7.

Gliding Performance

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 Outline
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Glider Launching Methods – Air Tow, Ground Tow, Winch Tow
7.3 Terminologies – Gliding Flight
7.4 Equilibrium Equations - Gliding Flight
7.5 Maximum Range Flight
7.6 Maximum Endurance Flight
7.7 Angle of Attack for Maximum Range and Maximum
Endurance Flights
7.8 Comparison of Maximum Range and Maximum Endurance
Performance
7.9 Hodograph for Gliding Flight

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 7.1 Introduction
• A glider is an aircraft without a propulsive device (i.e., a power source).
• Why do we have to study about gliders?
o Used in air-sports and recreational flights.
o Space shuttle used to descend as a glider during re-entry.
o In the past, military gliders were used in warfare.
o Need to know how a normal aircraft would behave if the engines stop
working. This has happened in the past. British Airways Flight 009 flew into
a cloud of volcanic ash floating in the sky (near Jakarta) and all the engines
failed. The aircraft resorted to gliding until it came out of the ash.
• Special characteristic of gliders:
o Have a very low drag (i.e., high aerodynamic efficiency L/D ratio > 15).
o High L/D ratio helps the glider fly longer distances.
o Sailplanes are extremely streamlined gliders and are capable of soaring in
rising air. Sailplanes may have a gliding ratio (L/D ratio) of as high as 60.
o The gliders are quiet because there is no engine.
o Weight of the gliders does not change as in powered aircrafts.
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• Glide angle
o Angle between flight path and horizon
o Glide angle in gliding flight is similar to climb angle in climbing flight.
• Climbing flight vs Gliding flight
o Similar to car going up-hill vs car going down-hill.
• Launching the glider
o Need some external assistance in launching the glider.
o Methods of launching: Air tow, ground tow (auto tow) and winch tow.
(Nowadays, there are powered gliders with an engine having minimum fuel and
power just necessary to reach the desired altitude. When the glider reaches the
desired altitude, the engine is switched off and there is no more fuel left.
Powered gliders have been around only for the last 5 to 10 years.)
• Gliding Flight Performance:
o There are two performance measures:
o Endurance: The time duration the glider remains airborne.
o Range: The ground distance covered by the glider.
o Obviously, we are interested in maximum range or maximum endurance
for a given launch altitude.
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 7.2 Glider Launching Methods
(i) Air Tow
• Air tow: A light aircraft is used for towing. Once the desired launch altitude is
reached, the glider pilot can disconnect the cable.
• The glider should not fly in the wake region of the tow aircraft. Otherwise, the
glider will have an unsteady flight due to wake turbulence.

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(ii) Ground Tow (Auto Tow)
• Ground tow: An automobile vehicle is used for towing the glider to the required
altitude.
• The tow speed should neither be too high or too low. The correct speed is often
established by trial and error.

Correct tow speed

High tow speed

Low tow speed

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(iii) Winch Tow
• Winch tow: A winch-drive is used for towing the glider to the required
altitude.
• The winch-drive is powered by a large engine, and it pulls the cable
connected to the glider.

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 7.3 Terminologies – Gliding Flight
Lift is  to flight path
Drag is opposite to flight velocity
Lift ( L)
Thrust is zero
Weight is vertically down Drag ( D )
Horizon
 
V α W cos 
Weight (W )

θ  γ  Flight Velocity
W sin 
FRL : Fuselage Reference Line.
γ  Glide Angle or flight path angle ( bet. flight path and horizon)
α  Angle of Attack (bet. flight path and FRL) Horizontal line

θ  Pitch Angle or Pitch Attitude ( bet. FRL and horizon) 

V h
R  Range
h  Initial Altitude R
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7.4 Equilibrium Equations - Gliding Flight
Let the flight speed be V at a glide angle . For a gliding flight, thrust is zero.
See the figure on the previous slide. Considering equilibrium of forces along and
perpendicular to the flight path (flight velocity),
D  W sin γ (1)
L  W cos γ ( 2)
Dividing Eq. (1) by (2),
D
tan γ  ( 3)
L
For gliders, L/D  15  D/L  1/ 15. From Eq. (3), this means a small glide angle  .
For small glide angle, tan γ  sin γ  γ and cos γ  1. γ  3.82o 
Hence, Eqs. (1)-(3) can be approximated as

D W γ ( 4)
L W ( 5)
D
γ ( 6)
L 9
 7.5 Maximum Range Flight
 From Eq. (9) : For max range ( Rmax ), Horizontal line
 should be a minimum. 
V h
 From Eq. (6),  is a minimum when D/L is 
a minimum, i.e., for
( D/L) min  ( D/W ) min  Dmin /W R
tan γ  h / R (7 )
 Thus, for maximum range, we must fly the
glider at minimum drag ( Dmin ) speed. h h
R   ( 8)
tan γ γ
 So, the flight speed for maximum
 R  Rmax if γ  a minimum ( 9)
range (V R max ) is the same as V Dmin .
1 / 2 1 / 2 C D0
2W  k  C L D min 
V R max  V D min     (10) k
 S  C D0  
  Dmin  2W kC D 0
 So, the glide angle for maximum range (γ R max ) is given by (From level flight analysis)

 D  Dmin   2W kC D 0 
 
γ R max  γ min     γ R max  2 kC D 0 (11)
 L  min  W   W 
 (Radians) 10
  The maximum range ( Rmax ) is given by (see Eq. (8)),
h h h  L h
Rmax     h   (12)
tan γ min γ min ( D / L)min  D  max 2 kC D 0

 The sink rate (or downward component of flight speed, sometimes called the
descent rate ) corresponding to maximum r ange is given by,
 dh  23 / 2 C D 0 W
   VR max sin γ R max  VR max γ R max   (13)
 dt  R max C D 0 / k 3 / 4 S
 The endurance corresponding to maximum range ( E R max ) which is nothing but
the flight duration taken to reach maximum range can be obtained as follows :
From the sink rate,

dt  
C D 0 / k 3 / 4  S 
1/ 2

3/ 2
  dh
2 C D0 W  Note the change in
integration limits
Integrating both sides,
0
E R max   
C D0 / k 3 / 4  S 1 / 2 dh  C D0 / k 3 / 4  S
1/ 2 h

 dh
1/ 2
3/ 2
  3/ 2
   (14)
h 2 C D0 W  2 C D0 W  0 11
 7.6 Maximum Endurance Flight
(Maximum endurance  the longest time the glider can stay airborne)
For a glider to stay the longest time in the air, the sink rate should be the lowest
(minimum). So, to get maximum endurance, we just need to minimise the sink
rate. In order to do that, first we shall rewrite the expression for the sink rate in a
convenient form. From Eq. (1),
We know the sink rate is given by L  Wcos  W (for small  )
dh
 V sin   V 1 2W
dt C L V 2 S  W  V
2 C L S
We subsitute :   D / L and V  2W C L S

dh VD VC D 2W C D 2W C D
    (15)
dt L CL C L S C L S C L3 / 2
We know that minimum sink rate will gives us maximum endurance.
 Note that 'VD' is nothing but power required and L (  W ) is constant. So, in order to
minimise the sink rate, all we need to do is to minimise the power required.

 In other words, we need to minimise C D / C L3 / 2 or maximise C L3 / 2 / C D .

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We have already done minimisation of power required PR in the chapter on level flight
performance. The results are applicable to gliding performance as well for small value of  .

 So, the speed for maximum endurance (V E max ) is the same as the speed for
minimum power required (V PRmin ). Therefore, 3C D 0
C L PR min 
1/ 2
k
2W  k 
1/ 2 
 L 3 1
 VE max  VPRmin      (16)   
 S  3C D0    D  PR min 2 2 kC D0
 
(From level flight analysis)

The corresponding C D / C L3 / 2 
min from level flight analysis,
 CD  C D0
 3/2   4 (17)
C  3C / k 3/4
 L  min D0

 So, putting this in Eq. (15), the sink rate for maximum endurance ( dh/dt ) Emax or
the minimum sink rate ( dh/dt ) min becomes

 dh   dh  2W  C D  23 / 2 C D 0 W
      3/2    2 (18)
 dt  E max  dt min S  C L  min 3C D 0 / k 3 / 4 S
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  So, the maximum endurance Emax (longest possible duration of gliding flight)
can be found as
1/ 2 h
 1  3C D 0 / k 
3/4
 S
Emax    3/ 2
 2  2 C D0
 
W  
0
 1 / 2dh (19)

 The glide angle for maximum Endurance (γ E max ) is given by

 D 1  2 
γ E max       2 kC D 0 ( 20)
 L  PR min  L / D PR min  3 

 The range corresponding to maximum endurance ( RE max ) is given by

h h  3 h
RE max   
  ( 21)
tan γ E max γ E max  2  2 kC D 0

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7.7 Angle of Attack for Maximum Range
and Maximum Endurance Flights
We shall show below that the angle of attack for maximum range or maximum endurance
does not depend on altitude (and weight) of the aircraft.
(i) Angle of Attack for Maximum Range
1/ 2
 C D0 
 C L R max  C L D min   (because maximum range flight is the
 k  same as minimum drag flight)
CL
We know     o (from aerodynamics)
C L

 R max 
C D0 / k 
1/ 2
 (22)
o
C L

Observation: The lift coefficient for maximum range (CL)Rmax and hence the
angle of attack for maximum range Rmax does not depend on altitude or weight.
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 (ii) Angle of Attack for Maximum Endurance
1/ 2
 3C  (because maximum endurance
  C L  E max   C L  PR min   D0 
 k  flight is the same as minimum
CL power required flight)
We know     Lo (from aerodynamics)
C L

 E max 
 3C D0 / k  1/ 2

 o (23)
C L

Observation: (CL)Emax and hence Emax does not depend on altitude or weight.

Note:
• In both cases, since the angle of attack is independent of altitude, the pilot
need not continuously adjust the angle of attack to achieve maximum
range or maximum endurance. All the pilot has to do is to maintain a
constant angle of attack given by Eqs. (22) or (23).
• Comparing Eqs. (22) with (23), the angle of attack required for maximum
range is smaller than the angle of attack for maximum endurance.
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7.8 Comparison of Maximum Range and
Maximum Endurance Performance
For Maximum Range For Maximum Endurance
 min  Dmin , D / L min , C D / C L min dh / dt min  PRmin , C D / C L3 / 2 
min

Glide Angle  2 
γ R max  γ min  2 kC D 0 γ E max    γ R max  1.155 γ R max
 3
Sink Rate 23 / 2 C D 0
 dh  W  dh   dh  2  dh 
           
 dt  R max C D 0 / k 3 / 4 S  dt  E max  dt  min 3 3 / 4  dt  R max
Flight Speed 1/ 2
 2 W  k 1 / 2  1
VR max  VD min      VE max  VPR min  V
1/4 R max
 0.76VR max
  S  C D0   3
 
Range h  3
Rmax  RE max    Rmax  0.866 Rmax
2 kC D 0 
 2 
1/ 2 h
Endurance
C / k  3/4
 S  33 / 4

1/ 2
E R max  D0 3/ 2   dh Emax  E R max  1.14 E R max
2 C D0 W  2
0
Lift 1/ 2
C  C L E max  C L PRm min 
Coefficient C L R max  C L D min   D0  3 C L R max
 k  17
 7.9 Hodograph for Gliding Flight
• Hodograph gives a plot of aircraft’s vertical velocity (Vv) versus horizontal
velocity (Vh) for all possible gliding flights.
• It gives the locus of the head of the flight velocity vector with its tail fixed at the
origin.
Vh
O  min Fixed :W , h Vh  Vv
(sink rate)
Max Range ( Rmax ) point V
Max Edurance ( Emax ) point  min
Minimum sink rate Vv Vv  V sin γ
Dmin
PR min Vh  V cos γ
( D / L)min
Vv (C D / C L3 / 2 )min
( L / D )max
(C L3 / 2 / C D )max
• Maximum range point is a point where glide angle () is a minimum.
• Maximum endurance point is a point where sink rate is a minimum.
• The flight speed for maximum range is different from the speed for maximum
endurance.
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