Thisfirstchapterisaboutgeneraldefinitionsrelativetotheaircraftandthewing.

Althoughmanyofthefollowingnotionsmaybefamiliartosomeofyou,wearegoingto
listthemainstructuralcomponentsoftheaircraft.
ThesedefinitionswillalsobeusefulwhenyoustarttheAircraftIdentificationcourseina
fewweeksfromnow.

Thefuselageisthepartoftheaircraftwherethepassengersandthecargoareinstalled;
ithasmoreorlesstheshapeofacylinder.
Thewingsarethemostimportantpartoftheaircraft:aswewillseeduringthiscourse,
theyenabletheaircrafttofly.

Thewingcanhavedifferentlocationsonthefuselage:mostairlinershavealowwing,
butsomeaircraftcanhaveahighwing.
Todaysmostcommonairplanesonlyhaveonesetofwings,whereastheveryfirstones
usedtohave2or3sets.
Ahelicopteralsohaswingswhichrotate,calledblades;thewholesetofbladesiscalled
arotarywing.Pleasenotethatbladeswillhaveallthecharacteristicsofwings,whichwe
willdetaillateron.
Onelastremark:anengine,whetheritbeaturboproporaturbojet,ismadeofrotating
blades,whicharelittlewings,withslightlydifferentcharacteristics.

Mostairlinershave2differentlandinggears:
thenoselandinggearatthefront,whichenablesthepilottoturnonground
themainlandinggear,madeofagreaternumberofwheels(forexample,theAirbus
A380mainlandinggearhas20wheels)
Theengine(s)canbeinstalledindifferentareasofthefuselageorthewings.Avery
commonsetupisunderthewings.Theyarealwaysmountedwithacasingwhich
containsdifferentwiringandinstruments,callednacelles.

Inadditiontothewings,anaircraftalsohasotherfixedsurfacesattherear,the
horizontaltailplaneandtheverticaltailplane.
Thesesurfaceshostmovablesurfacestocontroltheaircraft(wewilldescribethemlater
on)andarealsonecessarytobalancetheaircraftinnormalflight.
Pleasenoticethepositionofthehorizontaltailplane,onthefuselageandbelowthe
verticaltailplane:thisisthemostcommonposition.
BoeingB737

Onsomeaircraft,itspositioncanbeatthetopoftheverticaltailplane,ashereonaDe
HavillandDash8:itiscalledaTtail.
Evenmoreseldom,andencounteredmainlyonmilitaryaircraft,aretheVtail,hereon
anoldgenerationtrainerFougaMagister,andthecanardtail,hereonaDasssault
Rafalefighter.

Letusnowexplainverybrieflyhowthepilotcontrolstheaircraftinflight,inotherwords
howhemanagestoclimbandturn.

Whenanaircraftismovingthroughtheair,wecansplitdownitsmovementintwo.
First,movementsarounditscenterofgravity:
theyareshorttermmovementsandenablethepilottomodifyveryrapidlyitsposition
inspace(forexample,rolltheaircrafttotheright)
theytakeplacearound3axes,allpassingthroughthecenterofgravity:pitch,rolland
yawaxes
pitchingmovementstakeplacearoundthepitchaxis:pitchuptoraisea/cnose
orpitchdowntolowera/cnose
it h d
t l
/
rollingmovementstakeplacearoundtherollaxis:rolltotherightortotheleft
yawingmovementstakeplacearoundtheyawaxis:yawa/cnosetotherightor
totheleft
theyareangularmovementsaroundeachofthe3axes(amovementisacombination
of3differentmovementsaroundeachaxis)
Onthemidtolongterm,themovementsdescribedabovewillberesponsiblefora
On
the mid to long term the movements described above will be responsible for a
modificationoftheflightpath,whichisusuallydescribedthroughtheaircraftpositionin
space(longitude,latitudeandaltitude).Infact,theflightpathisthepathfollowedbythe
aircraftcenterofgravity.
Startingfromabalancedsituation(stabilizedcruiseforexample),themovementsjust
describedareobtainedbymodifyingtheexistingequilibriumofforcesontheaircraft.

Howdoesthepilotmodifyhisflightpath?
Insidethecockpit,hecanacton2maincommands:
thecontrolcolumn(whichcanonmodernaircrafttaketheformofasidestick)enables
himtogiveatthesametimepitchandrollorders(forexampleclimbandturnright)
therudderpedalsenablehimtoyawtheaircraft
wecanaddathirdcontrol,evenifitisnotdirectlyusedtopitch,rolloryaw,whichare
thethrottlelevers;itisusedtoincreaseordecreaseenginepower,thusmodifyingthe
initialbalance
Now,puttingasidethethrottlelevers,thepilotsordersonthecontrolcolumnandthe
rudderpedalsaretransmittedto3setsofcontrolsurfaces:
pitchisobtainedbymovingtheelevator
rollisobtainedbymovingtheailerons
yawisobtainedbymovingtherudder
Thetransmissionismadethroughtheflightcontrols,whichcanbemoreorlesscomplex
(fromservoactuatedelectricalflightcontrolsallthewaydowntomanualmechanical
flightcontrols)dependingontheaircraftspeedandsize.
Bymovingthecontrolsurfaces(orchangingtheenginethrust),theforcesactingonthe
aircraftaremodified,togetherwithassociatedmoments.
Theaircraftinitiatesangularmovementswhichinturnmodifyitsflightpath.
CAUTION!! Whenlookingattheabovedescription,itiseasytounderstandthatthe
aircrafthascertaininertia:theflightpathmodificationisnotinstantaneous,especially
g
forlargeaircraft.

Wecanseeherethe3setsofcontrolsurfaces,eachassociatedwithanaxisandan
angularmovement.
Rememberthatinthemostgeneralcase,amovementisacombinationofthe3.
Elevator:2surfaces(separatedbythefuselage)physicallylinked,movingtogetherinthe
samedirection
Ailerons:2surfacesmovinginacoordinatedwayinoppositedirections :whentheleft
aileronisraised,therightoneisautomaticallyloweredwiththesamedeflection.
Rudder:auniquesurface(exceptonverylargea/c,forexampleonAirbusA380the
rudderismadeof2independentpartsbecauseofitssize)

HerewecanseeanelevatorlocatedonaTtailhorizontaltailplane.
Alsonoticetheflaps,locatedintheinnerpartofthetrailingedge;wewilladdressthese
surfaceslateron,theyareusedfortakeoffandlanding.

Letusnowstudymoreindetailwhathappenswhenthepilotactsonthecommands.
Wewillconsiderthesimplestflightcontroldesign,wherethereisadirectlinkbetween
thecommandsandthecontrolsurfaces.
First,pitchcontrol.
Ifthepilotpullsonthecontrolcolumn,theelevatorisraised,theairplaneshapeis
modified,thusmodifyingtheforceduetotheair.Tomakeitsimple,itiseasyto
understandthattheairtendstoresistthesurfacemovement:ifthesurfaceisraised,
the air creates a downward force on the tail
theaircreatesadownwardforceonthetail.
Thisforcepushesthetaildown,andbyreactionthenoseisraised:theaircraftpitches
up.

Inasimilarway,ifthepilotpushesthecontrolcolumntotheright,wecanseethatthe
rightaileronisraisedandatthesametimetheleftonelowered.
Airresistingthesemovementscreatesadownwardforceontherightwingandan
upwardforceontheleftwing.
Theaircraftrollstotheright.

Andfinally,whenthepilotpushestherightpedal,therudderisdeflectedtotheright,
thuscreatingalateralforcetotheleftonthetail.
Thetailgoestotheleft,andbyreactionthenosegoestotheright.

Similarly,letusexplainverybrieflyhowthepilotcontrolsthehelicopter.
Itisatotallydifferentsetofcontrolscomparedtotheaircraft,andalsoamorecomplex
logic.

Atypicalhelicopterhasthreeseparateflightcontrolinputs.Thesearethecyclicstick
(righthand),thecollectivelever(lefthand),andtheantitorquepedals.Dependingon
thecomplexityofthehelicopter,thecyclicandcollectivemaybelinkedtogetherbya
mixingunit,amechanicalorhydraulicdevicethatcombinestheinputsfrombothand
thensendsalongthe"mixed"inputtothecontrolsurfacestoachievethedesiredresult.
Themanualthrottlemayalsobeconsideredaflightcontrolbecauseitisneededto
maintainrotorspeedonsmallerhelicopterswithoutgovernors.

Thecycliccontrol iscalledthecyclicbecauseitchangesthepitchoftherotorblades
cyclically.Thechangeincyclicpitchhastheeffectofchangingtheangleofattackand
thustheliftgeneratedbyasinglebladeasitmovesaroundtherotordisk. Theresultis
totilttherotordiskinaparticulardirection,resultinginthehelicoptermovinginthat
direction.Ifthepilotpushesthecyclicforward,therotordisktiltsforward,andtherotor
producesathrustintheforwarddirection.Ifthepilotpushesthecyclictotheside,the
rotordisktiltstothatsideandproducesthrustinthatdirection,causingthehelicopter
tomovesidewaysinahoverortorollintoarightturnduringforwardflight.
Thecollectivepitchcontrolorcollective islocatedontheleftsideofthepilot'sseat
with.Thecollectivechangesthepitchangleofallthemainrotorbladescollectively(i.e.
allatthesametime)andindependentlyoftheirposition.Therefore,ifacollectiveinput
ismade,thepitchofallthebladeschangeequally,andtheresultisthehelicopter
increasingordecreasinginaltitude.
Theantitorquepedals arelocatedinthesamepositionastherudderpedalsinafixed
wing aircraft and serve a similar purpose namely to control the direction in which the
wingaircraft,andserveasimilarpurpose,namelytocontrolthedirectioninwhichthe
noseoftheaircraftispointed.Applicationofthepedalinagivendirectionchangesthe
pitchofthetailrotorblades,increasingorreducingthethrustproducedbythetailrotor
andcausingthenosetoyawinthedirectionoftheappliedpedal.Thepedals
mechanicallychangethepitchofthetailrotoralteringtheamountofthrustproduced.
Inclockwisemainrotorrotatinghelicopters,movingtherightpedalforwardproduces
moreantitorqueandyawsthehelicopternosetotheright,leftpedalproduceslessanti
torque.
torque

HelicopterrotorsaredesignedtooperateataspecificRPM.Thethrottlecontrolsthe
powerproducedbytheengine,whichisconnectedtotherotorbyatransmission.The
purposeofthethrottleistomaintainenoughenginepowertokeeptherotorRPM
withinallowablelimitsinordertokeeptherotorproducingenoughliftforflight.In
singleenginehelicopters,thethrottlecontrolisamotorcyclestyletwistgripmounted
onthecollectivecontrol,whiledualenginehelicoptershaveapowerleverforeach
engine.
p
g
,
p
Thepitchangleoftherotorbladesisincreased,ifweraisedthecollectivepitchlever.As
theangleofattackofthebladeisincreased,dragincreasesandrotorRPMandengine
RPM(theneedlesarejoined)tendtodecrease.
Thuswhenweincreasethecollectivepitchangle,tomakeaascendingverticalflightfor
instance,wehavetoincreasetheenginepowerandtoincreasetheantitorquethrust
withthepedals.
Onmodernhelicopters,acollective/yawcouplingandcollective/enginecouplingexist.
Sothepilotworkloadisdecreased.

Wearenowgoingtogivesomedefinitionsinordertodescribethemaincharacteristics
ofawing.

Thefirstveryimportantdefinitionistheairfoil.
Givenawingofanyplanform(evenifinthecaseshownherewehavewhatwecalla
rectangularwing),wegetanairfoilbycuttingthewingwithaplaneparalleltotheplane
axisofsymmetry.
Theairfoilistheelementarycomponentofawing,inotherwordsitisasliceofwing.
Awingisnothingelsethandifferentairfoilsassembledsidebyside.
Inordertostudytheairplanebehaviorinflight,wewillexaminetheairfoilbehavior,
thengeneralizeourresultstothewing.

Thefrontpartoftheairfoil(andasamatteroffactalsothefrontpartofthewing!)is
calledtheleadingedge.
Therearpartiscalledthetrailingedge.
Ithasalowerandanuppersurface.
Wedefinethechordline,astraightlinejoiningleadingandtrailingedge.Thechordline
isarathertheoreticalline,whichisgoingtobeusedmainlytodescribetheairfoil.Be
awarethatthislinecanevenbeinsomeextremecasesexteriortotheairfoil!
Themeancamberlinehasaveryphysicalmeaning:itisalinedrawnhalfwaybetween
upperandlowersurface,infactitistheskeletonoftheairfoil.Itgivesusageneralidea
oftheairfoilshape.

Anotherdataisusedasareferencetodescribetheairfoil,itisthechord,straight
distancebetweenleadingandtrailingedge.
Onmostwings,eachairfoilhasadifferentsizefromthewingrootgoingtothetip.Very
often(butnotalways),theshapeisthesamefromroottotip,onlythesizediffers.
Since2airfoilswiththesameshapebutdifferentsizesactsthesamewhenputinanair
flow,weoftenuserelativedatatodescribetheairfoil.
Chordlengthisalsousedtogivethepositionofagivenpointrelativetotheleading
edge.Insteadofgivingitundertheformofadistance,wesayapointislocatedfor
exampleat22%ofthechordline(meaningfromleadingedge).Onceagain,airfoilsof
differentsizescanbecompared.

Anywherealongthechordline,wecanmeasurethethicknessoftheairfoil;itisa
distance,expressedinmeters.
Therelativethicknessistheratioofmaximumthicknesstothechordlength;itisa
dimensionlesscoefficient,andsinceitissmallexpressedin%.

Relativecamberalsogivesusanindicationoftheairfoilshape;mostairfoilshavevery
littlecamber(andconsequentlysmallrelativecamber).Engineblades,whichalsohave
theshapeofwings,haveaslightlygreatercamber.
Note:ofcourse,inordertodescribecompletelyanairfoil(formanufacturingpurposes
forexample),manyotherdataisnecessary

Andfinally,somedefinitionsrelativetothewings.

Inadditiontotheshapeoftheairfoil,thesizeofthewingwillbeimportantregardingits
abilitytofly.
Thewingareaismoreorlessitshorizontalsurface.Wewillseethatthisreference
areaappearsinmanycalculationsabouttheaerodynamicforces.
Togiveyousomeordersofmagnitude,itis20timesgreaterfortheA380thanforthe
fighterMirage2000.
Anotherexample:thehorizontaltailoftheA380hasthesameareaastheA320wing.

Thewingspanisthedistancefromonetiptotheother.

Onceagaininordertocomparedifferentwings,theaspectratioisarelativedata,the
ratioofthespantothechordlength.
Ifthechordlengthisnotconstant(mostfrequentcase),anaveragechordisdetermined:
itisthechordofarectangular wingwiththesamespanandareaastheactualwing.
ARcharacterizesafatwing(Concordesgothicwing)oraveryslimone,typicalof
gliders.

Mostwingshavesomesweep:theirleadingedgegoesbackwardsatthetip.Sweepis
veryinterestingforfastaircraft(55to76 forConcorde,whichusedtocruiseatMach
2)
Airliners,cruisingaroundMach0.7to0.8,havemoderatesweep.
Alittlenumberofaircraftcanhavenegativesweep,i.e.aforwardsweptwing.

Whenfacinganaircraft,wecanseethatitswingisnothorizontal,butinclinedeither
upwardordownward.
Thisismeasuredbythedihedralangle.
Mostwingshavelittlepositivedihedral(lessthan10).
Aircraftwithahighwinggenerallyhavenegativedihedral,calledanhedral.

Thissecondchapterwillfocusonthedifferentpropertiesofair,theenvironmentin
whichflighttakesplace.

Afteraverybriefintroductiontotheprinciplesofflight,wewillgivesomedefinitions
relativetofluidcharacteristics.
Thenwewillstatethemainequationsthatwillenableustoexplainflowbehavior.

Flyingispossibleifyourobject,theaircraft,hascertainadequatecharacteristics.
Butwewillseethatthesameobjectcanbemoreorlessefficientdependingonits
environment:thefluidinsidewhichtheflighttakesplacemustalsobestudied.

First,letusexaminetheproblemfromadesignengineerspointofview.
Inordertoexplainthegeneralprinciplesofflight,wewillconsiderthesimplestflight
case,steadystateflight,inotherwordscruise.Thisisastabilized,wingslevel,constant
speed,constantaltitudeflight.
Wewillseelateronthatallflightcasescanbederivedfromcruise,withanincreasing
levelofcomplexitytotheassociatedequations.
Sinceaircraftspeedisconstant,oneofthebasiclawsrulingmovement,Newtonsfirst
law,statesthatthesumofallforcesactingontheobjectmustbeequaltozero.
Theinputtotheproblemisa/cweight:thedesignengineerswillbeaskedtodesigna
planeabletocarryagivenpayload.
l
bl
i
l d
Theaircraft,andmorepreciselythewing,mustcreateaforcetobalanceweight:lift.
Unfortunately,thisusefulforcehasacounterpart,drag,whichtendstopreventthe
aircraftfrommovingforward.
Anenginewillbeneededtoproducesomethrustinordertofightdrag.
Wehavejustdrawnaverysimplepictureofanaircraftdesign:anaircraftismadeofa
W
h
j d
i l i
f
i
f d i
i
f i
d f
wingproducingliftandanengineproducingthrust.

Liftanddragarethe2maincomponentsofthesocalledaerodynamicforce(whichhas
3,likeanyforceina3dimensionspace,thelastonebeingalateralcomponent,very
oftennullorverylow).
Wewillseethatliftismainlyduetothewing,whiledragiscreatedbythewholeaircraft
(fuselage,wing).
Moregenerally,weusetheexpressionaerodynamicforceeverytimeabodymoves
insideafluid.Inourcase,thebodyistheplane,thefluidtheatmosphere.
Aerodynamicsisthestudyoftheaerodynamicforcedependingontheflightconditions.

Itisveryeasytounderstandthatalltheaircraftrelateddataisgoingtoinfluencethe
aerodynamicforce.
Moresurprisingcanbethetakingintoaccountoffluidrelateddata;afterall,letsbe
practical,noneedtostudytheoreticalfluids,wearetalkingaboutauniquefluid,the
atmosphere!Wewillfindoutthataltitudeandtemperatureareresponsiblefora
changeinatmospherecharacteristics,importantenoughnottobeneglected.
Then,oncetheaerodynamicforceforagivenflightcaseiscomputed,wecanstudythe
aircraftmovementundertheactionofallappliedforces.

Wehavealreadyexplainedthattheaerodynamicforceisduetotheaircraftmovement
insidethefluid.Themovementcreatesafluiddisturbance,whichinturncreateforces;
nomovement,nofluiddisturbance,noaerodynamicforce.
Thefastertheaircraft,thegreaterthedisturbance,andtheforce.
Itisthespeedoftheaircraftrelativetothefluid,calledtheairspeed,thatcreatesthe
force.Intherestofthiscourse,everytimewewilltalkaboutspeed,andevenif
sometimesImakeashortcut,youwillneedtounderstandairspeed.
Nowletsexamine3differentconfigurations:
1:a/cmovinginstillairatacertainspeed
2:stilla/cplacedinaflowmovingatthesamespeed,butinoppositedirection;thisis
whatwedoinsideawindtunnel
3:realityismorelikethe3rd case,akaana/cmovinginsideamovingmassofair
Inall3cases,thespeedoftheaircraftrelativetotheflowisthesame,thismeansthat
theaerodynamicforceisthesame.
SSo,letusdropthe3
l
d
h 3rd casewhichismorecomplicated,andkeeponlythe2others.
hi h i
li
d dk
l h 2 h
Representingcase1or2areperfectlyequivalent,andIwillusebothindifferentlyinthe
restofthiscourse.
Caution! Ofcourse,flyingat200ktsairspeedinstillair,withheadwindortailwindwill
producethesameaerodynamicforcebuthavetotallydifferentconsequenceswhenit
comestogroundspeed (timetotraveladistance).

Iwilluse2othernotionswhendescribingtheaerodynamicphenomena.
Theflightpathvectoristhevectordescribingtheinstantmovementoftheaircraft.It
tellsusabouttheintensityanddirectionofthismovement.
If I put myself in the other representation that of the wind tunnel with a fluid moving
IfIputmyselfintheotherrepresentation,thatofthewindtunnelwithafluidmoving
overastillmockup,thenthefluidmovementwillbedescribedbytherelativewind,a
vectorequalandoppositetotheflightpathvector.
Note:thedirectionoftheRWgivesusthepath;herethea/cisdescending.

Sincetheaerodynamicforceisduetothefluiddisturbance,thepositionoftheobject
insidetheflowwillhaveagreatinfluenceontheforce.
Wewilluse2anglesinordertodescribethispositionrelativetotherelativewind,angle
ofattackandsideslipangle.
These2angleswillbemonitoredbythepilotinflight,andenablehimtoadjustthe
aerodynamicforcetohisneeds.

Thefirstone,theangleofattack,isthemostimportantparameterapilotmustmonitor,
andthemostimportantonewewilldescribeanduseallalongthiscourse.
ItisveryimportanttounderstandperfectlywhatAOAphysicallyrepresents.
For an airfoil it is the angle between the chord line and the relative wind
Foranairfoil,itistheanglebetweenthechordlineandtherelativewind.
Moregenerally,AOAismeasuredinsidethea/cplaneofsymmetry,andistheangle
betweentheRWandareferenceaxis(forthewholea/cforexample,wetaketheroll
axis,i.e.theaxisofsymmetry).
WehavepositiveAOAifthechordlineisabovetheRW;wewillseelateronthatthisis
almostalwaysthecase(exceptforaerobaticaircraft).
Obviously,thegreatertheAOAthegreaterthedisturbance.
ThepilotwillmodifyhisAOAconstantlyduringtheflight.

Thesecondangle,measuredinaplanenormaltotheplaneofsymmetry,iscalledthe
sideslipangle.
Wecanseeonthissketchthatsideslipisresponsibleforadissymmetryintheflowon
the2wings(andmoregenerallythe2halvesofthea/c).Liftanddragwillbedifferenton
the2wings.
Ideally,thereisnosideslip:wetrytohavesymmetricalflightconditions.Youmayhave
sideslipforexamplewhenflyingatwinenginewithoneenginefailed.Inthiscourse,we
willconsideronlysymmetricalflight,withzerosideslip.
Beawarethatflyingwithsideslipisresponsibleforadditionalworkloadforthepilot.

Tosummarize,weuse2referenceaxissystemstodescribethea/cpositionrelativeto
theflow;bothhavetheiroriginatthecenterofgravity:
anaircraftsystem,usingroll,pitchandyawaxis
an air
air axissystem,wheretheXaxisiscarriedbythea/cvelocityvector
axis system where the X axis is carried by the a/c velocity vector
an
Inthiscourse,wewillworkonlyintheGXZplane,tostudytheAOAinfluence.

Finally,Iwouldliketostopanddiscussbrieflyabout3widelyusednotionsdescribingthe
verticalcomponentofaflight.
Theattitude(alsocalledpitchangle)istheanglebetweenthea/caxisofsymmetryand
thehorizontal.Saiddifferently,itishowthea/cnoseisoriented:youhavepositive
attitudeifthenoseisinthesky.
Wealreadytalkedaboutangleofattack.Forana/c,itistheanglebetweentheaxisof
symmetryandtherelativewind,ortheflightpath.
Theslopedescribesthepath:positiveslopemeansthea/cisclimbing.Climbangleor
descentanglearesometimesusedtocoverthesamenotion.

Thereisalinkbetweenthese3parameters,andIwanttoemphasizeiton3different
cases.
Thefirstsketchshowsaclimbinga/c(positiveslope)withapositiveattitude(noseup)
andapositiveAOA.
Wecanseethatpitchangle=AOA+slope

Here,wearedealingwithadescendinga/c(negativeslope)withanegativeattitude
(nosedown)butstillapositiveAOA.
Onceagain,pitchangle=AOA+slopeundertheconditionyousigntheangles(positive
ornegative)
Example: 20 descentanglewitha3 negativeattitude
= +

gives = =3 (20)=+17

Thedescendingaircrafthasanegativeslope.
Inmostcases,itdescendswithanegativeattitude(nosedown).
BUT it will always have a positive AOA whether climbing or descending
BUTitwillalwayshaveapositiveAOA,whetherclimbingordescending.

Thefinalsketchshowsadescendinga/c(negativeslope)withapositiveattitude(nose
up)andapositiveAOA.
pitchangle=AOA+slopeundertheconditionyousigntheangles(positiveornegative)
Example : 15
Example:
15 descentanglewitha5
descent angle with a 5 positiveattitude
positive attitude
= +

gives = =+5 (15)=+20

WhatIwantyoutorealizeisthatadescendinga/chasanegativeslope.
Itcandescendwithanattitudeeithernegative(themostcommoncase),zeroorpositive
(abovecase).
ItwillalwayshaveapositiveAOA,whetherclimbingordescending.Wewillseethisis
It
will always have a positive AOA whether climbing or descending We will see this is
necessaryinordertohavelift.
Thereforetheattitudeindicatorisnotenoughtotellifyouareclimbingordescending;
youwillneedtolookatyouraltitudeindicator,oryourverticalspeedindicator(Iam
climbingat300ft/mnforexample).

Nowletusgivesomedefinitionsrelativetothefluid.

Inordertocharacterizeafluidforaerodynamicpurposes,3parametersarenecessary:
pressure,densityandtemperature,andtheirvariations.
Oneveryimportantremark:aerodynamicsisasciencerelatedtofluidmechanics,
thermodynamics,physics.Alltheequationsused(evenifwewillstudyonlyveryvery
few)mustuseInternationalSystemunits(meters,kilograms,m/s.);thismeansno
english/americanunits(inches,pounds,yards.)andnoaeronauticalunits(NM,knots)
intheequations.
.Eventhoughaircraftinstrumentsandaeronauticallanguageusedifferentunits
!!!

PressurecanbedefinedastheforceexertedbythefluidoneachunitsurfaceP=F/S.
Forexample,atmosphericpressureisduetotheweightofthecolumnofair.
TheS.I.unitistheN/morPascal;theHPaisalsowidelyused.
U l
Usualaeronauticalunitsarethemillibar,theinchofmercury,themillimeterofmercury.
ti l it
th
illib th i h f
th
illi t
f
YouhavebeentoldaboutInternationalStandardAtmosphereinthemeteocourse.
Normalconditionsforatmosphericpressureatsealevelis1,013.25HPa(i.e.mb).

Densityisthemassperunitvolume,expressedinkg/m.
Ametalisaverydensematerial,contrarytoair.
Normalconditionsforairdensityatsealevelis1.225kg/m.

Andfinally,noneedtoexplaintemperature
Althougheveryonespeaksincelsiusdegrees(orFarenheitdegrees),temperatureinall
equationsmustbeabsolutetemperature,expressedinKelvindegrees.
The Kelvin scale is just a translation compared to Celsius scale
TheKelvinscaleisjustatranslationcomparedtoCelsiusscale.
Normalconditionsforairtemperatureatsealevelis15Cor288.15K.

Thefluidinsidewhichaircraftareflyingistheatmosphere.Inordertopredictthe
aerodynamicforces,weneedtomodelizethisfluid.Letustryanddescribeit.
Weknowthatatmospherevariesallthetime,fromonedaytoanotherandfromone
placetoanother.
Weknowthatitisaverycomplexmixofgases,themainonesbeingnitrogenand
oxygen.
Nevertheless,generaltendenciescanbeobserved:
pressureanddensitydecreasewithaltitude
temperaturedecreaseswithaltitudenearthesurfaceoftheEarth,thenatsomepoint
stabilizes

Thealtitudeatwhichtemperaturesettles(calledthetropopause)variesdependingon
thelatitude;atthemiddlelatitudes,itisapproximatelyat36,000ftor11km.
Focusonthecorrespondencebetweenfeetandmeters.

ThismodelofatmosphereistheInternationalStandardAtmosphere.
Itisbasedonameanatmosphere;becausemostofaeronauticalactivityislocated
withinmiddlelatitudes,thismodelisbasedontheseconditions.
It is made of initial conditions called standard
Itismadeofinitialconditions,called
standardconditionsatsealevel
conditions at sea level,andlawsof
and laws of
variation.
Noticethatyouarenever instandardconditions(evenifyouhavetherighttemperature,
youmostcertainlydonthavethestandardpressureordensityatthesametime).
Gravitydecreasesasyougoup,butthisverysmallvariationwillnotbetakeninto
account.
Wewillsayawordaboutspeedofsoundinafewminutes;justrememberthatitvaries.
Focusonthedefinitionofknots+thecorrespondencewithm/s.

ThisisthegeneraltendencyfortemperatureandpressurevariationsinISA.
Temperaturevariationfollowsaverysimplelinearlaw.Startingfrom15Catsealevel,
itreaches56.5Cat36,000ftthenstaysconstantabove.
Pressure varies following a more complex law
Pressurevariesfollowingamorecomplexlaw.
Amorefriendly(andlessprecise)waytodescribethismodelisthroughthestandard
atmospheretable,whichisanabstractforalimitednumberofaltitudes.

Justforinformation,anindicationofthealtitudesatwhichdifferenttypesofaircraftgenerally
cruise.

Whenlookingatairbehavior,itcanbeassumedwithaprettygoodvaliditythatairisa
perfectgas.
Thismeansitsatisfiesthefundamentalgaslaw:P= rTwhererisaconstant
Theinterestinginterpretationforusisthatdensityincreaseswhenpressureincreases,
The
interesting interpretation for us is that density increases when pressure increases
anddecreaseswhentemperatureincreases.
Athighaltitudes,wherebothtemperatureandpressuredecrease,airdensitydecreases.

Inaeronautics,weoftenmakeareferencetothespeedofsound.Letusseewhy.
LetsimagineIclapmyhandsinthisroom.Bydoingthis,Ilocallydisturbtheair,in
particularintermsofpressure;oncecreated,thesepressuredisturbancestravelthrough
thefluidinalldirections.Whentheyhitasurface,eitheryoureardrumoraglass
window,thesurfacevibrates.Soundisnothingmorethanapressurevibrationactingon
theeardrum.Whenthedisturbanceissmall,itaffectsearsbutnotthewindow,ifitgets
largeritcandamageyourearorshattertheglass.
Insideair,speedofsounddependsonlyontemperature,anddecreaseswhen
temperaturedecreases,forexampleathighaltitude.
Remark:speedofsoundisconstantaboveFL360becauseinStandardAtmosphere
Remark
: speed of sound is constant above FL360 because in Standard Atmosphere
temperatureisconsideredconstantaboveFL360(equalto56.5C).

TheMachnumberisusedtocompareanaircraftspeed(oraflowspeed)tothespeedof
sound.
Aflow(oranaircraft)issaidtobesupersonicifitisfasterthansoundinthesame
conditions.
ThismeansthatanaircraftflyingMach1isactuallyfasteratsealevelthanathigher
altitudes.

Finally,wewillstatethedifferentlawsexplainingflowbehaviors.
Mostofthemarevalidequallyforsubandsupersonicflows,onlyoneisdistinct.

Thekeyphenomenonisthatofflowdisturbance.
Thepresenceoftheaircraftlocally modifiestheflowcharacteristics.Inacertainvolume
ofairaroundtheaircraft,velocity,density,pressureoftheflowaremodifiedbecauseof
theobstaclecreatedbytheaircraft.
Themodificationswillalwaysbeexpressedrelativetoreferenceconditions,thatofthe
undisturbedflow:inotherwords,thecharacteristicstheflowhadbefore
encounteringthea/c,orthecharacteristicsitwouldhaveiftheaircraftwasnotthere.
Theyareoftencalledupstreamconditions,orambientconditions.
Forexample,foranaircraftflyingatacertainaltitude,theupstreamconditionsarethe
pressure,temperature,densityofairatthataltitude,aheadenoughoftheaircraftasto
d i
f i
h
li d h d
h f h i
f
beoutofthedisturbanceperimeter.
Theupstreamvelocityvaluewouldbethatoftheaircraftasseenfromsomedistance.
Wewillexplainhowthisvelocityislocallymodifiedaroundthewing.
Make2diagrams:movinga/cpointofviewandwindtunnelpointofview
Whentheflowisdisturbedbythea/c,itscharacteristicsvaryaccordingtocertainlaws,
When
the flow is disturbed by the a/c its characteristics vary according to certain laws
thatwearegoingtostate.

Thefirstoneiscalledmassflowconservation,andhasadifferentformwhetherthe
flowissubsonicorsupersonic.
Weareonlygoingtogivethesubsonicform,sinceitcoversmostofourflightcases.
If you consider a tube with varying section you can see that if the tube cross section
Ifyouconsideratubewithvaryingsection,youcanseethatifthetubecrosssection
decreases(convergentnozzle)thentheairisaccelerated.
Itistheoppositeinadivergent(withincreasingcrosssection)tube.
Thismeansthatyoucanaccelerateorslowdownaflowbychangingthecrosssectionof
thetubeitrunsinside.
Averysimpleexampleofthatlawisawaterstream.Ifyouputasmallpaperboatonthe
stream,youcanseethatitisacceleratedifthestreamnarrows.

Thispropertyisusedinsidewindtunnels.
Inordertohavehighflowvelocitiesinsidethetestsectionwithalimitedengine(or
compressor)energy,theairismechanicallyacceleratedbeforethetestchamberthanks
toaconvergenttube,thensloweddownafterthechamberthankstoadivergenttube.
Youwillnoticethatthetestchamberalwayshasaconstantsection:sincewearegoing
tomeasurethepressure,velocity,temperaturevariationsinsidethetestchamber,we
wantthesevariationstobedueonlytothemockup,andnotthetubesection.
Theupstreamconditionswillbetakenaftertheconvergentsection,atthechamber
entrance.Thecomparisonbetweenthesereferenceconditionsandthelocal
measurements around the mockup enable us to study the influence of the aircraft on
measurementsaroundthemockupenableustostudytheinfluenceoftheaircrafton
theflow,andtomeasuretherelatedaerodynamicforces.
HereisanexampleoftheEuropeanTransonicWindTunnelinGermany,whichisusedby
Airbusandmanyothermanufacturers.
Ithasveryinterestingdimensions,canberunuptoratherhighMachnumbersandisa
goodtestdeviceforlargetransonicaircraft.
Youcannoticethatinordertohaveacorrectrepresentativity(i.e.forthesimulated
flow+mockuptoactliketherealair+aircraft),itisnecessarytopressurizeandcooldown
theairinsidethewindtunnel.

Achangeintheflowvelocitybecauseofanobstaclecreatesinturnachangein
pressure.
Bernoullisequation(law)tellsusthatanacceleratedflowlosessomepressure.
This means everywhere around an aircraft or airfoil the air is accelerated the pressure is
Thismeanseverywherearoundanaircraftorairfoiltheairisaccelerated,thepressureis
lowerthanitwouldbeotherwise.
Thereisasortofexchangeinsideagivenflowbetweenvelocityandpressure.
Iftheflowvelocityiszero(theflowstops),thenthepressureismaximum;thisisthe
caseonawingoranairplaneatstagnationpoint:theairisstopped,thepressureis
maximum.
Thisparticularpressureiscalledstagnationpressureortotalpressureandmeasured
withaPitottube.

Inaverysimilarway,velocityvariationsareresponsiblefortemperaturevariations.
Insideagivenflow,thereisanexchangebetweenvelocityandtemperature.
Atstagnationpoint,velocityiszeroandthetemperatureismaximum,itisalwaysthe
hottest point on an aircraft
hottestpointonanaircraft.

Wejusttalkedabouttheatmosphereanditsproperties,letusnowfocusonthe
aerodynamicforcesapplyingontheaircraft.

Firstwearegoingtodescribethe2typesofforcescreatedwhenanobjectmovesinside
afluid.
Thenwewilldetailthecharacteristicsoftheaerodynamicforce.
Andfinally,wewillpresentsomewidelyuseddevicesenablingustoadaptthewingto
And
finally we will present some widely used devices enabling us to adapt the wing to
specificflightphases.

Wehavealreadyseenthatinordertogetanaerodynamicforce,theremustbeamoving
object,afluidandarelativevelocitybetweenthe2.
Whentheseconditionsexist,2typesofphysicalphenomenatakeplace,related
respectivelytopressureandviscosity.
Pressureforces,aswewillsee,areresponsibleforlift(whichbalancesaircraftweight).
Assumingthewinghasbeencorrectlydesigned,pressureforcesaretheusefulpartof
theaerodynamicforce.
Asforviscosityforces,theyaretheundesirableconsequenceofthemovement,and
shouldbereducedasmuchaspossible.

Letusconsideranairfoilplacedinsideamovingfluid.Remember,wesaidtheairfoilis
theelementarywingcomponent,asliceofwing;allphenomenaobservedonthe
airfoilcanbeextendedtothewing.
Wecanobservethatthefluidisdeviatedinsideacertainvolumearoundtheairfoil.Far
enoughawayfromtheairfoil,thefluiddoesnotseetheobject,itremainsundisturbed.
Itisasif theundisturbedfluidbelowandabovetheairfoilactedaswalls.
Theskinoftheairfoilactsasanotherwall,thisonechangingtheflowdirection.
Intheend,wecanseethatthetubeacrosswhichthefluidmoveshasavariablecross
section.
Accordingtothemassflowconservationlaw,thisisgoingtoaccelerateorslowdown
theflowlocallyaroundtheairfoil.
Theinitialconditions(upstreamones)willbefoundagaindownstream,whenthe
presenceoftheairfoilhasnoinfluenceanylonger.
Infact,wecansaythattheairismodifiedinsideafinitevolumearoundtheairfoil.
FFarenough,whetheritbeinfront,behind,aboveorbelow,theaircanbeconsidered
h h h i b i f
b hi d b
b l
h i
b
id d
undisturbed.

Letusconsideranairfoilwithatypicalshapefornormalflight:positivelycambered,
witharoundedleadingedgeandapeakytrailingedge.Letusplacethisairfoilinsidea
flow,withazeroorverysmallangleofattack.
Dependingonairfoilshape,theflowisacceleratedorsloweddownbecauseofsection
variations.
Letusplotthelocalflowvelocity,accordingtothepositionwherethevalueismeasured.
Thispositionwillbeexpressedin%ofthechord.
AtzeroAOA,stagnationpointislocatedattheleadingedge.
Ontheuppersurface,airishighlyacceleratednearleadingedge(crosssectiondecrease)
thensloweddownwhengoinginthedirectionoftrailingedge.
h
l
dd
h
i i h di
i
f ili
d
Onthelowersurface,airstopsatstagnationpoint,thenslowlyacceleratesbacktoinitial
flowspeed,whichisreachedsomewherebehindtheairfoil.
RememberthataccelerationordecelerationisrelativetoupstreamvelocityV0.

Bernoullisequationtellsusthatthesevelocityvariationscreatepressurevariations
aroundtheairfoil.
Comparedtoupstream(ambient)pressureP0,pressurewilldecreasewhenairis
accelerated,andincreasewhenairisdecelerated.
Ifweplotpressuresonthepreviousgraph,lowspeedsgotogetherwithhighpressures,
highspeedswithlowpressures.
Thegeneraltendencyislowpressuresonuppersurface(lowerthanambient)andhigh
pressuresonlowersurface.

Becausewehavecreatedpressuredifferencescomparedtoambientpressure,pressure
forcesappear.
IfweconsideranelementaryairfoilsurfacedSwithapressurePdifferentfromambient
pressureP0,apressureforcedFp,normaltothesurface,iscreated.
Itisdirectedtowardthesurfaceiscaseofhighpressure,awayfromthesurfaceincase
oflowpressure.
Putineverydaywords:whenthereisahighpressuretheairpushesonthesurface;
whenthereisalowpressurethesurfaceissucked.

Insteadofthepressurevspositiongraphinslide7,amorefriendlywayofpresenting
thingsistoplotthepressureforcesaroundtheairfoil.
Sincethepressuredistributiondependsontheflowdisturbance,itisimportantto
representtheflowdirection(alsocalledrelativewind)relativetotheairfoil,inother
wordstheairfoilangleofattack .
Thereisalowpressureareaonuppersurface:pressureforcestendtosuckupthe
airfoil.
Onlowersurface,highpressurespushundertheairfoil.
Itisveryeasy,justbylookingatthispicture,totellthatthisairfoilisgoingtobeliftedup
b h
bythesumofallelementarypressureforcesactingonit.
f ll l
f
i
i
Moreinterestingisthefactthatthisliftisnotduetotheairpushingunder,butmainlyto
suctionfromabove.

Fortheentirewing(comparedwiththeairfoilinthepreviousslides),thepressureforce
resultantisafunctionof:
theinitialflowcharacteristics
the wing area : each airfoil is responsible for a pressure force; the larger the wing the
thewingarea:eachairfoilisresponsibleforapressureforce;thelargerthewingthe
greatertheforce
thepressureimbalance betweenupperandlowersurface:thereisnousecreating
verylowpressuresonuppersurfaceifatthesametimeyouhavethesameonlower
surface:makeadrawingwithasymmetricalairfoil
Experienceshowsthatagooddesigntoobtainthisrequiredpressureimbalancegives
thelowestpressurevaluesnearleadingedge,onuppersurface.
h l
l
l di
d
f
Thispartofairfoil/wingistheonewiththegreatestcontributiontowinglift;ifthe
expectedcontributionisnotreached(becauseofabumpintheskinforexample),then
thewingliftcapacitywillbeinsufficient.

WhentheairfoilAOAismodifiedbythepilot,theairfoilpositioninsidetheflow
changes.
Thedisturbanceisincreased,thelowpressuresonuppersurfacegrowevenlower,and
tendtomoveforwardtowardsleadingedge.
Thestagnationpointslidesaroundleadingedge,underthelowersurface.
Wecanseeonthese3picturesthattheresultingpressureforceincreaseswhenAOAis
increased.Inotherwords,increasingAOAseemstoincreaselift.
ThisistrueaslongasAOAstayslowenough(wewillseelateronhowmuchislow
enough).IfAOAbecomestoolarge,thedisturbanceoftheflowbecomessoimportant
thattheflowcannotcopewiththatdisturbanceanylonger;itdoesnothaveenough
h h fl
i h h di
b
l
i d
h
h
energytogoaroundtheairfoil,theairfoil(thewing)stalls.

Hereisapictureofawinginnormalflight,andbelowastalledwing.
Piecesofwoolhavebeenattachedtothewingononeend,andarefreetomovewith
theflowattherear.
The wing leading edge is on the right the flow goes from right to left
Thewingleadingedgeisontheright,theflowgoesfromrighttoleft.
Ontheupperpictureweseearegularflowpassingontheuppersurface.
Onthelowerpicture,theAOAhasbeenincreased,theflowbecomesturbulent,
unpredictable.Theexpectedpressureforcesarenotproducedanylonger,thewinglift
decreasesdramatically,itisstalled.
Thissituationisassociatedwiththeaircraftbeingunabletokeephorizontallevelflight,a
stalledaircraftfalls,andcanenteraspin:thisisaverydangeroussituationthatmustbe
avoidedbyallmeans.
Wewilltalkaboutstalllateron,butyoumustrememberstallisduetoanexcessive
angleofattack.

Secondphenomenonencounteredinsidethefluid:viscosity.

Viscositycanbebroughttolightwithaverysimpleexperiment.
Thereisafluidmovementalongasurface(atthebottom),fromlefttoright.
Wesendanelectricalimpulsethroughawire,ittriggersachemicalreactioninsidethe
fluid a cloud precipitates
fluid,acloudprecipitates.
Thecloudisgoingtodriftawaywiththefluid,thusenablingustoactuallyseethe
velocitypatternnearthesurface.
Wecanobservethatthecloudrightatthesurfacestaysthere:viscositytotallyprevents
itfrommovingforward.
Aswemoveawayfromthesurface,viscositygetssmallerandsmaller,thefluidcan
moveonmoreandmoreeasily.
Itisalsointerestingtonoticethatvelocityseemstostabilizeatacertaindistancefrom
thesurface:itlookslikeviscosityonthesurfacebecomesnegligible.

Viscositydependsbothonthefluidandthesurface:oiloffersmoreviscousresistance
thanwater;aroughsurfaceoffersmoreviscousresistancethanasmoothone.
Viscosityisonlyeffectiveinsideacertainvolumearoundtheairfoil.
Itisveryimportanttorealizethateverysinglepartoftheaircraftincontactwithair
It
is very important to realize that every single part of the aircraft in contact with air
(wings,fuselage,tail)isresponsibleforskinfriction.
Thefluidwillneedsomeenergytofightthisresistanceandflowovertheairfoil.

Inadditiontothefluidandthesurfacewhichinfluencetheflow,agivenflowwillbehave
differentlyaccordingtothepressuregradientitencounterswhenmovingforwardalong
thesurfaceoftheairfoil.
Thewaypressurevariesinthedirectionofflowhasalottodowiththewaythingswork
out:thesepressurevariationsarecalledpressuregradient.
Thisisduetothefactthat,everytimethereisapressureirregularityinsideamassof
fluid,thefluidtendstomoveinordertoequalizethepressure:itmovesfromhighto
lowpressures.
Afavorablepressuregradientisonewherepressurealongthesurfacedecreasesinthe
directionofflow.Inthiscasetheflowmovementduetotheaircraftishelpedbythe
direction
of flow In this case the flow movement due to the aircraft is helped by the
pressuregradient(fromhightolowpressures).
Onthecontrary,anadversepressuregradientisonewherepressureincreasesasyou
movefromleadingtotrailingedge.Inthiscase,thesecondarymovementisopposedto
themainone,andtendstopreventtheflowfrommovingforward.Additionalenergy
willbeneededforthefluidtofightthisadversegradient.

Thepressuregradientismainlydeterminedbyairfoilshape.
Pressuredecreasesalongflowdirectionifvelocityincreases:thishappensifthecross
sectiondecreases,i.e.inconvergentpartsalongtheairfoil.
Ifcrosssectiondecreases,thenvelocityincreasesandpressureincreases:adverse
If
cross section decreases then velocity increases and pressure increases : adverse
pressuregradient.
Onuppersurface,favorablepressuregradientscanbefoundnearleadingedge,adverse
onesneartrailingedge.
Thefasterthepressurevariation(beitfavorableoradverse),thegreaterthe
consequencesfortheflowmovement.
Thepressurevariationisrapidwhentherearesharpcambermodifications.

Sincetheflowneedsadditionalenergytomoveforwardincaseofanadversepressure
gradient,itcanhappeninsomecasesthattheflowlacksenergy:itslowsdownand
finallystops,itdoesnthaveenoughenergytofightbothviscosityandadversepressure
gradient.
Wecansaythatwehaveprematurestagnation(rememberstagnationpointiswherethe
flowhitsairfoilleadingedgeandstops).
Theflowseparatesfromthesurface,itbecomesturbulentanderratic.

Hereisanexampleofairflowseparationduetoaverysharpcamberchangeofthe
airfoil.
Thiscreatesaveryadversepressuregradient,theflowseparatesfromtheairfoil.

Wecanseeonthispicturethatevenconventionalairfoilswithsmoothcamberchanges
canexperienceairflowseparation.
Separationgenerallyoccursonuppersurface,neartrailingedge:theflowhasusedmost
ofitsenergytofightviscosity,andinadditiontofighttheadversepressuregradientat
leadingedge.
Separationstartsattrailingedge,andcanmoveforward,forexamplewhenAOAis
increased:increasingAOAmakesitmoredifficultfortheflowtogopastleadingedge,
somemoreenergyislost,separationoccursfurtherforward.

Separationhasveryunfavorableconsequencesforairfoilliftcapacities:whenthereis
separation,thepressureforcesontheassociatedsurfacesarelost.
Ifseparationisexperiencedonaverylargeportionofuppersurface,thepressure
resultantisnolongerhighenoughtobalanceweight,thea/cstalls.
Severeseparationscanbeexperiencedmainlyin2cases:
whenAOAincreases(refertoslide20);wewillseelateronthisisgenerallythecaseat
lowaircraftspeed
incaseofashockwaveonthewing;ashockwaveischaracterizedbyasharppressure
increase,inotherwordsaveryunfavorablepressuregradient;theairflowgenerally
separatesbehindashockwave,whichcanbeencounteredatveryhighMachnumbers
b hi d h k
hi h
b
d
hi h M h
b
Separationcanalsobeverypenalizinginareaswithcontrolsurfaces.Forexample,
ailerons,whicharelocatedatwingtrailingedge,canbeinaseparatedarea;sinceno
pressureforcesareavailablefortheseparatedzone,movingtheaileronswillbetotally
inefficient.Specificdevicessuchasvortexgenerators,bycreatinglocalturbulences,re
energizetheflow,whichseparateslateron.

Inthepreviousslides,wehaveexplainedtheoriginoftheaerodynamicforceintermsof
physicalphenomena.
Now,wearegoingtosplitdowntheaerodynamicforceinawaythatwillbeuseful
regardingourinitialquestion:designanaircraftcapableofproducingaforcetobalance
weight.

Assaidpreviously,liftistheusefulpartoftheaerodynamicforce;itisgoingtohelpus
balanceweight.
BUT!!!Beverycarefulwiththedefinitionoflift!Liftisthepartoftheaerodynamicforce
perpendiculartotherelativewind.Thismeansthatunlessrelativewindishorizontal,lift
isNOTvertical.Liftisverticalifandonlyifflightislevel.
Dragisthepartoftheaerodynamicforceparalleltotherelativewind;ittendsto
preventtheaircraftfrommovingalongitsflightpath.Onceagain,dragisgenerallyNOT
horizontal,exceptinlevelflight.

Lift:projectionofpressureANDviscosityforcesonadirectionperpendiculartoflight
path.
Practically,forcommonairfoilshapes,liftismainlyduetopressureforces.Contribution
ofviscositytoliftisminimum,andoftennegative.
Liftisaforce,influencedbydifferentparameters.Ageneralformulacanbegiven.
Beverycarefulwiththeunits;assaidpreviously,InternationalSystemmustbeused.

Ifwelookatthisformulamoreindetail,wecanemphasizethecontributionofthe
differentactorsintheaerodynamicforce(andconsequentlyinlift):
1/2 Vrepresentsthefluid:adensityandarelativevelocity
S represents the wing
Srepresentsthewing
CL representstheairfoil
Theaerodynamicforceisduetoanairfoil,repeatedanumberoftimestoformawing,
movinginsideafluidatagivenvelocity.
CL isadimensionlesscoefficientcharacterizingtheairfoilcapacitytoproducelift.The
actualliftwillinadditiontakeintoaccountthewingandthefluid.
Liftcoefficientdependsmainlyonairfoilshape(whichisfrozenoncethedesignis
determined),andonAOA:changingtheAOAmodifiestheflowaroundtheairfoil,itslift
(anddrag)characteristicsvary.

HereisatypicalliftcoefficientvariationwithAOA.
Wecanseethatliftcoefficient(i.e.liftcapacity)increaseslinearlywithAOA,uptoa
valuecalledmaximumliftcoefficientCLmax.
This means that whatever the AOA the airfoil can produce a limited amount of lift
ThismeansthatwhatevertheAOA,theairfoilcanproducealimitedamountoflift.
Foreachairfoil,thereisamaximumvalueofAOA,calledcriticalAOA,thatmustnotbe
exceeded,otherwisetheairfoilstalls.
ItisveryimportanttonoticethatmaximumAOA(whichisdifferentforeveryairfoil)is
rathersmall(around12 here,generallyfrom10to15).
AlsonoticetypicalCLmax values(1.3here).
Animportantremark:thisgraphplottingtheairfoilliftcapacitiesisindependentfrom
flowvelocity.Theliftforce willdependonvelocity,butnottheliftcoefficient.
(IfIchangethespeedbutnottheAOAinsideawindtunnel,theliftforcemeasuredwill
bedifferent,nottheCL oncecomputed).

Letscomebacktotheliftformula.
Acertainamountoflifthastobeproducedbythewing.Thisnecessaryliftisdetermined
bythea/cweight,butalsotheflightconditions(wewillseelateronthatforthesame
weight,wedonotneedthesameliftwhetherwearecruising,climbingorturning).
Thepilotmustmanagetoproduceexactly thatamountofliftinordertobalance
equations.
Thismeansthateverytimeyouchangeoneoftheparametersparticipatinginlift
generation,youmustadapttheothersinordertokeepliftconstant(foragivenweight
andflightcaseofcourse!)
FForagivendensity(inotherwordsforagivenaltitude),everytimethereisavelocity
i
d i (i
h
d f
i
li d )
i
h
i
l i
change,theonlywaytokeepliftconstantistoadapttheliftcoefficient,thisisdonewith
anAOAmodification.Whenacceleratinginlevelconditions,youmustdecreaseCL by
decreasingAOA:thecontrolsarepushedforward(slightly!).
Ifflyingatanotheraltitude,densityischanged.Forexampleifyouflyhigher,airisless
dense,youmusteitherflyfasteroratahigherAOAtocompensateforthisdensity
decrease.

Maximumliftcoefficientisaveryimportantairfoil/wingcharacteristic.
ItisobtainedatcriticalAOA,justbeforestall.Thismeansthatinordertogetmaximum
amountofliftfromthewing,youmustadopthighAOA,whilemakingsureyoustay
belowcriticalAOA.
RememberstallisduetoheavyflowseparationattrailingedgewhenAOAincreases.
Stallisduetotheairfoilpositioninsidetheflow,andalwaysoccursatthesameAOA(for
agivenairfoil):itsortofrepresentsthemaximumdisturbancetheflowcanaccept.
Wewillseelateronthatforagivenwing,therearewaystoincreaseCLmax inspecific
flightconditions,withtheuseofsocalledhighliftdevices.
Again,beawareofthesmallvaluesofmaximumAOA.

WejustsaidthatstallisaproblemofAOA.
Onboardanaircraft,andalthoughAOAwouldbeaveryusefulmonitoringparameter
fromanaerodynamicpointofview,ithasnotbeenchosen;theprimarymonitoring
parameterisairspeed.
InsteadofkeepinganeyeonhisAOAtoavoidexceedingcriticalAOA,thepilotwillhave
tomakesurehisairspeed stayswithinanacceptablerangeinordernottostall.
Ifwelookattheliftformula,wecanseethatincreasingAOAgoestogetherwith
decreasingairspeed:stallspeedistheminimum speedatwhichanaircraftcanfly
withoutstalling.
U lik
UnlikestallAOAwhichisunique,stallspeeddependsontheflightconditionsandaircraft
ll AOA hi h i
i
ll
dd
d
h fli h
di i
d i
f
configuration.
Caution! Thismeansthatsatisfyingthestallspeedindicatedontheairspeedindicator
isNOTanabsoluteguaranteethatstallwillbeavoided.
Note: thisiswhystallwarningdevicesareinstalledonallaircraft,andbasedontheAOA
monitoring;thestallwarningdeviceistriggeredifAOAgetstoohigh.
g;
g
gg
g
g

Oneofthestallspeedsiscomputedandindicatedontheairspeedindicator;itisthestall
speedinsteadystatelevelflight(cruise).
Sincewhencruisinglevel(horizontalflightpath)liftisverticalandbalancesweight,we
canusethefollowingliftequation:lift=weight
IfCL increasesallthewayuptoitsmaximumvalueCLmax ,thenairspeedcandecrease
downtoitsminimumvalue,stallspeedVS.
Givenaircraftmassandflightaltitude,stallspeedcanbecomputed.
RemembertheliftequationmustuseS.I.units,sowiththeusualunitsformass,gravity
acceleration(g=9.81m/s)anddensity,stallspeedisexpressedinm/sandNOTknots.
Wecanseeonthisequationthatstallspeedincreaseswithweightandwithaltitude(as
saidpreviously,onemustflyfasterwhenairislessdense).
Stallspeedalsodependsonotherfactorswhichdonotappearinthesimpleequation
above:
stallspeedincreasesincaseofhighloadfactormaneuvers(calledGmaneuvers,for
exampleasharpturnorapullup)
stallspeedincreasesincaseanairfoiliscontaminatedbyiceorfrostorheavyrain:in
th t
thatcasetheairfoilshapeisdegraded,itsliftcharacteristicsincludingmaximumlift
th i f il h
i d
d d it lift h
t i ti i l di
i
lift
coefficientworsen:youmustflyfasterinordertocompensatethisCL (andCLmax)
decrease.
Rememberapenalizingstallspeedisahighone! Incaseofhighstallspeed,anaircraft
willforexamplehavetoapproachratherfastandlandwithhighspeeds(consequences:
longerrunwayrequired,harderimpactonlandinggear.)

Uponstalling,weknowthat:
Therefore: VS
Expressedinkts:

2mg
SC L max
VS

mg

2 35000 9.81
1.225 160 1.324

51.44m / s

Wegetand
V
137 Kts
S ( Z P 20000 ft )

1 2 SVS2C L max
51.44m / s

51.44 3,600
100kts
1,852

VS ( Z P

40000 ft )

201Kts

WecanseethatstallspeedisdoubledbetweensealevelandFL400:weneedtofly
twiceasfastsoastoavoidstalling.Butremember,stallalwaysoccursforthesameangle
ofattack.

Letusnowstudydrag,theothercomponentoftheaerodynamicforce.
Dragisparalleltotheflightpath;whatevertheflightcase (cruise,climb,descent),drag
tendstopreventtheaircraftfrommovingforward.
It is very easy to understand drag must be minimized as much as possible
Itisveryeasytounderstanddragmustbeminimizedasmuchaspossible.
Aspartofanaerodynamicforce,itcanbeexpressedinawaysimilartolift,by
introducingthedimensionlessdragcoefficientCD.

Onceagain,thedragformulaemphasizesthecontributionofthe3actors:fluid,wing
andairfoil.
Dragcoefficientcharacterizestheairfoil.
It depends on airfoil shape which is frozen and on AOA which varies in flight
ItdependsonairfoilshapewhichisfrozenandonAOAwhichvariesinflight.

Foragiventypicalairfoil,dragcoefficientvariationsvsAOAlooklikethis.
DragcoefficientincreaseswithAOA.
MinimumdragcoefficientisobtainedforsmallAOAvalues(1or2).
I
IncreasingAOAalwaysincreasesdragcoefficient.
i AOA l
i
d
ffi i t
Pleasenotethatdragcoefficientaremuchsmallerthanliftcoefficients.Wewillcome
backtothispointlateron.
Onceagainanimportantremark:thisgraphplottingtheairfoildragcharacteristicsis
independentfromflowvelocity.Thedragforce willdependonvelocity,butnotthedrag
coefficient.

Anothergraphisoftenusedtopresentairfoilcharacteristicsinaveryconvenientway,
thepolarcurve.
ItisthemergingoftheCL vsAOAandCD vsAOAgraphs,plottedonasinglegraph.
In order not to lose any information AOA values must be indicated
Inordernottoloseanyinformation,AOAvaluesmustbeindicated.
ForeachAOAvalue,itispossibletoreadtheassociatedliftanddragcoefficient.
ThelifttodragratioL/Disanotherveryinterestingparameter.Itisagoodindicatorofa
wingaerodynamicefficiency:aidealwingwouldproduceinfiniteliftwithnodrag!
Moreseriously,thehighertheL/Dratio,thebetterthewingefficiency.
L/D max is where you make the best out of your wing
L/Dmaxiswhereyoumakethebestoutofyourwing.
Caution!L/Dratioobviouslydependsontheairfoil,butrememberthatforagiven
airfoilL/DratiowilldependonAOA.
Moregenerally,rememberCL,CD,L/DvarywithAOA.

WhencomputingL/DwhenAOAvaries,itappearsthatmaximumL/Dratioisobtained
formediumAOAvalues(typicallyaround5),andNOTatCLmax.
ThisisbecauseatCLmax,bothCL andCD arehigh,theratioisnotthatfavorable.
Wearegoingtogive2examplestoexplainwhythismaximumL/DratioAOA(and
We
are going to give 2 examples to explain why this maximum L/D ratio AOA (and
associatedspeed)issoimportantforthepilot.

First,ourbasicflightcase,cruiseorsteadystatelevelflight.
Liftbalancesweight.Itisimportanttominimizedrag,sincedragmeansthrust,andso
fuelconsumption.
Wecanseethatifa/cweightisgiven,dragisminimumwhenflyingatL/DmaxAOAand
We
can see that if a/c weight is given drag is minimum when flying at L/D max AOA and
associatedspeed.
Forexample,ana/cwithamassof350tonshasaweightof350,000x9.81=3433,500N
IfflyingatL/DmaxAOA,itcanhaveaL/Dratioof17.2(forthisparticulara/c).
WhenflyingatthisAOA,draghasavalueof200,000N.
RememberthatL/D
Remember
that L/D=17
17.2means
2 means lift
liftis17.2timesgreaterthandrag
is 17 2 times greater than dragor,ifcruising,
or if cruising
weightis17.2timesgreaterthanenginethrust.
FlyingathighL/Dratiomeanseitheralowerfuelconsumptionorahigherpayload.

SecondcasewherehighL/Dratioisvital:enginefailure.Letusconsiderthecasewhere
thereisnothrustanylonger(singleenginefailed,orglider).
Theonlyforcesappliedonthea/careweight,liftanddrag.
We can see here that the a/c cannot fly level without engine thrust (make a drawing) it
Wecanseeherethatthea/ccannotflylevelwithoutenginethrust(makeadrawing),it
hastodescent.Thechallengewillbetodescendaslittleaspossible,inordertoreacha
alternaterunwaysomedistanceaway.
Thesmallerthedescentangle,thegreatertheglidedistance.
Sinceliftanddragarerelativetotheflightpath,thentheglideangle canbefoundin
thetriangleofforcesresultant/lift/drag.
Ifwecomputethetangentoftheangle in2differentways,wefinallyseethatthe
horizontaldistancedependsontheinitialaltitude(obvious!)andontheL/Dratio.
TheoptimumAOAforglidingisL/DmaxAOA,whichisamediumAOA.
Iwouldlikeyoutostopforasecondonthisresult.Inordertostayintheairaslongas
possible,itcouldlooklikeagoodideatokeepa/cnoseashighaspossible,bykeeping
high AOA as close to critical AOA as possible We have just demonstrated that this is not
highAOA,asclosetocriticalAOAaspossible.Wehavejustdemonstratedthatthisisnot
true;atcriticalAOA,L/Dislower,theaircraftwilldescendsteeperandtravelless
horizontaldistance.
Alsonotethatincasethereisnothrust,aheavyaircraftcanglideasfarasalightone,
assumingtheyhavethesameL/Dratio.

Herearesometypicalvaluestogiveyousomeorderofmagnitude.
FirstforanAirbusA320,wehavechosen2representativeflightcases,cruiseand
approach.
in cruise we want to have high L/D values to minimize fuel consumption; note that the
incruise,wewanttohavehighL/Dvaluestominimizefuelconsumption;notethatthe
associatedCL isnotveryhigh:thankstohighaircraftspeed,liftcanbeobtainedwith
lowAOA
duringlowspeedphases(approach,landing,takeoff),youneedhighCL values,which
willbeobtainedathighAOA;inthisconditiondragcoefficientishigher,L/Ddecreases,
thisisthepricetopay
Al
AlsosomevaluesfortypicalmaximumL/Dratios.Wecanseethatglidersalwayshave
l
f
i l
i
L/D i W
h lid
l
h
verygoodL/Dratios,becausetheirwingistheonlywaytheycanfly,unlikeplaneswhich
usetheirengine.
Alsonoticethatsupersonicaircrafthavealoweraerodynamicefficiencythantransonic
ones.

Finally,wewilltalkbrieflyaboutsomeadditionaldevicesthatcanbeimplementedon
theaircraftinspecificflightcases.
Thereare2bigfamiliesofdevices:highliftdevicesandliftdumperdevices.

Foranairliner,airfoilandwingshapearealwaysoptimizedforcruise.Oncetheirdesign
isfrozen,thepilotcanmakesmalladjustmentstothea/caerodynamiccharacteristicsby
modifyingtheAOA.
Unfortunatelytheseadjustmentsarelimited,andsometimesinsufficient.Theideal
solutionwouldbetohaveatotallydifferentairfoilshapeinveryspecificsituations;this
iswhathighliftorliftdumperdevicesdo.
Extendingsuchadeviceisequivalenttohavinganotherairfoil,withitsownaerodynamic
characteristics.

Astheirnametellsus,highliftdevices,alsocalledliftaugmentationdevices,aimat
producinghigherCL.
Whenwewanttoflyveryslow(takeoff,approach,landing),whilestillproducingthe
samelift(determinedbyweight),weneedhigherCL values.
WecanincreaseAOAuptocriticalAOA(withamandatorymargintoavoidstall),but
veryoftentheCL increaseisnotsufficient.
Ifthisisthecase,flapsandslatsenableustoincreasewingCLmax andforsomeofthem
increasewingareaS.

Slatsarelocatedatleadingedge,flapscanbeeitheratleadingormoreoftenattrailing
edge.
Largesophisticatedaircraftgenerallyhaveseveralseriesofbothslatsandflaps.The
extensionsaregenerallygradual,andtherearepredeterminedsequencesforboth
extensionandretraction.
Onsmallaircraft,thereisveryoftenonlyonesetofflaps.
Therearemanydifferenttechnologicalsolutionsforflapsandslats.
Wearegoingtoseeonly2examplesofcommonlyuseddevices.

Hereisanexampleofthemostwidelyusedtrailingedgeflap,theFowlerflap.
AFowlerflapisasurfacewhichisextendedbothbackwardanddownward:itincreases
wingarea,wingthicknessandwingcamber.Itisthemosteffectiveliftaugmentation
device.
HerewehaveaparticularversionofregularFowlerflaps:themainflap,whichis
nothingelsethanasmallwing,hasbeenequippedwithitsownleadingedgeslatand
trailingedgeflapinordertoincreaseevenmoretheliftcoefficient.Thisdeviceiscalled
multipleflaps.ItcanbefoundonBoeingB747anddoublestheCLmax.

Hereagainwecanseefullyextendedmultipleflaps.
ThisB747islandingonarunwaywhereveryhighliftcoefficientsarerequired,because
landingspeedsmustbeaslowaspossible.

Andhereistherunway!
Runwaylength:2155m,withnopossibilitytoextendit.
Thisairportisusedbyveryheavyaircraft,andyoucanunderstandwhyverylowspeeds
are required
arerequired.

Herewecanseeanothertypeofdevice,leadingedgeslatsonanAirbusA320.

Comparedwithacleanwing,useofflaps&slatshavesomeconsequencesonwing
performances.
Extensionofanydeviceincreasesdrag,thusdegradingL/Dratio.Extensionmustnotbe
initiatedtooearlyduringanapproach.
Extendingflapscreatesapitchdownmovementoftheaircraft.
Wewillseelateronthatthea/cclimbingcapacitiesaredirectlyrelatedtoL/Dratio.This
iswhylandingconfigurationsusefullflaps,whereastakeoffconfigurationsuse
intermediateextensions.
Duringatakeoff,fullflapswouldbeinterestingforthegroundroll(theywouldenable
shortertakeoffdistances),butwouldbepenalizingforclimb.Thisiswhyintermediate
h
k ff di
) b
ld b
li i f
li b Thi i h i
di
positionsareused.
Whenperformingagoaround,sincethelandingconfigurationwasfullextension,the
pilotmustbesurehepartiallyretractstheslatsandflaps,otherwisetheclimbing
performanceswouldnotbeasexpected.

Secondtypeofdevices,theliftdumpers.
Evenifitseemsweird,therearesomecaseswherewemaywanttodegradethewing
aerodynamicperformances:
on ground increasing drag will help us stop the aircraft on a shorter distance
onground,increasingdragwillhelpusstoptheaircraftonashorterdistance
inflight,ifwewanttoincreasedescentangle(forexampleifweseewearegoingto
landtoolong)
Liftdumpersarespoilers,airbrakes,orotherdeviceshavingthesameproperties.

Spoilersandairbrakesarelocatedneartrailingedge,infrontoftheflaps.
Whenextended,theyareraised,thusincreasingdraganddecreasinglift.

HerewecanseeextendedspoilersonA380uppersurface.
Alsonoticetheslats.

OnBritishAerospaceBae146,thespoilersare2verticalpanelsatthetail.
Whenretracted,theyformthetailcone.
Whenextended,theyincreasedragwithlittleeffectonlift.
LLetthestudentsguesswhatpartoftheaircraftcouldbeusedasaliftdumper(the
t th t d t
h t
t f th i
ft
ld b
d
lift d
(th
landinggearforexample)

Here,youcanseethespoilersextendedongroundontheuppersurfaceofthewing.
Theyhavebeenextendedaftertouchdowninordertoshortentherunwaydistancefor
breaking.
Onthebottompicture,youcanseeanotherdeviceoftenusedtoslowdowntheaircraft
onground,theenginereverse;itisapanelontheenginenacellewhichisopenedto
redirectpartoftheflowinordertocreateanegativethrust.

Uptonow,wehaveconsideredthewingasanassemblymadeofdifferentairfoils;the
phenomenainvolvedtocreatetheaerodynamicforceandits2maincomponents,lift
anddrag,werepressureandviscosity.
Inthischapter,wearegoingtotalkaboutanadditionalphenomenonwhichhasmany
operationalconsequences.
PRESENTTHEMOVIEFIRST

Whenconsideringawingthatisnotinfinite,wecanseethattheflowhasveryspecific
patternsatthewingtips.
Arotationalmovementcanbeobservedatbothwingtips,calledwingtipvortices.
These 2 vortices are due to the pressure difference existing between lower and upper
These2vorticesareduetothepressuredifferenceexistingbetweenlowerandupper
surface.

Wealreadyknowthatawingcreatessomeliftifitcanmanagetohaveapressure
differentialbetweenloweranduppersurface.Onatypicalwing,therearehigh
pressuresonthelowersurface,lowpressuresontheuppersurface.
Similarlytowhathappenseverytimeapressureimbalanceexistsinsideafluid,thefluid
naturallytendstoerasethisdifference:aflowiscreated,fromhightolowpressures.
Inourcase,thisflowgoesaroundthewingtip,fromlowertouppersurface.
Althoughitissomewhatsecondarycomparedtothemainflow(fromleadingtotrailing
edge),itisstillaverystrongflowandhasmajorconsequences.

Wecanseeherethewingtipvorticesgeneratedbyanairplane.Asseeninthemovie,
thisisaverystrongphenomenon.
Thevorticesexistbecause:
the wing is not infinite (if the wing never ended there would be no vortex)
thewingisnotinfinite(ifthewingneverended,therewouldbenovortex)
thereisapressureimbalancebetweenloweranduppersurface;thispressure
differentialisthedirectcauseoflift,itischaracterizedbythewingliftcoefficientCL
Thewingtipvorticeswillhave2consequences:
fortheaircraftcreatingthevortices,anadditionaldragcomponent,calledinduceddrag
forfollowingaircraft,thewaketurbulencephenomenon
for following aircraft the wake turbulence phenomenon

Sincethevorticescanbeverystrongandstayintheairacertaintimeaftertheyhave
beenemitted,theyareahazardforotheraircraft.
Theytendtomovedownandawayfromthegeneratingaircraftflightpath.
Apilotmustabsolutelyavoidbeingcaughtinsideawaketurbulence,otherwisean
A
pilot must absolutely avoid being caught inside a wake turbulence otherwise an
accidentcanoccur.
Inordertoavoidthis,separationsareimplementedbetweenaircraft.Theydependon
the2aircraftconcernedandaregivenbytheairtrafficcontroller.
Rememberthatasapilot,youmustbecarefulnottocometooclosetoapreceding
aircraft,evenifthereisnoATC.
Becareful,notonlyairplanesgeneratewingtipvortices.Helicoptersdotoo(theirrotor
isarotarywing),andevenstrongerthanairplanesdo.

Wingtipvortices(andconsequentlywaketurbulence)areduetothepressure
differentialbetweenloweranduppersurface,inotherwordsthewingliftcapacityCL.
TheywillbemaximuminhighCL conditions:
heavyaircraftgeneratemoreturbulencethanlightones;thisiswhytheseparation
heavy aircraft generate more turbulence than light ones; this is why the separation
categoriesarebasedona/cweight(light/medium/heavy)
foragivena/c,lowspeedphasesrequiringaCL increasewillbecritical;itisduringtake
offandlandingthatwaketurbulenceismostcritical.Inaddition,theseflightphasesare
closetotheground,andaircraftaremoreconcentratedinairspace
Incaseofparallelrunways,theturbulenceaffectstheotherrunway;crosswindsalso
modifytheturbulenceevolutionintime.
dif h
b l
l i i i
Oneinterestingcharacteristicisthatwingtipvorticescanbeconsiderednegligibleas
longastheaircraftisontheground.Thisismainlyduetothefactthattherotational
movementofairissortofblockedbytheproximityoftheground.

Wecanusethispropertytobuilduppreventionstrategies(thisismainlyfornon
controlledairfields,sinceseparationnormallycoverstheproblem).
Bothontakingoffandlanding,thepilotcankeepoutoftheturbulencebyadaptinghis
path.
Asaconclusion,beawarethatwaketurbulenceisaverydangerousphenomenon!

Justawordontheotherconsequenceofwingtipvortices,induceddrag.
Itisanadditionaldragcomponent(andshouldbeminimizedlikeanyotherdrag
component).
Induceddragformulaissimilartoallotheraerodynamicforces,withtheintroductionof
Induced
drag formula is similar to all other aerodynamic forces with the introduction of
adimensionlesscoefficientCDi calledinduceddragcoefficient.

InduceddragcoefficientisdirectlylinkedtoCL,andalsotowingAR.ForhighARwings,
thevorticesoccurfarawayfromthefuselageandonlyaffectasmallpartofthewing.
Glidersgeneratelesswaketurbulencethanconventionalaircraft.
Wecansaythateverytimeliftiscreated,ithasacounterpartwhichisinduceddrag;itis
inducedbylift.
Ofcourse,induceddragvarieswithAOA,likeeveryotheraerodynamiccoefficient.

Mostmodernaircraftareequippedwithspecificdeviceswhichaimatminimizingthe
vortices,andconsequentlyboththeinduceddragandthewaketurbulence.
HereisawingletinstalledonsomeBoeing747.
Therecanbemanydifferentshapesforwinglets,alltendtopreventthevortexfromfully
There
can be many different shapes for winglets all tend to prevent the vortex from fully
developing.

Aircrafttotaldragcanbesplitdowninto:
profiledrag,duetopressureandviscosityforces,whichincreaseswitha/cvelocity
induceddrag,duetowingtipvortices(andduetolift)whichdecreaseswhena/c
velocity increases (remember induced drag is maximum in low speed flight phases)
velocityincreases(rememberinduceddragismaximuminlowspeedflightphases)
Wecanseeonthe2graphsthatprofiledragisnegligibleatlowspeed,whileinduced
dragisnegligibleathighspeed.

Asaconsequence,aircrafttotaldragwillhaveasomewhatunexpectedvariationwhen
aircraftvelocityvaries.
Minimumtotaldragisnotobtainedatminimumcruisespeed,butforL/Dmaxspeed
(andAOA).Abovethatspeed(toputitsimplyathighspeed),dragincreaseswithspeed,
whichisquitealogicalresult.
Butthereisaspeedrange(fromstallspeeduptoL/Dmaxspeed),wherethingsare
different.Becauseofalargeinduceddrag,flyingatthesespeedsgeneratesmoretotal
drag(andfuelconsumption)thanflyingabitfaster.

Wehaveseenthatasfarasflyingtheaircraft(inotherwordshavingthecorrectamount
oflift),therelevantspeedistheairspeed,thespeedoftheaircraftrelativetothemass
ofair.
Thischapterdealswiththewaywecangetanddisplaythisimportantdata.

Afteraddressingthemeasurementissue,wewillseethatseveraldifferentairspeeds
mustbedefined.
Finallywewillshowhowairspeedisdisplayedinsidethecockpit.

Asareminder,remembertheaerodynamicforcesarerelatedtothevalueofairspeed.
Theseforcesenabletheaircrafttostayairborneinasafeway,thisiswhatwecancall
shorttermsituation.
On the other hand when we want to determine the flight time for example this is a long
Ontheotherhand,whenwewanttodeterminetheflighttimeforexample,thisisalong
termsituation.Groundspeedisrequired.ItcanbeproducedforexamplebyaGPS,oran
InertialSystem;botharemeasuringtheaircraftpositionrelativetothegroundand
computingthegroundspeed.
Measuringaircraftspeedrelativetoamovingmassofairisnotthateasy.

Letuscomebacktooneoftheequationsdescribingtheflowbehavior,Bernoullis
equation.
Itstatesthatinsideaflow,totalpressureremainsconstant.Butwhatisexactlytotal
pressure?
Considersomeonesittinginsideastoppedcar,withhishandoutsidethewindow:
ambientpressure(atmosphericpressure,theoneweexperienceeveryday),presseson
hishand,equallyinalldirections.Wecallitstaticpressurebecauseitisthereevenif
thereisnomovement.
Nowletsstartmovingthecar.Thepassengerwillfeelanadditionalpressureactingon
hishand,onlyinthedirectionofmovement.Becauseitisduetothemovement,wecall
his
hand only in the direction of movement Because it is due to the movement we call
itdynamicpressure.Thispressureincreasesasthecaraccelerates(asspeed
increases).Basedonexperience(itishardertomoveinsidewaterthaninsideair),we
cansaythatthispressurealsoincreaseswithfluiddensity.
Dynamicpressurerepresentstheeffectofspeed.
Ifthemovementisslowenough(foranaircraft,lowerthanM=0.3),dynamicpressure
canbeexpressedinasimpleway:q=1/2 V2.
Actually,Bernoullisequationmeansthatinsideagivenflow(wewillexplainwhatwe
meaninthenextslide),thereisanexchangebetweenstaticanddynamicpressure,in
otherwordsbetweenpressureandspeed.
Rememberthatitenabledustoexplainhowacceleratingtheaironthewingupper
p
,
g
surfacecreatedlowpressures,attheoriginoflift.
HowcanImeasurethisveryimportantvalue?

Wedowemeanwhenwetalkaboutagivenflow?Itwouldbeforexampleaflowof
airinsideawindtunnel.
Ithasacertainpressure,temperature,velocity.Ifitmeetsnoobstacleandflowsfreely,
thesecharacteristicswillbethesameanywhereinspace.Thesearetheupstream,
undisturbed,referenceconditions.
Becauseoftheairfoil(orthewing,ortheaircraft),flowcharacteristicsarelocally
modified,thankstoanexchangebetweenstaticanddynamicpressure.
Thereisaspecificcase,thisiswhentheflowhitstheobstacleandstops;thishappens
onthewingleadingedge,attheaircraftnose.Thesepointsarecalledstagnation
points Something special happens then : because there is no speed then all the total
points.Somethingspecialhappensthen:becausethereisnospeed,thenallthetotal
pressurehasbeenchangedintojuststaticpressure.
SinceIknowhowtomeasurepressures(withabarometer,apressuregauge),allIhave
todoisputagaugeatstagnationpoint,andIwillcollectthevalueoftotalpressure.

Ambientpressurewillbemeasuredalongthesidesoftheaircraft,ataplacecarefully
determined,throughastaticport(itmeansprobe).
Regardingtotalpressure,insteadofcreatingdisturbancesatwingleadingedge(this
woulddegradethewinglift),anartificialstagnationpointiscreatedbythesensor,called
Pitottube.
Dynamicpressurecannotbemeasured,butwearegoingtoobtainitthankstothe2
pressureswejustmeasured.
Airspeedisobtainedthankstopressuremeasurements.
Onlightaircraft,thedeviceisquitesimple.
Onlargemodernaircraft,acomputermanagesseveralsensorsandcomputesallsortsof
airrelateddata.

Hereisanexampleofstaticports:theyaresmallholesonthesideoftheaircraft,they
measureambient(static)pressure.
Therearegenerallyseveralprobesinordertocrosschecktheinformation,orincaseof
failureorevenincaseonesideoftheaircraftisdamaged(thisiswhystaticportsare
locatedonbothleftandrightsideofaircraft).

ThePitotprobehastobefacingtheflowtocreateastagnationpoint.
Onsmallaircraft(asonthepicture)itislocatedbelowthewing,farenoughfromthe
skinsoastoavoiddisturbingtheflow.
On large aircraft several probes (2 or 3) are located on the sides of the aircraft near the
Onlargeaircraft,severalprobes(2or3)arelocatedonthesidesoftheaircraft,nearthe
cockpit.

Here,youcanseethedifferentsensorsassociatedwiththeAirDataComputers
(generally3ADCforcrosscheckconsiderations).
6staticports
3 Pitot probes
3Pitotprobes
2TotalAirTemperaturesensors(requiredtocomputeMachnumber)
3AngleofAttackprobes

10

Themostsimpleairspeedindicator,foundonsmallaircraft,ismadeofakindofballoon.
ItisfilledwithtotalpressurecomingfromthePitotprobe,andplacedinsideachamber
filledwithstaticpressure.
Itisthereforegoingtoinflateordeflateaccordingtothedifferencebetweenthese2
It
is therefore going to inflate or deflate according to the difference between these 2
pressures,whichhappenstobe..dynamicpressure!
Anairspeedindicatorisinfactapressureindicator.
Theindicator(needle)movesaccordingtothispressuredifferential.
Becausedisplayingapressuretothepilotisnotveryfriendly,theindicatorwillbe
calibratedsothatitdisplaysthispressureundertheformofaspeed.
Problem:inordertomakethecalibration(makeacorrespondencebetweenapressure
andaspeed)youneedtochoseavalueofdensity.Whichone?

11

Thiscalibrationisnotthateasy!Itmustbedoneonceandforall,whenyoumanufacture
theairspeedindicator.
Severaldifficulties:
depending on the air density the correspondence between dynamic pressure and
dependingontheairdensity,thecorrespondencebetweendynamicpressureand
airspeedwillbedifferent
thismeansthatwhenchoosingauniquevalueofdensity,yourairspeedcomputation
willbewrongforallothervalues.
and,lastbutnotleast,inordertomonitorflight,actualairspeedhastobecompared
withcharacteristicspeeds(stallspeed.)whichvarywithaltitude(theyincreaseas
altitudeincrease)
li d i
)
Tosummarize:allspeedsvarywithaltitude,andwehavetochooseauniquedensity
andtheassociatedcharacteristicspeeds.Howarewegoingtosolvethisquestion?

12

Inordertosolvetheproblem,wewillneedtodefinedifferentairspeeds.

13

Doweactuallyneedtomonitorairspeed?
Infact,whatweneedtomonitoriswhethertheaerodynamicforcesarehighenoughto
balanceweight,butnottoohighnottodamagetheaircraftstructure.
Theseadequate
These
adequate forcescanbeobtainedatdifferentspeedsdependingonthedensity
forces can be obtained at different speeds depending on the density
(thealtitude).Itisactuallythedynamicpressure1/2 V2 whichdeterminesthe
aerodynamicforce.

14

TASistheactualaircraftairspeed,thevelocityVusedinallaerodynamicformulas.
IfyouknowthedensityandtheTAS,youcancomputetheaerodynamicforces.
KeepingyourTASinthecorrectspeedrangeensuressafeflight.
ThemainproblemisthatthereisnosimplewaytomeasureTAS:consideringmeasured
Th
i
bl
i th t th
i
i l
t
TAS
id i
d
dynamicpressure,itwouldrequireadensitymeasurement,whichinnotavailable.

15

BecausewecannotgetTAS,wewilldisplayanotherspeed,callIndicatedAirSpeed.
Consideringthemeasuredpressuredifferential(=dynamicpressure),wechoosedensity
atsealevelinstandardatmosphere 0=1.225kg/m3 tocalibratetheindicatorand
computethespeeds.
FlyingatTAS/density producesthesameforcesasflyingatIAS/sealevelinstandard
atmospherebecausetheyarebasedonthesamedynamicpressure.

16

Wehaveactuallychosenavalueofdensitytocalibrateinstruments,displayairspeed(IAS)outofa
measureddynamicpressure,andcomputecharacteristicspeeds.
BycomparingIAStocharacteristicspeeds,weareactuallycomparingaerodynamicforces.
ThemaindisadvantageofcourseisthatyourIAShasnothingtodowithyouractualspeed.Itis
alwayssmaller(sometimesmuchsmaller)thanyourTAS.

17

Thereareactually3sourcesofdifferencesbetweenIASandTAS:
thelargestoneisduetodensity(differencebetween and 0),itincreasesasaltitudeincreases
thesecondoneisduetocompressibility:athighMachnumbers,airbehaviorisabitdifferent
fromtheoneatlowspeeds;thiscorrectioncanbeneglectedbelowMach0.3
andfinally,someerrorsareintroducedduetopoorinstrumentprecisionorbadlocationof
probes
RememberthatTASandIASareverycloseatlowaltitude(andlowspeed),andthatthedifference
increases at high altitude and speed
increasesathighaltitudeandspeed.

18

Thedifferentcorrectionswejustdescribedgiveriseto2newairspeeds,EASandCAS.

19

Letusnowdescribethedifferentdisplaysusedforairspeed,forlightaircraftandmore
sophisticatedones.

20

21

Explainthespeedtrend

22

Explainthespeedtrend

23

24

25

Inthischapter,wearegoingtousetheresultsgivenbytheaerodynamicstudyofthe
aircraftinordertoputdowninequationsthemainflightphases,anddrawoutsome
factsaboutwhatcanandcannotbedonewhenflying.

Wearegoingtotalkaboutstabilizedphasesintheirmostsimpleconfigurations.

Cruise,alsocalledsteadystatelevelflight,isthesimplestandmostbasicflightcase.
Itisthereferenceformostothercases.
Itisawingslevel,constantspeed,constantaltitudeflight.
Sincespeedisconstant,wecanapplyNewtonsfirstlawofmovementtotheaircraft:
Si
di
t t
l N t fi t l
f
t t th i
ft
thesumofallforcesactingontheaircraftiszero.
Asalreadyseen,thisistheonlycasewhereliftisverticalanddraghorizontal.
Liftbalancesweight.
Dragisopposedtothemovement.
Anengineisneededtofightdrag.Whateverthetypeofengine,turbojetengineor
A
i i
d d t fi ht d
Wh t
th t
f
i t b j t
i
propeller,itistheretoproduceaforcefightingdrag.

Cruisecanbesummarizedbythe2followingequations:liftequationanddragequation.

Inordertosatisfythe2previousequations,thepilotmust:
adapthisspeedandAOA(byactingonthestick)inordertoproducejustenoughliftto
balanceweight
adapt his thrust (by acting on the throttle lever) in order to produce just enough thrust
adapthisthrust(byactingonthethrottlelever)inordertoproducejustenoughthrust
tofightdrag
ThethrustrequiredTntomaintainsteadystatelevelflightisequaltototaldrag.
ThethrustavailableTuisdeterminedbythethrottlepositionandmustbemonitoredby
thepilot,otherwisecruisewillbeeitheracceleratedordecelerated.

Inordertooptimizecruise,itisveryimportanttoknowhowmuchthrustisrequired
dependingontheflightconditions.
Foragivenweightandaltitude,letusplottherequiredthrustvsaircraftvelocity.
Do you recognize this curve? It is the curve seen at the end of previous chapter total
Doyourecognizethiscurve?Itisthecurveseenattheendofpreviouschapter,total
dragvsvelocity.
Ifweuseliftanddragequations,requiredthrustcanalsobewritteninadifferentway;it
istheratioofweighttoa/cL/Dratio.
Caution!RememberL/DvarieswithAOA
Thisexpressionisinterestingbecauseitshowsusthatrequiredthrustisminimumwhen
flyingatL/Dmaxspeed(andassociatedAOA).
Wehavealreadysaidthatforagivenweightandaltitude,inordertosatisfyliftequation
whenspeedvaries,AOAmustbeadaptedaccordingly.Highspeedscorrespondtolow
AOA,andviceversa.
ThisgraphcanbegraduatedwithAOA,sinceeachweight/altitude/speedcaseis
associated to a single CL value,andthusasingleAOAvalue.
associatedtoasingleC
value and thus a single AOA value
NotethatminimumspeedVsrequiresmorethrustthanflyingalittlebitfaster.Thisis
whyyounevercruiseatverylowspeeds:youareslowandhaveahigherfuel
consumption!Youwillflythereifyouneed lowspeed(approachforexample).

Foragivena/cweight,whathappensifyouwanttoflyhigher?
StartingfromanaltitudeZ1,letustrytobuildtherequiredthrustvsvelocitygraphata
higheraltitudeZ2.
IfyouwanttoflyhigheratthesameAOA,youwillneedtoflyfaster(tocopeupwith
If
you want to fly higher at the same AOA you will need to fly faster (to cope up with
densitydecrease),buttherequiredthrustwillbethesame(itonlydependsonweight
andAOA).
ThegraphcorrespondingtoZ2 willbemovedtohighervelocities.

Wehavejustseenthatwedonotneedmorethrustwhenflyinghigher.
Thequestionis,istheenginestillcapableofproducingthesameamountofthrustwhen
runningathigheraltitudes?
This is why we need to stop for a moment and examine available thrust
Thisiswhyweneedtostopforamomentandexamineavailablethrust.
Availablethrustforagivenengine(inotherwordsthethrustagivenengineisableto
produce)mainlydependsonatmosphericconditions.
Foragivensetofconditionsandagiventhrottleposition,experimentalresultsshowus
thatthrustproducedbytheengineisindependentfroma/cvelocity(itonlydependson
thewayairisacceleratedinsidetheengine).
Quiteobviously,availablethrustincreaseswhenthrottleispushedforward.
Morecomplexistheinfluenceofatmosphericconditions:
availablethrustincreaseswhenpressureincreases
itdecreaseswhentemperatureincreases
whenaltitudeincreases,atthesametimepressureandtemperaturedecrease,which
wouldtendtohaveoppositeeffects;intheend,thepressureeffecttakesover:available
thrustdecreaseswhenaltitudeincreases

Athighaltitudeorinhotweatherconditions,anengineproduceslessthrust.
Thiswillhavemanyoperationalconsequences:
inflightphaseswhereyouneedfullorhighthrust(takeoff,climb),theenginewillnot
give you the usual thrust : take off distances increase climb performances are lower
giveyoutheusualthrust:takeoffdistancesincrease,climbperformancesarelower
inordertogetagiventhrust,youwillneedamoreforwardthrottleposition,andthusa
higherfuelconsumption
Averysignificantexamplecanbegivenabouttakeoffrunwaylengthwhichincrease:
by1%iftemperatureincreasesby1C
by7%ifaltitudeincreasesby1,000ft
by 7% if altitude increases by 1 000 ft
nottotalkabouthighandhotairportslikeMexicoCityforexample!

Backtotherequiredthrustvsvelocitycurve,wecansplitthediagraminto2distinct
parts:
a highspeed area,aboveL/Dmaxspeed,called regionofnormalcommand ;we
willseethatthisiswhere normal reflexesapply
a lowspeed area,fromstallspeeduptoL/Dmaxspeed,called regionofreversed
command ,wherenotsologicalordersarerequiredtoflytheaircraft

Letsassumethepilothasselectedagiventhrustthroughhisthrottlelever.
Wehaveseenthatsteadycruise(constantspeed)requiresforavailablethrusttobalance
requiredthrust.
We can see on the curve that it is possible to fly steady at 2 different speeds :
Wecanseeonthecurvethatitispossibletoflysteadyat2differentspeeds:
oneintheregionofnormalcommand,correspondingtohighspeed,andthereforelow
AoA
oneintheregionofreversedcommand,correspondingtolowspeedandhighAoA
Askwhichofthe2isbest.Thenmakethemguessinwhatcaseyouflyintheregionof
reversedcommand.

Startingfromabalancedsituation(steadycruise),whatshouldthepilotdoinorderto
flyfaster?
Intheregionofnormalcommand,wecanseethathigherspeedmeanshigherrequired
thrustandlowerAoA;inordertoreachahighercruisingspeed,thepilotwillneedto
pushthethrottleforwardandpushonthestick.Quitelogically,youneedmorethrustto
flyfaster.
Intheregionofreversedcommand,alowerAoAisstillrequired(rememberspeedand
AoAvaryinversely),butthistimerequiredthrustislower;surprisinglyenough,youneed
lessthrusttoflyfaster,thisiswhyitiscalled reversed command.
Note:: weareonlytalkinghereaboutstabilizedsituations,andnottransitions.Inthe
Note
we are only talking here about stabilized situations and not transitions In the
secondcase,ifwereducethrust,theaircraftwillinthefirstplace,beforestabilizing
again,lacksomethrust,andmayinitiallyslightlydescend.

Thedecreaseinengineperformancesathighaltitudeisgoingtocreatealimitationin
cruisecapacities.
Wehaveseenthatwhenincreasingaltitude,requiredthruststaysconstant(foragiven
weightandAOA),whileavailablethrustbecomessmallerandsmaller.
Letusplotonthesamediagram,fordifferentaltitudes,requiredthrustandmaximum
availablethrust.
AtlowaltitudeZ1 (bluecurve),fullthrottleenablesustocruisewithinarangeofa/c
speeds.
Whenaltitudeincreases(greencurve),thisrangeofpossiblecruisingspeedsbecomes
narrower.
WhenwereachaltitudeZ3 (redcurve),wecanseethatevenwithmaximumthrust,
thereisonlyonespeedwheretheenginecanproduceenoughthrusttobalancedrag,in
otherwordsonlyonespeedwheresteadystateflightcanbeachieved.
Ifwetriedtoflyevenhigher,thenwhateverthespeedavailablethrustwouldbetoolow.
Thisaltitudelimitation,duetoengineperformancelimitations,iscalled
This
altitude limitation due to engine performance limitations is called propulsion
propulsion
ceilingorabsoluteceiling.Itmeansyoucannotaskanairplanetoflytoohigh;thisis
speciallytrueiftheweatherishotandtheaircraftheavy.

Thesecondflightcaseisclimb.

Wewillseelateronthatinfact,climbanddescentarequitesimilar(evenifitseemsa
littlestrangetoputitthatway)andcanbedescribedusingsimilarequations.
Wewillonlybeconsideringstabilizedclimbanddescent,inotherwordsthosewith
constantspeedandpath.
Wewillseethatthe2parametersthatbestdescribeclimbordescentaretheslope(also
calledclimbordescentangle)andtherateofclimb/descent.
Onceagain,sinceweconsiderconstantspeedmovements,thenNewtonsfirstlawof
movementstatesthatthesumofallforcesactingontheairplaneiszero.

Consideranaircraftclimbingonastabilizedpath,withaclimbangle andavelocityV.
Theforcesactingontheaircraftintheverticalplaneare:
weight,whichisvertical
liftanddrag,whicharerespectivelyperpendicularandparalleltotheflightpath
lift d d
hi h
ti l
di l
d
ll l t th fli ht th
thrust,whichisparalleltotheflightpath
LetussplitdownNewtonslaw(sumofallforces=0)alongthe2followingaxes:flight
pathforone,andanormaltoitfortheother.
Weightwillbesplitdowninto2components,thegreatestpartopposedtolift,anda
small part opposed to thrust
smallpartopposedtothrust.

Wecanseethatasmallpartofweightactsinthesamedirectionasdrag,thus
preventingtheaircraftfrommovingforward.Theonlywaytofightthisadditional
resistanceisextrathrust(comparedtodrag).
Sincepartoftheweightissupportedbythrust,thenlessliftisneeded.
Caution! Astabilizedclimbispossibleifthepilotappliesexcessthrustcomparedto
drag.Surprisingly,youneedalittlebitlessliftfromyourwingduringclimb.
Additionalliftwouldliftyouup,butthishasnothingtodowithstabilizedclimb.

Thefirstwaytocharacterizeaclimbistheclimbangle .Ithastodowiththepath,in
otherwordstheabilitytoflyoveranobstacle.
Youneedexcessthrust(comparedtodrag)inordertoclimb.
You can obtain this excess thrust either by a thrust increase or a drag decrease
Youcanobtainthisexcessthrusteitherbyathrustincreaseoradragdecrease.
Byincreasingyourthrust,youcanclimbandkeepyourspeedconstant.
Ifyouchoosenottomodifyyourthrust,thenclimbingmustbedoneataspeedlower
thaninitial.
Infact,theavailablethrustTumustbegreaterthanthethrustTnrequiredtoflylevel(in
otherwordsdrag).

Inordertocompareavailablethrustandrequiredthrust,letususethe2graphsThrust
vsVelocity.
Thegreencurverepresentsthethrustrequiredtoflyatacertainweightandaltitude.
The pink horizontal curve is the thrust available because of a given throttle position
Thepinkhorizontalcurveisthethrustavailablebecauseofagiventhrottleposition.
Wecanseethatdependingonthespeedwechosetofly,wecandevelopmoreorless
excessthrust,andconsequentlyclimbmoreorlesssteep.
Wecandetermineonthegraphthespeedforstabilizedcruiseforagivenavailable
thrust.
Wecanalsodeterminethespeedformaximumexcessthrust;wecanseeitisthespeed
forminimumdrag,whichwesaidpreviouslyisthespeedforL/Dmax.
PleasenotethatthespeedforbestclimbangleisalwaysthatforL/Dmax.Itiswhere
youmakethebestoutofthea/caerodynamics.
Bestclimbangleiswhatyouseekwhenyouhaveanobstacletoclear.
Caution! Notethatincaseofanobstacle,youmustresistthetemptationtopullonthe
controlcolumn(itwouldmeanhighAOA).WecanseeonthegraphthatmaximumAOA
l l
(i
ld
hi h AOA) W
h
h h
i
AOA
(thatforCLmax)givesasmallerexcessthrust,inotherwordsasmallerclimbanglethan
L/Dmax.

Thesecondparameteristherateofclimb,thespeedatwhichyouchangealtitude.
Infact,itistheverticalcomponentofaircraftspeed.
Ifwerepresentthevelocityvector(inotherwordstheflightpathvector)andtheclimb
angle then we can see rate of climb is the airspeed times the sine of the slope
angle,thenwecanseerateofclimbistheairspeedtimesthesineoftheslope.
Sincetheclimbangleisverysmall,wecansaythatrateofclimb=airspeedxclimbangle
Thismeansthatrateofclimbdependsontheexcessthrust(becauseitdependsonclimb
angle),butalsoontheaircraftspeed.
Theverticalspeedindicator,ratedinft/mn,givestheverticalspeed.
You will seek high rate of climb when asked to change level rapidly
Youwillseekhighrateofclimbwhenaskedtochangelevelrapidly.
Thespeedforbestrateofclimbisavariablespeed(unlikethespeedforbestclimb
anglewhichisunique),whichisalwaysgreaterthanthespeedforbestclimbangle.

Letusillustratethedifferencebetweenclimbingsteep(bestclimbangle)andclimbing
fast(bestrateofclimb).
Letusconsider2aircraftwhicharetotallyidentical(sameweight,sameaerodynamic
characteristics).Theystarttoclimbtogether,AatbestclimbangleandBatbestrateof
climb.
Inordertodoso,eachhastoflyattheappropriatespeed.
Aisclimbingsteepandcanflyoverthehill.
Bisclimbinglesssteep,butgetsontopfirst.ItisveryeasytoseethatsinceBtravelsa
longerdistance,theonlywaytogetontopfirstistoflyfaster.
Pleasenotethatincaseofahighhill,Bmaynotmakeitinsomecases!
Tomakeananalogy,if2bikerswanttoclimbamountain,Awouldbetheonetakingthe
shortandsteeproad,whileBwouldbetakingalonger,lesssteeproad,thusbeingable
tomovefaster.

Nowletustalkaboutstabilizeddescent.

Theforcesactingontheaircraftarethesameaspreviously.Thistimetheflightpathis
descending.
Similarlytowhatwedidforclimb,wecansplitweightinto2components,thegreatest
partopposedtolift,andasmallpartalongtheflightpath.
Thistimethesmallcomponentalongtheflightpathisinthesamedirectionasthrust;it
meansitwillactuallyhelpfightdrag.

Onceagain,liftcanbealittlesmallerthanweight(becausepartofthejoboffighting
weightisdonebydrag!....).
Thismeansthatstabilizeddescenthappenswhenthrustisactuallysmallerthandrag
(otherwisethesecondequationonthepreviousslidecouldnotbesatisfied,thedescent
wouldnotbeatconstantspeed).

Infact,auniqueformulacanbegivenforbothdescentandclimbangle.
Wecanseethat:
Ifthrustisgreaterthandrag,thenslopeispositive:weareclimbing
Ifthrustislowerthandrag,slopeisnegative,wemustdescend.
If th t i l
th d
l
i
ti
td
d
Notethatifyouwanttodescend,forexampleona10 slope,thenyoumustcreatea
highthrustdeficiency,thismeansyouwillhavetoreduceyourthrust.

Incaseofnoorverylittleavailablethrust,thedescentanglecanbeveryhigh.
Ifthepilotwantstooptimizeitscapacities(descendaslittleaspossibleincaseofengine
failureforexample,inordertohavetimetofindalandingplace),hemustlookfora
speedthatwillminimizethethrustdeficiency.
Thisspeed,alreadywellknowntous,whereyouoptimize(minimize)drag,isthespeed
forL/Dmax.
MinimumdescentangleisalwaysobtainedatL/Dmaxspeed;thisiswhereyoumustfly
ifyoumustclearanobstacle.

Rateofdescentisanegativerateofclimb(Idescendat300ft/mn).
Youlookforminimumrateofdescentwhenyouwanttostayintheairaslongas
possible.
It corresponds to a variable speed always lower than the speed for minimum drag
Itcorrespondstoavariablespeed,alwayslowerthanthespeedforminimumdrag.

Ifwemakethesamecomparisonasbeforeandconsider2identicala/cdescendingat
minimumdescentangle(resp.minimumrateofdescent),wecanseethatAhasbetter
chancestoclearthehill,andwilltravelalongerhorizontaldistance(andbeabletofind
alandingarea),whileBhastobeslowerifitwantstolandsecondonashorterdistance.

Thelastbasicflightcaseistheturnatconstantaltitude.

Wewillbeconsideringastabilizedturnandassumeitisacoordinatedone,inother
wordsaperfectturnleadingtoa360 circle.
Differentparameterscanbeusedtodescribeandcharacterizeaturn,wewilldefine
theminthefollowingslides.
Sincethespeedisconstant,thesumofallforcesiszero.

Hereisanexampleofanaircraftperformingaturnwithacertainbankangle .

Wewillfocusontheforcesinsidetheverticalplane.
Thebankangleistheanglebetweenthehorizontalandtheaircraftwing.
Inadditiontoweightandlift,acentrifugalforceappearsbecauseoftheturn.Itis
horizontal directed toward the outside and normal to the circular path
horizontal,directedtowardtheoutsideandnormaltothecircularpath.
Thesumofweight,liftandcentrifugalforceiszerowhentheturnisstabilized.
Pleasenotethateventhoughwedonttalkaboutdrag,ithastobebalancedbythrust
alongtheXaxis.

Whiledescribingacircle,theaircraftisturningaroundanaxis,locatedatadistance
calledturnradius.
Itisturningwithanangularvelocitycalledrateofturn.
There is a relationship between turn radius rate of turn and aircraft velocity
Thereisarelationshipbetweenturnradius,rateofturnandaircraftvelocity.
Andfinally,thecentrifugalforceduetotherotationisafunctionofa/cmass,turnradius
andeithervelocityorrateofturn.

Wecanseethatthea/cexperiences2massrelatedforces,itsweight,duetogravity,and
thecentrifugalforce,duetoinertia.
Theaircraft(andthepilot)experiencethesumofthese2forces,whichincreaseswith
mass.Theresultantmassforcepushesthepilotintohisseat(andtheaircraftdown).Itis
asthoughtheweighthadincreased,youfeelheavier,yourapparentweighthas
increased.
Weintroduceloadfactorinordertohaveacommonunitforallthemassrelatedforces:
thegravityaccelerationg.Whenmakinga2gmaneuver,thepilotexperiencesaforce
duebothtogravity(1g)andinertiabecauseofthemaneuver(1moreg).Thetotal
p
y
q
g
y
accelerationexperiencedbytheaircraftisequaltotwicegravity.

YoucanexperienceloadfactoralongallX,YandZdirections(forexample,whenbraking
duringalanding,youarepulledforward).
Themostcommonloadfactorinflightisthenormalloadfactor,alongtheZaxis,the
onethatpushesyouintoyourseat.TheonlyforcealongtheZaxiscapableofbalancing
theeffectsofloadfactorislift.
Thismeansthatinsteadofbalancingonlyweight,liftmustbalanceapparentweight.
Flying100tonsunder2gconditionsisequivalentintermsofliftwithflying200tons
under1gconditions.
Onewayofcomputingloadfactoristheratiooflifttoweight.

Innormalconditions,steadystatelevelflight,liftisequaltoweight,thereisno
additionalforceduetoinertia,normalloadfactorisequalto1.
Everytimeloadfactorincreases(becauseofamaneuver),thewingmustproducemore
lift;thisgreaterlift,appliedonthewingstructure,tendstobendthewing,thuscreating
ariskofrupture.
Sinceincreasingloadfactorhasthesameconsequencesonliftasincreasingweight,
thentheaircraftwillneedtoflyfaster,thestallspeedisincreased.
Forexample,2gconditionswillmeana41%increaseinthestallspeed.
1
Liftequationbecomes nZ mg
V 2 SC L
2
AtCLmax : nZ mg
VS ( nz )

1
VS2 SC L max
2
2nZ mg
SC L max

n VS (1g )

Now,comingbacktoourplanedoingahorizontalturn,letussplitdownliftintoa
verticalandahorizontalcomponent.
Sinceforcesarebalancedonbothaxes,wecanseethatonlypartofliftisusedto
balanceweight.
Theotherpartistheretofightthecentrifugalforce.
Thismeansthatlifthastobegreaterthanweight.
Normalloadfactorisgreaterthan1,andequalto1/cos .

Duringa30 bankturn,loadfactorisequalto1.15,thismeansthatthepilotfeels15%
heavier(andtheforceonaircraftwingis15%higher).Thisisalreadyadifferencethat
canbephysicallyfelt.
Veryrapidlytheloadfactorisgoingtoincrease.
Consequently,stallspeedwillincrease;thismeansenteringaturncanbecome
dangerousfortheaircraft.

Wecanexpresstheturnradiusasafunctionofbankangleandvelocity.
Thisshowsushowtomakeasharperturn,eitherbyslowingdown(slowa/cneedless
spacetomakeahalfturn),orincreasebankangle.

Inthislastchapter,wearegoingtostatethemainlimitationstotheaircraftflight
envelope.

Withagivenaircraft,itisnotpossibletoflyanyspeed(orMachnumber),anyaltitude,
anyweight,anyloadfactor.
Similarly,thea/cperformancesarelimited.
These limitations imply that as an air traffic controller you must be careful and ask the
Theselimitationsimplythatasanairtrafficcontroller,youmustbecarefulandaskthe
pilotforfeasibleperformances.
Wewillonlytalkaboutlimitationsduetotheaircraftcapacities,mainlythewings,the
engineandthestructure.

Firstofall,limitationsduetothewing.

Theyarerelatedtothecapacitytoproducelift,whicharelimited.
Inthegeneralcasewhereloadfactorisnotequalto1,lifthastobalancethea/c
apparentweight.
With a maximum value CLmax
WithamaximumvalueC
,thewingliftcoefficientislimited,thereforethewingwill
the wing lift coefficient is limited therefore the wing will
L
beabletoproduceonlyalimitedamountoflift(whichdependsondensityandvelocity).

Ifweconsiderthegeneralformoftheliftequation,wecanseethatliftcapacityCL can
betransformedintospeed,altitude,weightorloadfactor.
Itiseasytounderstandthateverytimeyouchose3,thelastoneisperfectly
determined.ThelimitisreachedwhenCL =CLmax .
Example:
1) Vmustbeexpressedinm/s!
2nz mg
2 61,200 9.81
2
V SC L max 102.9 2 120 1.3
toapprox.FL170

min

200kts

0.727

200 1,852
102.9m / s
3,600

whichinstandardatmospherecorresponds

2) AtFL200,densityis =0.6527
mmax

3)

nZ max

SV 2C L max
2n z g

0.6527 120 102.9 2 1.3

2 9.81

SV 2C L max
2mg

0.6527 120 102.9 2 1.3

1.1
2 50,000 9.81

Ifweconsiderthemaneuverisaturn,then cos
Thisisa25 bankturn.

54,950kg

1
n

1
0.909
1.1

SinceCL islimited,wehaveseenthatthereisaminimumspeed,calledstallspeed,
underwhichyoucannotflylevelandstabilized.
Duringamaneuver,thisminimumspeedhastobehigher.Aturnisaverycommon
maneuverthatincreasesstallspeed.
Alsorememberthatextendingflaps&slatsisgoodforliftcoefficient,itenablesthea/cto
havealowerstallspeed.Onthecontrary,liftdumpersincreasestallspeed.
Icingconditionsdeteriorateairfoilshape,itsliftcoefficientisdramaticallylower,stall
speedincreases.
ItisveryimportantfortheATCtoaskforfeasiblespeedvalues.Andremember,aheavy
aircraftwillhaveahigherstallspeed.
i
f ill h
hi h
ll
d
(FL150: =0.7708kg/m3)

Whenanaircraftisflyingathighspeed(orratherhighMachnumber),sinceairis
acceleratedontheuppersurface,itcanbecomelocally supersonic.
Shockwavesappearonthewing,theyareresponsibleforaCL decrease(andaCD
increase).
ThismeansthatathighMachnumber,thewingCLmax becomeslowerandlower.
RemembertheonlyappropriatedatatomonitorthisphenomenonistheMachnumber!

Thisiswhywewillnotusetheusualformoftheliftequationathighspeed,butanother
alternativeformusingMachnumber.
Thisalternativeformistotallyequivalenttotheotherone,bothcanbeused
indifferently.
CriticalMachnumberisthevalueofthea/cMachnumberforwhichsupersonicair
appearsonuppersurface.AbovecriticalMachnumber,becauseofshockwaves,thea/c
aerodynamiccharacteristicsaredegraded.
AllaircraftexperiencethisdegradationathighMachnumber.Itisspecificallyaconcern
ontransonica/c,aswearegoingtoexplain.

Wecanseethisdegradationonthea/cpolarcurve.
AtlowMachnumbers(belowM=0.7tomakeitsimple),thea/caerodynamic
characteristicsareunique(theydependonlyonAOA).
AboveM=0.7,thepolarcurvedependsontheMachnumberandbecomesworseand
Above
M=0 7 the polar curve depends on the Mach number and becomes worse and
worseasthemachnumberincreases.
ThismeansthatagivenwingislessefficientathighMachnumber.

Comingbacktotheliftequation,wecanseethatwhenflyingfaster,lessandlessCL is
neededfromthewing.
Unfortunately,atthesametime,thewingproduceslessandlessCL.
Ontransonica/c,thepolarcurvedeteriorationisfasterthanthedecreaseinneededC
On
transonic a/c the polar curve deterioration is faster than the decrease in needed CL.
TherecomesatMachnumberforwhichmaximumCL islowerthantheCL thatwouldbe
needed,theaircraftstalls,butthistimebecauseitistoofast!
Beawarethatinthisparticularcase,thelimitationcomesfromwinglift capacity,ithas
nothingtodowithenginecapacity.
Wecallthishighspeedstallhighspeedshockstall.
ThismeansthatamoregeneraldefinitionforstallwouldbeneedingmoreCL thanthe
wingcanbring,whetheryouaretooslowortoofast.

Thismeansthatforanysetofflightconditions,thereisnotonlyaminimumallowable
speed,butalsoamaximumone,inotherwordsyoucanflyinsidearangeofspeeds.
Theheavierandthehighertheflight,themoreCL needed;yourspeedpossibilitiesare
reduced.
Insomeextremecases(veryhighorveryheavy),youmustbeawarethattheaircraftwill
haveaverynarrowsetofavailableMachnumbers.

Wehaveseeninthepreviouschapterthatthepurposeoftheengineistofightdrag;if
youcanhaveadditionalthrustcomparedtodrag,youcanclimboraccelerate.
Wehaveseenthatagivenengineproduceslessthrustasaltitudeincreases(remember
thatinfactitisaproblemoftemperatureandpressure).
Thismeansthatthereisamaximumaltitudeatwhichanaircraftcanfly,duetoengine
limitation.Thisabsoluteceilingislowerforaheavya/c.
Hightemperatures(andlowpressures)willalsoberesponsibleforadecreaseintakeoff
performances(anincreaseindistancesnecessaryfortakeoff).

Otherlimitationsareduetotheaircraftstructure.
Allthedifferentpartsofthea/c(thewing,butalsothefuselage,thelandinggear.)are
undertheinfluenceofaerodynamicforces,whichincreasewithvelocity.
The faster the a/c the higher the forces on the structure Stronger structures will be
Thefasterthea/c,thehighertheforcesonthestructure.Strongerstructureswillbe
needed,thiswillbedonebyaddingspecificpartstothestructure.
Butitiseasytounderstandthatstrengtheningthestructuremeansweight,whichin
termmeanslift!
Aflightenvelopewillbechosen,correspondingtothenormalaircraftflightconditions,
andthestructurewillbebuilttoholdtheassociatedloads.
Forexample,youcannotflyaboveMMO,orflywiththeflapsextendedoverVFE,
otherwiseitisnotguaranteedyouwillnotdamagethestructure.

Andfinally,somereminderaboutlimitationsintheclimbingperformances.

Wehaveseenthatclimbangleandrateofclimbarerelatedtoweight,availablethrust,
andL/Dratio.
Flaps,slatsandlandinggearextensiondecreaseL/Dratio:anaircraftclimbsbetterin
cleanconfiguration.
Icingconditionsalsodegradea/caerodynamiccharacteristics.
Andfinallyinhotweatherconditionsandonhighaltitudeairports,climbing
performancesaredegraded.