Spring 2011

AE172: Introduction to Aircraft

Performance
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Türker Kutay
Middle East Technical University
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Introduction to Aircraft Performance
 Aircraft (A/C): (from Wikipedia)
 Aircraft are vehicles which are able to fly by being
supported by the air. An aircraft counters the force
of gravity by using either static lift or by using the
dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the
downward thrust from jet engines.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Performance
 Measuring how well an A/C flies
 How fast can it fly?
 What is the maximum altitude it can fly at? (ceiling)
 How far can it go? (range)
 How long can it stay in the air? (endurance)
 How fast can it climb to the cruising altitude?
 How fast can it descend?
 How quickly can it stop on the ground?
 How quickly can it take off?
 What is the minimum radius of turn?
 What is the minimum time of turn?

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Flight Mechanics
 Flight is the process by which an object
moves through the air by generating the
necessary forces.
 Classical mechanics is concerned with the
set of physical laws mathematically
describing the motions of bodies under the
action of a system of forces.
 Flight mechanics is the study of the forces
that act on an aircraft in flight, and the way
the aircraft responds to those forces.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Newton’s Laws of Motion
 First law: Every body remains in a state of
rest or uniform motion (constant velocity)
unless it is acted upon by an external
unbalanced force.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Newton’s Laws of Motion
 Second law: A body of mass m subject to a
net force F undergoes an acceleration a that
has the same direction as the force and a
magnitude that is directly proportional to the
force and inversely proportional to the mass:
dv d 2x
F  ma  m  m 2 m is assumed to be constant
dt dt

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Newton’s Laws of Motion
 Third law: The mutual forces of action and
reaction between two bodies are equal,
opposite and collinear. This means that
whenever a first body exerts a force F on a
second body, the second body exerts a force
−F on the first body. F and −F are equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Aircraft
 Aircraft (A/C): (from Wikipedia)
 Aircraft are vehicles which are able to fly by being
supported by the air. An aircraft counters the force
of gravity by using either static lift or by using the
dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the
downward thrust from jet engines.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Static Lift
 Static (steady, no motion)
 The necessary force to balance gravity can be
created when the air around the aircraft is static
 Buoyancy
 In physics, buoyancy is an
upward acting force exerted
by a fluid, that opposes an
object's weight. If the object
is either less dense than the
liquid or is shaped
appropriately (as in a boat),
the force can keep the
object afloat.
Dr. Ali Türker Kutay
 Lighter Than
Air (LTA)
Vehicles
A large container filled with a
substance that is Lighter than
Air (LTA) (has a density that is
lower than that of air) to make
the whole craft lighter than air:
 Hot air

 Neon

 Water vapor

 Ammonia

 Methane

 Hydrogen

 Helium

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 LTA Aircraft
Unpowered Powered

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Dynamic Lift
 Dynamic (in motion)
 The necessary force to balance gravity is created
by the motion of the air around the aircraft

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Air Pressure
 A gas is composed of a large number of molecules
that are very small relative to the distance between
molecules. The molecules of a gas are in constant,
random motion and frequently collide with each
other and with the walls of any container.
 As the gas molecules collide with the walls of a
container the molecules impart momentum to the
walls, producing a force perpendicular to the wall.
The sum of the forces of all the molecules striking
the wall divided by the area of the wall is defined
to be the pressure.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Creation of Aerodynamic Forces
 A fluid flowing past the surface of a body
exerts a surface force on it.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

Air Flows Faster on the Upper
Surface

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

 Fixed Wing Aircraft
 Sufficient forward speed of the aircraft is
required to create sufficient lift force over
fixed wings.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

Rotary Wing Aircraft (Rotorcraft)
 Wings are rotated to have the necessary air
flow around them without having to move the
aircraft forward.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay

Downward Thrust From Jet Engines
 Jet thrust from the engine is directed
downwards to create the vertical force to
balance the weight.

Dr. Ali Türker Kutay