Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Aircraft Piston Egine

in Straight and Level Flight

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 1

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (1/6)

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 2

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (2/6)

 An aircraft piston engine  a reciprocating engine  an
internal combustion engine that uses one or more reciprocating
pistons to convert pressure into a rotational motion.
 In-line engines  cylinders in a line
 V-type engines  two in-line engines joined in a “V”
configuration by a common crankshaft.
 Radial engines  one or more rows of odd-numbered cylinders
arranged in a circle around a central crankshaft.

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 3

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (3/6)

Chevy V-8s power

Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp

Lycoming IO-360
Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 4
Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (4/6)

 The power outputs of the piston engine  power output
decreases as altitude increases  because the air density
decreased as altitude increases, so there’s less oxygen per liter
available and the engine can’t burn as much fuel.
 The engine power output (BHP) is decided by the RPM, which
can be adjusted by the pilot by means of the throttle control.
 The Lycoming IO-360-A3A engine aircraft has the variation of
engine BHP with altitude to be of the form:
BHPa = BHPsealevel×(1.13× – 0.13)
with BHPsealevel = 135 kW at 2700 RPM

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 5

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (5/6)

 The Lycoming IO-360-A3A engine aircraft has the variation of
engine BHP with altitude:

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 6

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

The piston engine (6/6)

 The Lycoming IO-360-A3A engine aircraft has the variation of
engine BHP with RPM to be of the form:
BHP = – 0.2123×r2 + 13.906×r – 82.916
where r = RPM/100

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 7

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Types of Aircraft Propellers (1/4)

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 8

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Types of Aircraft Propellers (2/4)

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 9

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Types of Aircraft Propellers (3/4)

 Thrust Horsepower  obtained from BHPa×p, where p is the
propeller efficiency.
 Propeller efficiency depends on the flight speed (V), RPM of
the engine and diameter of the propeller (D).
 Fixed pitch propeller efficiency  propeller efficiency could
be estimated as a function of the advanced ratio (J = V/nD),
where n = RPM/60.
Example: the propeller efficiency curve of a 74 inches (1.88 m)
diameter, fixed pitch for the Lycoming IO-360-A3A engine could
be expressed as a fourth-degree polynomial for p and J as
follows:
p(J) = -2.071895×J4 + 3.841567×J3 – 3.6786×J2 + 2.5586×J –
0.0051668 10
Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu
Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Types of Aircraft Propellers (4/4)

Example: the propeller efficiency curve of a 74 inches (1.88 m)
diameter, fixed pitch for the Lycoming IO-360-A3A engine could
be expressed as a fourth-degree polynomial for p and J as
follows:

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 11

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Procedure for finding p, RPM, BHP in constant flight

speed (1/4)
1. Choose a flight speed, V
2. Find CL at steady level flight condition for weights
corresponding to the flight speed
3. Obtain CD for the value of CL using drag polar
4. Find the THP required for steady level flight condition
5. Assume a value of propeller efficiency p and find the BHP
required
6. Find the RPM of the engine for this BHP output at cruising
altitude, select the valid solution
7. For this RPM setting and flight speed, calculate J and the
propeller efficiency from p vs. J curve
Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 12
Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Procedure for finding p, RPM, BHP in constant flight

speed (2/4)
8. If the efficiency assumed in step 5 and efficiency obtained from
step 7 are significantly different, repeat steps 5 to 8 till the two
values of p are almost same. This determines the RPM
needed for flight at the chosen flight speed.

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 13

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Procedure for finding p, RPM, BHP in constant flight

speed (3/4)
The Cessna 172S is flying in straight and level flight at 2500 m,
and cruising speed of 200 km/h. The powerplant of this airplane
is Lycoming IO-360-A3A with a fixed pitch propeller of 74 inches
diameter. Find p, RPM, BHP in straight and level flight?

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 14

Flight Mechanics – Aircraft Piston Engine in Straight and Level Flight

Procedure for finding p, RPM, BHP in constant flight

speed (4/4)
The Cessna 172S is flying in straight and level flight at 2500 m,
and cruising speed of 200 km/h. The powerplant of this airplane
is Lycoming IO-360-A3A with a fixed pitch propeller of 74 inches
diameter. Find p, RPM, BHP in straight and level flight?
Answer

Assoc.Prof.Dr Ngo Khanh Hieu 15