AE 1350

Lecture Notes #9

We have looked at..

Airfoil aerodynamics (Chapter 5)

Sources of Drag (Chapter 5)
Induced Drag on finite wings (Chapter 5)
Wave Drag, Profile Drag, Form drag
Airfoil and Aircraft Drag Polar
High Lift Devices

AERODYNAMIC PERFORMACE
Performance is a study to see if the aircraft meets all the requirements.
Level Flight (Is there enough thrust and/or power?)
Climb Performance (Will it meet the requirement that the aircraft can
gain altitude at a required rate given in feet/sec?)
Range (How far can it fly without refueling?)
Takeoff and Landing Requirements
Others (e.g. Turn radius, Maneuverability)
You will learn to evaluate aircraft performance in AE 3310.
Performance engineers are hired by airlines, buyers, and aircraft
companies.

Your Fighter Has Certain Requirements

Level Flight at a Maximum Speed of Mach 2 at
30,000 feet altitude.
Range (1500 Nautical Mile Radius with 45
Minutes of Fuel Reserve)
Takeoff (6000 foot Runway with a 50 foot
obstacle at the end)
Landing (6000 foot Runway)
Will your fighter do the job?

Your transport aircraft has certain

requirements, say..
Payload:150 passengers weighing 205 lb. each
including baggage.
Range:1600 nautical miles, with 1 hour reserve.
Cruise Speed:
M=0.82 at 35,000 feet.
Takeoff/Landing: FAR 25 field length

5000 feet at an altitude of 5,000 feet on a 95 degrees F day.

Aircraft should be able to land at 85% of Take-off weight

Performance calculation is the process where you

determine if your design will do the job.

Level Flight Performance

We assume that the gross weight GW is available. You will know this for your
aircraft after Homework Set #4. An estimate of wing area S is assumed to be
known (Homework, later in the course).
a RT where 1.4
Select a cruise altitude. Compute the speed of sound
Select a set of M : 0.4, 0.6, 0.8.
Find Aircraft Speed = M times a
Find CL = GW / (1/2 * * V2 * S)
Find CD = CD,0 + CL2/( AR e) (this info is given in our course)
Find Thrust required T = CD * (1/2) * * V2 * S
Plot Power Required (T times V) or thrust required vs. Speed
Plot Power Available for your Engine (number of engines times T times V) or
thrust available at this altitude and Speed (Supplied by Engine Manufacturer)
Where these two curves cross determines maximum and minimum cruise speeds.

Level Flight Performance

Power Required
Power
HP

Power Available
with all engines

Excess Power

Aircraft Speed (Knots)

Best speed for longest endurance flights
since the least amount of fuel is burned

Maximum Rate of Climb

Find Excess Power from
previous figure.
This power can be used to
increase aircraft potential
energy or altitude
Rate of Climb=Excess
Power/GW

Power
HP

Excess Power
Aircraft Speed (Knots)

Absolute Ceiling
Absolute ceiling is the
altitude at which
Power available equals
power required only at
a single speed, and no
excess power is
available at this speed.
Rate of climb is zero.

Power
HP
Power
required

Power available
Aircraft Speed (Knots)

Equilibrium Gliding Flight

L

Glide Angle,
h
t
a
P
t
h
g
Fli

W cos = L
W sin = D

Gliding Distance

Glide Angle,
h
t
a
P
t
h
g
Fli

Altitude h

Gliding Distance = h/tanh * L/D

Ground

Gliding Flight

D=W sinwhereistheequilibriumglideangle.
L= W cos
Tan = D/L
Glide distance = h/ tan = h ( L/D).

Cruise Speed for Maximum Range

V L/D

Speed for maximum range

Aircraft Speed (Knots)
From your level flight performance data plot V L/D vs. V
As will be seen later, the speed at which V L/D is maximum
gives maximum range.

Calculation of Range
We have selected a cruise V.
Over a small period of time dt, the vehicle will travel a distance
equal to V dt
The aircraft weight will decrease by dW as fuel is burned.
If we know the engine we use, we know the fuel burn rate
per pound of thrust T. This ratio is called thrust-specific
fuel consumption (Symbol used: sfc or just c).
dt

= Change in the aircraft weight dW/(fuel burn rate)

= dW / (Thrust times c)
= dW/(Tc)
Distance Traveled during dt=VdW/(Tc) =V [W/T](1/c) dW/W

Calculation of Range (Contd)

From previous slide:
Distance Traveled during dt=V[W/T](1/c) dW/W

Since T=D and W=L, W/T = L/D

The aircraft is usually flown at a fixed L/D.
The L/D is kept as high as possible during
cruise.
Distance Traveled during dt= V[L/D](1/c) dW/W

Calculation of Range (Contd)

From previous slide:
Distance Traveled during dt= V[L/D](1/c) dW/W

Integrate between start of cruise phase, and end of

cruise phase. The aircraft weight changes from W i
to Wf.
Integral of dx/x = log (x) where natural log is used.
Range = V[L/D](1/c) log(Wi/Wf)

Breguet Range Equation

Winitial
1 V L
Range
log e
W
c D
final

Structures & Weights

Group/
Designer Responsibility
to keep Wfinal small.

Propulsion Group/
Designer Responsibility
to choose an engine
Aerodynamics Group/
with a low specific
Designer Responsibility
fuel consumption c
to maximize this factor.