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Lecture 4:
Aircraft Performance
G. Dimitriadis
There is an enormous
wealth of data on civil
aircraft. There are
hundreds of types that
are very similar. They can
be used to extract some
Introduction to Aircraft Design
very useful statistics.
Weight guesstimates
F The first important weight to calculate is the
take off weight, Wto.
F It is usually expressed as:
W p + W fix
W to =
W var W f
1- −
W to W to
F Where Wp is the payload weight, Wf is the fuel
weight, Wfix is the fixed empty weight (e.g.
engine) and Wvar is the variable empty weight.
F Notice that in this expression, We =Wfix +Wvar is
the total empty weight of the aircraft
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Light aircraft (Wto<5670Kg)
F By evaluating data from 100 different types of light aircraft,
the following data was found:
" 0.45 - for normal category with fixed gear
$
W var $0.47 - for normal category with retractable gear
=#
W to $ 0.50 - for utility category
$% 0.55 - for acrobatic category
Wf R
= 0.17 ruc AR−0.5 + 0.35
W to 1000
F Where R is the aircraft’s range, AR is the main wing’s
aspect ratio and ruc=1.00-1.35 is the undercarriage drag
correction factor.
F The fixed weight is the engine weight. It is either known or
can be approximated as 5%-6% of the take off weight
Cp = Specific fuel
consumption for
propeller aircraft
V=0 VLOF
V1
h=35ft
1
T = ρSV 2C D + W sin γ
2
1
W cos γ = ρSV 2C L
2
F As mentioned before, the drag can be
expressed in terms of lift using the drag
polar
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Thrust and Power
F It is customary to express the thrust equation
in terms of power by multiplying it by V:
1
TV = ρSV 3C D + WV sin γ
2
F Define 1
Pa = TV, Pr = ρSV 3C D , Vz = V sin γ
2
F Where Pa is the power available for climb, Pr
is the power required for level flight at the
same airspeed and Vz is the rate of climb.
F Then Vz = Pa − Pr and sinγ = Pa − Pr
W VW
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Climb of a jet aircraft
F For jet aircraft the amount of power available
for climb varies linearly with airspeed.
F The power required for level flight varies non-
linearly with airspeed.
F There is an optimum airspeed for maximum
rate of climb which maximizes Pa-Pr.
F This airspeed is not necessarily at the
airspeed yielding the minimum value of Pr.
W W
F Where a parabolic drag polar was substituted
for CD and the rate of climb was assumed
small.
F The maximum climb rate is obtained when
∂Vz/∂dV=0, which gives:
3ρSC D0 2T 2 4KW
V −
4
V − =0
W W ρS
Introduction to Aircraft Design
Maximum climb rate
F Solving the quartic equatio we get
Vzmax 1 3
V
=
3Emax
(
τ+ τ +3 −
2
) (
Emax τ + τ 2 + 3 )
F Where τ=EmaxT/W.
F Therefore, the maximum climb rate depends on:
– Thrust available
– Weight
– Altitude
– Wing surface
nW = ( mg )2 + #
" R &%
F Furthermore, L=nW.
F Hence, the required lift is simply:
1
nW = ρSV 2C L
2