PSB KIRUBAKARAN M.S.

GLIDING OF FLIGHT
 → Whenever an airplane is flying such that, the power required is
larger than the power available.

→ It will descend rather than climb.

→ In the ultimate situation, there is no power at all; in this case, the

GLIDING OF FLIGHT airplane will be in gliding.

→ This will occur for a conventional airplane when the engine quits
during flight (e.g., engine failure).

→ Also, this is the case for gliders and sailplanes.

 → Governing equations from the above diagram, we have,

GLIDING OF FLIGHT

→ The higher the L/D, the shallower the glide angle.

→ The smallest equilibrium glide angle occurs at (L/D)max

GLIDING OF FLIGHT Characteristics features of gliding flight,

→ Thrust = 0

→ Flight path angle < 0 in gliding flight

→ Altitude is decreasing

→ Airspeed ~ constant

→ Air density ~ constant

 From the above characteristics, we have,
GLIDING OF FLIGHT
→ →

Hence, the expression for angle of glide is given as,

 From the above characteristics, the velocity of glide can be evaluated
as follows,

From the curve, using the Pythagorean theorem we have,

2
L
slope   = C L2 + C D2
D glide

GLIDING OF FLIGHT From the triangle we have,

− sin (  ) =
CD L CD
slope   =
L
slope    D  glide − sin (  )
Also we know that,
 D  glide
D
sin (  ) = −
W
Sub the value in above expression,
L C
We have, slope   = D
 D  glide D
W
 L C
slope   = D
 D  glide D
W
Solving the above expression, we have,

L W CD W CD 2W
slope   = = =
 D  glide D 1
V SCD
2 V 2
S
2
GLIDING OF FLIGHT Sub the above in the Pythagorean expression, we have,
2
 2W 
  = C 2
+ C 2

V 2
S  L D
 glide 

 2W 
  = C 2
+ C 2

V 2
S  L D
 glide 
 Hence, the velocity of the glide can be given as follows,

 2W  2W
 2  = CL + CD =
2 2 2
Vglide
 Vglide S   S CL2 + CD2
GLIDING OF FLIGHT
The velocity of the glide Vglide is given as,

2W
Vglide =
 S CL2 + CD2
 → Glide range is maximum when γ is least negative, i.e., most
positive

→ This occurs at (L/D)max

RANGE-
GLIDING OF FLIGHT
 Glide range is maximum when γ is least negative, i.e., most positive

We know that,
h = V sin ( )

Also,
D
sin (  ) = −
SINK RATE - W
GLIDING OF FLIGHT 1
L = W cos ( ) → V 2 SCL = W cos ( )
2

Hence, 2W cos (  )
V=
 SCL
Sub the value of sin(γ) and V in the rate of climb expression, we have,
 The sink rate can be evaluated as follows,

 2W cos ( )   D 
h=  − 
  SCL   W 

Multiplying and dividing by L on LHS,
SINK RATE -
GLIDING OF FLIGHT  2W cos ( )   D  L   2W cos ( )   L  D 
h=   −   → h = −     
 
 SCL   W  L    SCL   W  L 
 

Hence the sink rate is given as,

 2W cos (  )   1 
h = −  cos   
  SC   L D 
 L 
  2W cos (  )   1 
h = −  cos   
  SC   L D 
 L 

→ Minimum sink rate provides maximum endurance

→ Minimize sink rate by setting ∂(dh/dt)/∂CL = 0 (cos γ ~1)

CONDITIONS FOR MINIMUM  2W cos (  )  C 

h = −  cos   D 
STEADY SINK RATE 
  SCL   CL 
Setting the sink rate condition as stated above,

 2W cos3 (  )   C   2  W  CD 
h = −   3/D 2  → h = −    3/ 2 
 S   CL     S  CL 
 
  2 W  C 
h = −    3/D 2 
   S  CL 

From the empirical relations the co-efficient of lift and drag for
CONDITIONS FOR MINIMUM minimum sink rate condition can be given as follows,
STEADY SINK RATE
3C D0
C LME = C DME = 4C D0

END OF LECTURE