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Aircraft Performance Flight Simulation Lab Solution: γ) γ) C computed from ρ C computed from

The document summarizes flight data collected from 10 test conditions in a flight simulation lab to analyze aircraft performance metrics like lift, drag, and lift-to-drag ratio. Key findings include: - Maximum time aloft (minimum sink rate) is achieved at a true airspeed of around 84 ft/s (43 kt indicated). - Maximum lift-to-drag ratio occurs at a true airspeed of 92 ft/s (47 kt indicated). - A parabolic curve was fitted to the drag polar data with a CD0 of 0.009 and efficiency of 0.88, matching theoretical predictions closely.

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Jitendra Meerwal
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
32 views

Aircraft Performance Flight Simulation Lab Solution: γ) γ) C computed from ρ C computed from

The document summarizes flight data collected from 10 test conditions in a flight simulation lab to analyze aircraft performance metrics like lift, drag, and lift-to-drag ratio. Key findings include: - Maximum time aloft (minimum sink rate) is achieved at a true airspeed of around 84 ft/s (43 kt indicated). - Maximum lift-to-drag ratio occurs at a true airspeed of 92 ft/s (47 kt indicated). - A parabolic curve was fitted to the drag polar data with a CD0 of 0.009 and efficiency of 0.88, matching theoretical predictions closely.

Uploaded by

Jitendra Meerwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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16.

00 Introduction to Aerospace and Design


Problem Set #3
AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE FLIGHT SIMULATION LAB
Solution
I collected flight data at 10 different conditions, and also flew from 10,000 ft to 9,000 ft to get

more time to fly stably and more accurately measure vertical speed.

Data are shown in the table below.

Indicated airspeed computed directly from the airspeed indicator and converted to ft/s

True airspeed = 1.154 x (indicated airspeed) as per Problem Set #3 handout

Vertical speed computed from the Flight Analysis tool, converted to ft/s

h&
Flight path angle computed from = sin 1
v
Lift computed from L = W cos()
L/D computed from L/D = cot()
L
CL computed from C L = 1
2
2 v S
CD computed from C D = C L

D
L

Flight
indicated
true
vertical
Condition airspeed (ft/s) airspeed (ft/s) speed (ft/s)
1
72.62
83.81
2.31
2
79.38
91.60
2.45
3
87.82
101.35
2.78
4
96.27
111.09
3.19
5
103.02
118.89
3.73
6
113.16
130.58
4.61
7
131.73
152.02
6.54
8
148.62
171.51
9.35
9
172.27
198.80
14.17
10
209.42
241.67
25.24

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flight path
angle (deg)
1.58
1.53
1.57
1.65
1.80
2.02
2.47
3.12
4.09
6.00

Lift (N)
849.68
849.70
849.68
849.65
849.58
849.47
849.21
848.74
847.84
845.35

L/D
36.30
37.34
36.48
34.76
31.89
28.29
23.21
18.32
14.00
9.52

Cl
0.76
0.63
0.52
0.43
0.38
0.31
0.23
0.18
0.13
0.09

Cd
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01

vertical speed (ft/s)

30

25
20
15
10
5
0
50

100

150
True airspeed (ft/s)

200

250

From the data above, the aircraft should fly at approximately 84 ft/s true airspeed (or 43 kt
indicated) to maximize time aloft (minimum sink rate).
40
35
30

L/D

25
20
15
10
5
0
50

100

150

200

True airspeed (ft/s)

The maximum L/D occurs at a true airspeed of 92 ft/s (47 kt indicated).

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250

0.025
0.02

Cd

0.015
0.01
0.005
0
0

0.2

0.4
CL

0.6

0.8

The plot above shows the data from the flight test, along with a parabolic curve fit with
CD0 = 0.009 and efficiency e = 0.88.

Theory predicts

Theory predicts

= 37.2,

= 88.9 ft/s,

Observed maximum L/D = 37.3

Observed vmax L/D = 92 ft/s

Errors between theory and observation are due to:


- inaccurate dynamic model in the flight simulator, especially close to stall
- inaccurate data recording or non-steady flight during the flight test
- inaccuracies in the curve fit in the CD vs. CL drag polar to predict CD0 and e.

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