Gliding Flight

Glide Angle
Force Balance
Wing and Tail Lift
Trim Angle-of-Attack
MAE 2
NASA Image
2
MAE 2
Free Body Diagram
Forces acting on the airlane incl!de"
Lift #L$ acts erendic!lar to the flight ath direction
%rag #%$ acts arallel #&!t oosite$ to flight ath direction
Weight #W$ acts 'erticall( to)ard center of the Earth
Thr!st #T$ ma( &e inclined relati'e to the flight ath direction
o

o
T
L
%
W
T
hori*ontal
do)n
V
flight ath
chord line
+
MAE 2
Static Equations of Motion
Ass!mtion ,- " Aircraft is not accelerating.
Ass!mtion ,2 " No thr!st.
T cos o
T
DWsin =0
L+T sin o
T
W cos =0
D+W sin =0 LW cos =0
/
MAE 2
Glide Angle
The glide angle #gamma$ is fo!nd from the force &alance.
D=W sin
L=W cos
Wsin
W cos
=
D
L
tan =
1
L/ D
=
1
C
L
/ C
D
Note that flight ath angle
is negati'e in gliding flight.
D+W sin =0 LW cos =0
=flight path angle
L=lift force
D=drag force
C
L
=lift coefficient
C
D
=drag coefficient
0
MAE 2
Balancing an Airplane
The aerod(namic forces and moments m!st &e &alanced for the airlane to maintain
straight and le'el flight.
x
ach
x
cg
x
acw

M
cg
=0=L
w
( x
cg
x
acw
)L
h
( x
ach
x
cg
)
L
w
=wing lift
L
h
=horiz. tail lift
mg=weight
x
cg
=
L
w
x
aw
+L
h
x
ach
L
w
+L
h
z
x
center-of-gra'it(
M
L
w
=wing lift force
L
h
=horz. tail lift force
x
cg
=center-of-gravity location
x
acw
=wing aerodynamic center location
x
ach
=horz. tail aerodynamic center location
1
MAE 2
Total Aircraft Lift
Find the total lift from the )ing and hori*ontal tail.
L
w
=
1
2
jV
2
S C
L w
L
h
=
1
2
jV
2
S
h
C
L h
)ing lift force"
hor*. tail lift force"
Total airlane lift is"
L=L
w
+L
h
1
2
jV
2
S C
L
=
1
2
jV
2
S C
Lw
+
1
2
jV
2
S
h
C
Lh
C
L
=C
Lw
+
S
h
S
C
Lh
1
2
jV
2
S C
L
=
1
2
jV
2
S
|
C
Lw
+
S
h
S
C
Lh
C
Lw
=wing lift coefficient
C
Lh
=horz. tail lift coefficient
S=wing area
S
h
=horz. tail area
j=density
V =airspeed
2
MAE 2
Lift Coefficients
%efine aerod(namic models for )ing and hori*ontal tail lift coefficients.
C
Lw
C
Low
(o+t
w
)
C
Lh
C
Loh
(o+t
h
)
)ing lift coeff"
hor*. tail lift coeff"
o=angle-of-attack
t
w
=wing inclination
t
h
=horz. tail inclination
o
C
Lw
o
V
C
Lw
o
=C
Lo w
3
MAE 2
Lift Cure Slope for Finite !ing and Tail
The lift coefficient sloe of the finite )ing #or tail$ is smaller than the lift coefficient
sloe of the airfoil that )as !sed to design the )ing #or tail$.
C
L ow
=
2n
1+
2
e
w
AR
w
C
L
=2n(oo
i
)
C
L
=2no
2nC
L
ne AR
C
L
=
|
2n
1+
2
e AR

o
C
L
o
o
AR
w
=wing aspect ratio
e
w
=wing efficiency factor
o
i
=
C
L
ne AR
Ind!ced
Angle-of-Attack"
c
l
o
2n
T)o-%imensional
Airfoil Section"
C
L oh
=
2n
1+
2
e
h
AR
h
AR
h
=horz. tail aspect ratio
e
h
=horz. tail efficiency factor
4
MAE 2
Trim Angle"of"Attac#
Ass!ming the hori*ontal tail has fi5ed incidence angle6 find the angle-of-attack that
)ill &alance the airlane.

M
cg
=0=L
w
( x
cg
x
acw
)L
h
( x
ach
x
cg
)
0=
1
2
jV
2
S C
Lw
( x
cg
x
acw
)
1
2
jV
2
S
h
C
Lh
( x
ach
x
cg
)
( x
ach
x
cg
) S
h
C
Loh
t
h
( x
cg
x
acw
) S C
Low
t
w
=
|
S C
Low
( x
cg
x
acw
)S
h
C
Loh
( x
ach
x
cg
)

o
o=
( x
ach
x
cg
) S
h
C
Loh
t
h
( x
cg
x
acw
)S C
Low
t
w
|
S C
L ow
( x
cg
x
acw
)S
h
C
L oh
( x
ach
x
cg
)

0=
1
2
jV
2
|
S C
Low
(o+t
w
)( x
cg
x
acw
)S
h
C
L oh
(o+t
h
)( x
ach
x
cg
)

-7
MAE 2
Aerodynamic Center $osition
\=
c
t
c
r
AR=
b
2
S
=
2b
c
r
(1+\)
S=
b
2
c
r
(1+\)

c=
2
3
c
r (
1+\+\
2
1+\
)
c
t
c
r

c
b
c
t
c
t
Taer
8atio
Area
Asect
8atio
Mean
Aerod(namic
9hord
)ing
s)ee
S
h
e
'
e
l
l
6

8
.
S
.
6

F
!
n
d
a
m
d
e
n
t
a
l
s

o
f

F
l
i
g
h
t
6

:
r
e
n
t
i
c
e
-
;
a
l
l
6

-
4
3
4
.
--
MAE 2
Summary of Glide Analysis
C
L
=C
Lw
+
S
h
S
C
Lh
C
Lw
=C
Low
(o+t
w
)
C
Lh
=C
Loh
(o+t
h
)
=tan
1
(
1
C
L
/ C
D
)
trim angle-of-attack"
)ing and tail lift coefficients"
airlane lift coefficient"
airlane drag coefficient"
C
D
=C
D0
+
C
L
2
ne AR
glide angle and airseed"
V =
.
2W cos
jS C
L
o=
( x
ach
x
cg
) S
h
C
Loh
t
h
( x
cg
x
acw
) S C
Low
t
w
|
S C
Low
( x
cg
x
acw
)S
h
C
Loh
( x
ach
x
cg
)

-2
MAE 2
%esources
Wing S!it
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