any retarding system depends on
the operation of any engine, for example a thus reverser, then it may be necessary to assess the landing distances
with that engine inoperative to determine the most critical Landing distance required.
To account for wet runway conditions, the dry runway distances are factored by a function of the coefficient of
friction of the runway under wet and dry conditions.
The maximum landing weight based on the landing distance required is determined by the balance between the
landing distance available and the greatest of the landing distances required. This takes into account the factors
for the runway surface, slope and condition, the wind and an overall safety factor to account for the statistical
variation in the parameters affecting the landing performance.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 90

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The discontinued landing:
There are two cases to be considered in which the landing has to be abandoned. These are,
 The discontinued approach in which the aircraft terminates the approach before the thrust is reduced in
the flare and continues the flight to a point from which a new approach can be made, and
 The baulked landing in which the aircraft is required to go-around after the thrust has been reduced in the
flare.
The discontinued approach occurs, for example, when the aircraft has reached the minimum decision height on
the approach to landing and the run way is not insight. At that point the approach must be discontinued and a
climb initiated; it is assumed for the purpose of the requirements that the aircraft is flying with one engine in
operative. In a go-around from a discontinued approach, the aircraft must be capable of climbing away, with the
critical engine inoperative and in the approach configuration, to a safe height from which it can make another
approach or a diversion. The steady gradient of climb must not be less than 2.1% for two-engine aircraft, 2.4%
for three-engine aircraft and 2.7% for four-engine aircraft; the different gradients reflect the effect of statistical
variability in the thrust of the operating engines (For Category II operations the gradient is 2.5% for all types.)
The climb gradient must be demonstrated with the critical engine inoperative and the operating engines at take-
off thrust, at maximum landing weight and with the landing gear retracted. The configuration for the
discontinued approach must be such that the stalling speed is not greater than 1.1Vs for the all-engines operating
landing configuration.
In the case of the baulked landing the aircraft must be capable of climbing at a gradient that will maintain
clearance from all obstructions with all engines operating in the landing configuration and with the landing gear
down. When the go-around is initiated, take-off thrust is selected and the aircraft is rotated into the climb. With
all engines operating, the aircraft must be capable of achieving as gradient of climb of not less than 3.2% in the
landing configuration. The engine thrust or power used to calculate the gradient of climb is that which is
available 8 seconds after-take-off power is selected from the flight idle condition. The airspeed used for the
climb is 1.2Vs, but must not be less than V mcl or more than the greater of V mcl and 1.3 Vs.
The gradients of climb in the discontinued landing will determine the maximum weight at which the aircraft can
safely terminate the approach taking into account the WAT conditions. In most cases the limit of compliance for
the discontinued approach and the baulked landing can be combined into a single WAT chart for the aircraft, this
will be discussed further in Chapter 10. The maximum landing weight for the aircraft will be the lowest of the
weights determined by consideration of the climb gradient in the discontinued approach and the baulked landing
can be combined into a single WAT chart for the aircraft, this will be discussed further in Chapter 10. The
maximum landing weight for the aircraft will be the lowest of the weights determined by consideration of the
climb gradient in the discontinued land in the space available and the maximum design landing weight.

The trip fuel:

The flight from the point of departure to the intended destination is made up of the basic elements of the flight
path, take-off, climb, cruise, descent and landing. in addition, the aircraft will need to taxi from the ramp to the
runway for take-off and from the runway to the ramp after landing.
The fuel required for each element of the intended flight is derived from flight measured data. This is reduced to
a form from which the effects of weight, altitude and temperature can be interpolated separately. The data are
presented in graphical or tabular form so that the fuel required for each element of the flight can be found for the
particular WAT state and operational parameters. For example, the cruising segment will need a statement of the
distance between the end of the climb and the beginning of the descent and the climbing segment will need the
height increase between take-off and cruise altitude. In some case, it may be sufficient to state an allowance of

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 91

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
fuel for a maneuver or fuel burned per unit time. For example, in the case of smaller aircraft it is not unusual to
quote a fixed quantity of fuel for the take-off and landing and for the taxiing fuel in units per minute. This is
acceptable if the effect of variation of WAT on the fuel.
Since the fuel consumed during the trip depends on the weight of the aircraft, a ‗starting weight‘ is needed before
the trip fuel can be calculated. The initial weight of the aircraft will depend on the quantity of fuel that will be
burned during the trip. Hence, the only weight hat can be determined is the weight at the end of the diversion at
which time only the reserve fuel remains. Therefore, the calculation process is reversed, so that the ‗starting
weight‘ for the fuel calculation is the weight at the end of the flight, rather than that at the beginning. The
starting weight for the calculation of the trip fuel is, therefore, the aircraft prepared for service (APS) weight of
the aircraft plus its payload and the fuel remaining at the end of the trip. The fuel required for landing descent,
cruise, climb and take-off can be calculated in their reverse order and summed to give the trip fuel. This process
estimates the minimum quantity of fuel required for the trip based on assumptions that include the route to be
flown, cruise altitude, atmosphere state and forecast winds. In practice, however, the ideal flight plan is rarely
achieved and the actual trip will differ from the trip assumed for flight planning; the reasons for this include the
following.
 The flight planning will be completed sometime before the flight and will use forecast whether
(temperature profiles and winds), request the best cruise altitude and route and will be based on a
specified departure time. The flight plan may not be confirmed until just before take-off, or even after-
take-off, and may require changes to the route and cruise altitude to coordinate the flight with other
traffic. Any such changes will usually increase the time and distance of the flight and extra fuel will be
required.
 Delays in departure times may result in different air temperatures at take-off and en-route from those
used for the flight plan. For example, if an early morning departure is delayed until mid day, the increase
in air temperature may increase the trip fuel required. Consequently, it could mean that the take-off
WAT limit would be exceed and the payload would then have to be reduced to comply with the
scheduled performance requirements.
 On arrival at the destination, the aircraft may have to hold to await its turn to land. Flying in the hold
will require additional fuel.
To account for the additional fuel requirement caused by environmental effects (temperature and wind), the trip
fuel can be increased by a percentage of the calculated en-route fuel. In addition ‗contingency‘ allowances can
be added o account for holding and unscheduled maneuvers or route changes. The percentage increase of the en-
route fuel may be based on a requirement set by the regulatory authorities or decided by the operator. The
contingency fuel allowances are usually determined by the operator and based on knowledge and experience of
the route.

The diversion fuel:

The fuel for the diversion is calculated in the same manner as the trip fuel, but usually it assumes the same
contingency fuel as the trip.

Reserves:
Minimum reserves are usually set by the regulatory authorities although the operator may increase them at his or
her discretion. An aircraft should not need to use fuel from its minimum reserves except in an emergency reserve
are additional to the minimum reserve.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 92

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
Tankering:
In addition to the fuel required for the mission, the opportunity may be taken to carry extra fuel if it is
economically advantageous to do so, this is known as tankering. Fuel can be tinkered if the price at eh departure
point is sufficiently below the price at the destination to make it worth using any available surplus weight to carry
the extra fuel. In this way, the cost of fuel uplift a for the next flight can be reduced and the overall economy of
the operation improved. Tinkered fuel cannot be considered as fuel reserve for fuel planning purposes.
The fuel planning progression is shown in Fig 5.5. The payload weight is added to the aircraft prepared for
service weight to give the zero fuel weight; this is the basic weight of the aircraft for that mission. The landing
weight at the alternate airfield is the sum of the zero fuel weight and the fuel reserves that have not been used,
together with any tinkered fuel being carried. The landing weight at the destination is the landing weight at the
alternate plus the fuel for the diversion and, possibly, a part of the percentage en-route reserve if it has not been
required. The greatest landing weight as the destination would occur if no reserves had been use; this case is
shown in Fig. 9.15. The trip fuel added to the landing weight at the destination gives the take-off weight, which
must not exceed the maximum scheduled take-off weight determined by the performance planning. Taxing fuel
may be carried to permit the aircraft to taxi to the take-off point and take-off as its limiting weight; this is added
to the take-off weight to give the ramp weight. The fuel plan usually contains a simple self-check by adding the
total fuel weight to the zero fuel weight to give the ramp weight directly. Comparing this with the ramp weight
from the detailed plan helps to eliminate any arithmetic errors that may occur in the process.
Although the performance plan takes precedence over the fuel plan in flight planning, the fuel plan may need to
be completed first in order to find the fuel required to transport the aircraft and payload to the intended
destination. When this has been done, the take-off weight of the aircraft is known and the performance planning
will be used to confirm that the aircraft can meet all the performance criteria along the intended route.
If the aircraft cannot meet any of the performance requirements then its weight must be reduced until it is able to
do so. The APS weight is fixed and cannot be reduced.

Fig 5.5 Fuel planning.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 93

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby
The fuel load, including the reserves, required for the mission will also be fixed for that aircraft weight. Only the
payload can be reduced, and to reduce the aircraft weight to comply with the performance criteria payload will
have to be off-loaded. This is very serious economically since the reduction can only be made in the first
instance in the revenue-earning part of the weight of the aircraft. Howevfer4, since this will reduce the total
aircraft weight the fuel required for the mission will also be reduced so that the final weight reduction will not be
all payloads but will include some fuel. A new weight schedule can then be made in which it may be possible to
recover some of the payload reduction.

IARE Aircraft Performance Page | 94

Source from Aircraft Performance by Martin E Eshelby