Let's take a look at

the propulsion equation and its consequences in terms

of energy exchanges. The propulsion equation is the result
of Newton's law projection along the airspeed direction Xa. We have m multiplied by
dv/dt which
is the component along xa of the acceleration vector. And it corresponds to the
changes
in magnitude of this speed vector, equals the projection of external forces. The
thrust F cos alpha plus epsilon
with alpha, the angle of attack and epsilon the rigging angle of the engine. minus
the drag D by definition D
is parallel to the speed factor. We call this term the propulsion balance, minus mg
sinus gamma, where gamma
is the slope or flight path angle. We call this last term, that is
pulling us backward in a climb and pushing us forward in descent. The slope weight.
Of course, the
lift projection is zero as by definition, it is perpendicular to the speed vector.
We can express the same relation using
the load factor projection along the speed vector, n Xa. mg nXA is equal to the
projection
of external forces other than weight here, the propulsion balance
F cos alpha plus epsilon minus D. As alpha plus epsilon is frequently
small let's say smaller than 10 degrees cos alpha plus epsilon is greater than
0.98 sufficiently close to one. To simplify the equation by
removing the whole cosinus term. As all the forces we consider here
are parallel to the speed vector. They are actually producing work. To better
understand the energy exchanges. We will multiply these force
equations by the true airspeed v to obtain power equations. So, moving the slope
weight to
the left term in the first equation, and multiplying all terms by v. We obtain mg v
nXa equals mv dv over dt plus mgV sinus gamma and equals Fv minus Dv. We recognize
here the derivative
of half v square. So m v d v over dt is the derivative
of the kinetic energy. Here, v sinus gamma is a vertical speed,
hence the derivative of height h. So, mg v sinus gamma is the derivative
of the potential energy. So this middle term is exactly
the derivative of the total energy, the sum of kinetic and
potential energies. And we can rewrite it as mg w where
w is a total vertical speed id est the derivative of the total height
W is a very useful quantity. It indicates the rate at which we gain or
lose energy, whatever way we choose to store this
energy into speed or into altitude. On the right we recognize in FV,
the power provided by the thrust while Dv is
the power dissipated by the drag. We can go one step further by using
the lift to drag ratio definition. And the relationship between lift and
vertical load factor n za to express drag as
D equals n z a mg over F. We obtain this very elegant
relationship n x a equals w over v. This term is just the total slope,
gamma t, sometimes also called
the potential flight path angle. And figured as lateral chevrons in
French combat airplanes' Head up displays. It is equal to the thrust
over weight ratio, F over m g minus nza over
F in the general case. Keep in mind that in many stabilized phases
of flight n z a is just equal to one. It is also worth to note that n x a is
quite easy to actually measure with an accelerometer In
practice, accelerometers, Of course, are linked to the body of
the airplane not to the speed vector. So we need to measure, to measure
both n xbody and nzbody. And also the angle of attack alpha
to perform a rotation and recover the nx a value. [SOUND]