AE 429 - Aircraft Performance and

Flight Mechanics

Rate of Climb
Time to Climb

Rate of Climb R/C

Now lets analyze a steady climb

Forces include a gravity component now
dV
m = T cos D W sin T = D + W sin
dt
L = W cos
V2
m = L cos + T sin cos W cos
r1 V

The rate of
climb (R/C) is
the vertical
component of
velocity

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 Rate of Climb R/C
For low climb angles (up to about 20)
We can assume cos 1 to calculate CL
So we work on the drag equation, multiplying by V

TV = DV + WV sin
Excess Power
TV DV (T D )V
= = V sin
W W
In climb, the rate of climb is the vertical component of
velocity
R / C = V sin
Maximum R/C


Maximize excess power
Minimize weight RC=
(T D )V
Maximum angle of climb W
Maximize excess thrust
Minimize weight (T D ) (T D )
= sin 1
W W

(T D )V
Rate of Climb R/C
W
L W cos
CL = =
q S q S
2
W cos
(
D = q SCD = q S CD ,0 + KC 2
L ) = q S CD ,0 + K
q S
=

KW 2 cos 2
= q SCD ,0 +
q S

(T D )V T D
R / C = V sin = = V
W W W
1
T 1 W 2K W
R / C = V sin = V V2 CD ,0 cos 2
W 2 S V S
2

Preliminary design cos 1 OK for 50

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 Maximum Climb Angle
max cos 1
T D T D T 1
sin = = =
W W W L / cos W L / D
T 1 T
sin max = = 4CD ,0 K
W (L / D) W
max

1 C D ,0
L = W cos = V2 SC L CL = from L/D max
2 K
1 C
L = W cos max = V2max S D ,0
2 K
Speed at max for jet propelled airplane
2 K W
V2max = cos max
C D ,0 S
Rate of climb at max
( R / C ) max
= Vmax sin max

Max Angle to Climb

If thrust available is constant with V
Maximum climb angle occurs at minimum drag
This speed also gives best acceleration in level flight
Thrust is approximately constant for
a pure turbojet -- not a very good
approximation for other powerplants

=
(TA D )
W

V max

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Rate of Climb R/C

Typically, climbs are not flown at constant V

W dV W dV dh
T = D + W sin + = D + W sin +
g dt g dh dt
Recognizing
dh
= R C = V sin
dt
and rearranging
T D
T D 1 dV W T D 1
= sin + V sin sin = =
W g dh V dV W k
1+
g dh
V dV
k = 1+
g dh

Rate of Climb R/C

For our idealized jet airplane, best rate of climb

does not occur at minimum power required
Maximum rate of climb occurs at the velocity where
excess power is greatest
The velocity for maximum rate of climb is determined for
any aircraft by
Plotting the power required versus true airspeed
Overplotting the power available versus true airspeed
Choosing the velocity where the distance between the two
curves is greatest

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Rate of Climb R/C

The chart below illustrates this procedure

Best R/C
speed
Best angle
of climb speed

Rate of Climb R/C

Max Rate of Climb
1
T 1 W 2K W
R / C = V V2 CD ,0
W 2 S V2 S

d (R / C) T 3 W
1
2K W
= V2 CD ,0 + =0
dV W 2 S V2 S
1/ 2

V( R / C ) =
(T / W )(W / S ) 1+ 1+
3
3 CD ,0 ( L / D )max (T / W )
max 2 2

1/ 2
(W / S ) Z T
3/ 2
Z 3
( R / C )max = 1
3 CD ,0 W 6 2 (T / W )2 ( L / D )2 Z
max

3
Z 1+ 1+
( L / D )max (T / W )
2 2

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 Rate of Climb R/C: Effect of the
Altitude
This chart shows the
effect of altitude
At higher true
airspeeds, PR
decreases
with altitude
However, PA falls off
faster than PR
The best climb speed
usually decreases
slightly with altitude

Rate of Climb R/C

For a propeller aircraft

Maximum rate of climb occurs at the V where maximum excess
power occurs

Maximum R/C does not occur at VminPR

However, if PR is assumed constant with V, R/Cmax does occur at VminPR
DV is approximately the power required in the climb

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Rate of Climb R/C

For propeller aircraft

Maximum angle of climb occurs at the V for which maximum
excess thrust occurs

Maximum climb angle (which is used to clear obstacles on takeoff)

occurs at a velocity < VminTR

Rate of Climb R/C

For a given
altitude
For any type
of airplane,
excess power
determines R/C
PA PR
Induced drag R/C=
W
changes PR

R/C changes with

velocity
Plots like the one on left
allow determination of
best R/C speed

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Rate of Climb R/C

Climb performance hodograph

Vertical velocity versus horizontal velocity

Notice the difference in velocity for max and the velocity for (R/C)max

Rate of Climb R/C: High performance

climb

Lift forces Eq. L = W cos

Drag forces Eq. T D W sin = 0

Solving the two

equations for
solve each for qS
set qS = qS
solve the resulting
quadratic for
CL2T
sin =
(
W CL2 + CD2 )
2
CL2T CL2T 2 CD2W 2

(
W CL2 + CD2 ) (
W CL2 + CD2 )

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 Gliding flight
Forces in a power-off glide
D = W sin L = W cos

Dividing drag by lift

1 tan min =
1
tan =
L L ( L / D ) max = 1/ 4CD ,0 K
D D max
Once again, an important
performance parameter
is set by L/D 2 cos W
1 V =
the smallest gives L = V2 SCL = W cos CL S
maximum gliding range 2
Equilibrium
this maximum range occurs when L/D is maximum glide
for V constant velocity
airplanes with good aerodynamic efficiency (high
L/D) can glide 20-50 times as far as their altitude
Does not depend on wing loading or altitude.

D = W sin
VV = V sin
DV = W sin V = WVV
Equilibrium VH = V cos DV PR
2 cos W VV = =
V = glide
CL S W W
velocity

( L / D ) max = 1/ 4CD ,0 K

cos 1

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Ceilings
How high can Absolute Ceiling: 0 fpm
Service Ceiling: 100 fpm
the airplane
climb?
Absolute Ceiling

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 Ceilings

The ceiling is the altitude at which R/C has

reached some minimum value
Absolute ceiling
Is defined as the altitude at which the R/C = 0
Is dictated when PA is just tangent to the PR curve
Service ceiling
is defined as that altitude where R/Cmax = 100 ft/min
is the practical upper limit for steady, level flight
Procedure
calculate values of R/Cmax for different altitudes
plot R/Cmax versus altitude
extrapolate this latter curve to 100 fpm and 0 fpm to get
the service and absolute ceilings

Time to Climb
Time to climb
Needs to be short
Calculating R/C dh
R/C V sin
dt
dh
dt
R/C
Integrating
h2 dh n
t2 h
dt
h1 R / C
i 1 R/C
t1
i
Calculating time-to-climb
graphically
plot (R/C)-1 versus h Altitude x 10-3
Approximate the area under
the curve
Subtract time to climb to the
starting altitude

R/C max
a bh
tmin h2 dh 1
tmin dt ln a bh2 ln a
0 0 a bh b

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