1

AE 429 - Aircraft Performance and

Flight Mechanics
Rate of Climb
Time to Climb
Rate of Climb R/C
Now lets analyze a steady climb
Forces include a gravity component now
V

sin
cos
T D W
L W

= +
=
cos sin
dV
m T D W
dt

=
2
1
cos sin cos cos
V
m L T W
r

= +
The rate of
climb (R/C) is
the vertical
component of
velocity
2
For low climb angles (up to about 20)
We can assume to calculate C
L
So we work on the drag equation, multiplying by V

In climb, the rate of climb is the vertical component of

velocity
Maximum R/C
Maximize excess power
Minimize weight
Maximum angle of climb
Maximize excess thrust
Minimize weight
( )
sin
sin
TV DV WV
T D V TV DV
V
W W

= +

= =
cos 1
/ sin R C V

=
( ) T D V
R C
W

=
( ) ( )
1
sin
T D T D
W W

=
Rate of Climb R/C
Excess Power
( )
2
2
,0 ,0
2 2
,0
cos
cos
cos
L
D D L D
D
L W
C
q S q S
W
D q SC q S C KC q S C K
q S
KW
q SC
q S

= =
| |
| |
|
= = + = + =
|
|
\ .
\ .
= +
( )
/ sin
T D V
T D
R C V V
W W W

| |
= = =
|
\ .
Rate of Climb R/C
Preliminary design cos 1 OK for 50

1
2 2
,0
2
1 2
/ sin cos
2
D
T W K W
R C V V V C
W S S V

(
| |
= = (
|
\ . (

( ) T D V
W

3
2
1
cos
2
L
L W V SC

= =
,0 D
L
C
C
K
=
,0 2
max max
1
cos
2
D
C
L W V S
K

= =
2
max max
,0
2
cos
D
K W
V
C S

=
( )
max
max
max
/ sin R C V

=
Maximum Climb Angle
Speed at max for jet propelled airplane
Rate of climb at max
1
sin
/ cos /
T D T D T
W W W L W L D

= = =
cos 1
( )
max ,0
max
1
sin 4
/
D
T T
C K
W W L D
= =
max
from L/D max
Max Angle to Climb
If thrust available is constant with V
Maximum climb angle occurs at minimum drag
This speed also gives best acceleration in level flight
Thrust is approximately constant for
a pure turbojet -- not a very good
approximation for other powerplants
max
V

( )
A
T D
W

=
4
Typically, climbs are not flown at constant V

Recognizing
and rearranging
sin sin
dV dV W W dh
T D W D W
g dt g dh dt


= + + = + +
sin
dh
R C V
dt

= =
1 1
sin sin sin
1
1
T D
dV T D T D
W
V
V dV
W g dh W k
g dh
V dV
k
g dh

= + = =
+
= +
Rate of Climb R/C
For our idealized jet airplane, best rate of climb
does not occur at minimum power required
Maximum rate of climb occurs at the velocity where
excess power is greatest
The velocity for maximum rate of climb is determined for
any aircraft by
Plotting the power required versus true airspeed
Overplotting the power available versus true airspeed
Choosing the velocity where the distance between the two
curves is greatest
Rate of Climb R/C
5
The chart below illustrates this procedure
Best R/C
speed
Best angle
of climb speed
Rate of Climb R/C
Rate of Climb R/C
1
2
,0 2
1 2
/
2
D
T W K W
R C V V C
W S S V

(
| |
= (
|
\ . (

( )
1
2
,0 2
/
3 2
0
2
D
d R C
T W K W
V C
dV W S S V

(
| |
= + = (
|
\ . (

( )
( )( )
( ) ( )
max
1/ 2
/ 2 2
,0
max
/ /
3
1 1
3
/ /
R C
D
T W W S
V
C
L D T W

(

(
= + +
`
(

)
( )
( )
( ) ( )
1/ 2
3/ 2
2 2 max
,0
max
/
3
/ 1
3 6
2 / / D
W S Z
T Z
R C
C W
T W L D Z

(
(
| |
(
=
(
|
( \ . (


( ) ( )
2 2
max
3
1 1
/ /
Z
L D T W
+ +
Max Rate of Climb
6
This chart shows the
effect of altitude
At higher true
airspeeds, P
R
decreases
with altitude
However, P
A
falls off
faster than P
R
The best climb speed
usually decreases
slightly with altitude
Rate of Climb R/C: Effect of the
Altitude
For a propeller aircraft
Maximum rate of climb occurs at the V

where maximum excess

power occurs
Maximum R/C does not occur at V
min
PR
However, if P
R
is assumed constant with V, R/C
max
does occur at V
min
PR
DV

is approximately the power required in the climb

Rate of Climb R/C
7
For propeller aircraft
Maximum angle of climb occurs at the V

for which maximum

excess thrust occurs
Maximum climb angle (which is used to clear obstacles on takeoff)
occurs at a velocity < V
minTR
Rate of Climb R/C
For a given
altitude
For any type
of airplane,
excess power
determines R/C
Induced drag
changes P
R
|
.
|

\
|
=
W
P P
C / R
R A
R/C changes with
velocity
Plots like the one on left
allow determination of
best R/C speed
Rate of Climb R/C
8
Climb performance hodograph
Vertical velocity versus horizontal velocity
Notice the difference in velocity for
max
and the velocity for (R/C)
max
Rate of Climb R/C
Lift forces Eq.
Drag forces Eq.
Solving the two
equations for
solve each for qS
set qS = qS
solve the resulting
quadratic for
= cos W L
0 sin W D T =
( )
( ) ( )
2
D
2
L
2 2
D
2 2
L
2
2
D
2
L
2
L
2
D
2
L
2
L
C C W
W C T C
C C W
T C
C C W
T C
sin
+

|
|
.
|

\
|
+

+
=
Rate of Climb R/C: High performance
climb
9
Gliding flight
Forces in a power-off glide
Dividing drag by lift
Once again, an important
performance parameter
is set by L/D
the smallest gives
maximum gliding range
this maximum range occurs when L/D is maximum
for V

constant
airplanes with good aerodynamic efficiency (high
L/D) can glide 20-50 times as far as their altitude
Does not depend on wing loading or altitude.
= cos W L = sin W D
D
L
1
tan =
2
1
cos
2
L
L V SC W

= =
2cos
L
W
V
C S

=
Equilibrium
glide
velocity
min
max
1
tan
L
D
=
( )
,0
max
/ 1/ 4
D
L D C K =
2cos
L
W
V
C S

=
Equilibrium
glide
velocity
( )
,0
max
/ 1/ 4
D
L D C K =
cos 1
sin
cos
V
H
V V
V V

=
=
sin
sin
V
R
V
D W
DV W V WV
DV P
V
W W

=
= =
= =
10
Ceilings
How high can
the airplane
climb?
Absolute Ceiling: 0 fpm
Service Ceiling: 100 fpm
Absolute Ceiling
11
The ceiling is the altitude at which R/C has
reached some minimum value
Absolute ceiling
Is defined as the altitude at which the R/C = 0
Is dictated when P
A
is just tangent to the P
R
curve
Service ceiling
is defined as that altitude where R/C
max
= 100 ft/min
is the practical upper limit for steady, level flight
Procedure
calculate values of R/C
max
for different altitudes
plot R/C
max
versus altitude
extrapolate this latter curve to 100 fpm and 0 fpm to get
the service and absolute ceilings
Ceilings
Time to Climb
Time to climb
Needs to be short
Calculating R/C
Integrating
Calculating time-to-climb
graphically
plot (R/C)
-1
versus h
Approximate the area under
the curve
Subtract time to climb to the
starting altitude
/ sin
/
dh
R C V
dt
dh
dt
R C

= =
=
2 2
1 1
1
/ /
n
t h
t h
i i
dh h
dt
R C R C
=
1 ^

= ~

( )
_
] ]
Altitude x 10
-3
( )
( ) ( )
min 2
max
min 2
0 0
/
1
ln ln
t h
R C a bh
dh
t dt a bh a
a bh b
=
l
= = =
l

] ]