THEORY

O F F L I G H T
 AIRCRAFT
PERFORMANCE
A e r o d y n a m i c F o r c e s i n
F l i g h t M a n e u v e r s

LESSON 9
FORCES IN TURNS

LIFT

WEIGHT
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FORCES IN TURNS
LIFT

CENTRIPETAL FORCE

WEIGHT
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FORCES IN TURNS

Centrifugal
Force

Load Factor
Weight

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FORCES IN TURNS

LIFT

Centrifugal
Force

Weight

Load Factor 7
FORCES IN TURNS

LOAD FACTOR, n
• The ratio between the lift and the aircraft weight
• In a cruising level fight, lift is equal to weight so, n = 1.
• It is customary, especially by the pilot community, to use the unit
of g for the load factor. For instance, when the lift is twice the
aircraft weight (i.e., n = 2), the turn is said to be a 2-g turn.

𝐿𝐿
=n
𝑊𝑊
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FORCES IN TURNS
V – Linear
𝑉𝑉
Centrifugal Force Velocity
FC – Centripetal 𝜔𝜔 =
𝑅𝑅
Is the “equal and opposite reaction” Force
of the aircraft to the change in
direction and acts equal and
opposite to the horizontal
component of lift.
R – Path Radius
Centripetal Force
The horizontal component of lift is
the force that pulls the aircraft from
a straight flight path to make it turn.

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FORCES IN TURNS
Centrifugal Force V∞ – Linear
FR – Centripetal
Velocity
Is the “equal and opposite reaction” Force
of the aircraft to the change in
direction and acts equal and
opposite to the horizontal
component of lift.

R – Turn
Centripetal Force Radius
The horizontal component of lift is
the force that pulls the aircraft from
a straight flight path to make it turn.

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TYPES OF TURNS
Shallow turns
• These are the most common turns during flight. During this sort of turn,
the planes designed stability will attempt to bring the wings level again.
Once the pilot rolls into a turn, they’ll have to keep making corrections to
maintain the desired bank angle.

Medium turns
• Medium banked turns are between 20 and 45 degrees. At these angles, the
airplane’s stability does not return it to level flight, so it keeps a constant
bank angle with little input from the pilot.

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TYPES OF TURNS
Steep turns
- result from a degree of
bank of approximately 45°
or more. The airplane
continues in the direction of
the bank even with neutral
flight controls unless the
pilot provides opposite
flight control aileron
pressure to prevent the
airplane from overbanking.

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TYPES OF TURNS

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TYPES OF TURNS
The underlying characteristic of all skidded
turns is excess yaw in the direction of the
turn. They are uncoordinated maneuvers.

Skidded Turn

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TYPES OF TURNS The underlying characteristic of all skidded
turns is excess yaw in the direction of the
turn. They are uncoordinated maneuvers.

Skidding turns occur when the nose is

yawed inside the turn.

Skidded Turn

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 The underlying characteristic of all
TYPES OF TURNS slipping turns is excess yaw opposite to
the direction of turn. Like skidded
turns, slipping turns are uncoordinated.
During a slipping turn, the inside wing
points toward the ground. The
deflected rudder, however, points
opposite to the direction of turn.

Slipping Turn

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 TYPES OF TURNS

Spiral

is a gliding turn where

the pilot maintains a constant
radius around a surface-based
reference point while rapidly
descending—similar to the
turns around a point
maneuver.

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FORCES IN A CLIMB

CLIMBING
-To gain height at a steady specified speed while
maintaining a constant heading

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FORCES IN A CLIMB

D T

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FORCES IN A CLIMB

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FORCES IN A CLIMB

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FORCES IN A CLIMB

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FORCES IN A DESCENT
DESCENT
a condition of flight where the aircraft loses height by:
A. Gliding at constant speed
B. Using controlled Power to lose height

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FORCES IN A DESCENT
DESCENT
a condition of flight where the aircraft loses height by:
A. Gliding at constant speed
B. Using controlled Power to lose height

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FORCES IN A DESCENT

These forces must remain in equilibrium

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FORCES IN A DESCENT
• In a descent Lift is less than Weight.
• In a descent Thrust is less than Drag.

Both the lift and drag resist the descent.

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLIGHT

Straight-and-level flight is flight in

which heading and altitude are
constantly maintained.

Straight-and-level flight is a matter of

consciously fixing the relationship of a
reference point on the airplane in
relation to the natural horizon.

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLIGHT

Straight-and-level flight is flight in

which heading and altitude are
constantly maintained.

Straight-and-level flight is a matter of

consciously fixing the relationship of a
reference point on the airplane in
relation to the natural horizon.

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLIGHT

Maintaining a constant direction or

heading is accomplished by visually checking the
lateral level relationship of the airplane’s
wingtips to the natural horizon.

Straight-and-level flight requires almost

no application of flight control pressures if the
airplane is properly trimmed and the air is
smooth.

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
CLIMB PERFORMANCE

Climb performance is a measure of excess thrust which generally

increases lift to overcome other forces such as weight and drag.

Mechanical
energy comes in
two forms:

Kinetic Energy Potential Energy

(KE), the energy of (PE), the stored
speed energy of position.

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
CLIMB PERFORMANCE

Climb performance is a measure of excess thrust which generally

increases lift to overcome other forces such as weight and drag.

Mechanical 1
energy comes in 𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾 = 𝑚𝑚𝑣𝑣 2
two forms: 2

Kinetic Energy Potential Energy

(KE), the energy of
speed
(PE), the stored
energy of position.
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
CLIMB PERFORMANCE

POWER THRUST
measure of output from the force that actually moves the
engine aircraft
Horsepower or Kilowatts Pounds or Newtons

Positive Climb Performance

Two basic factors:
1. The aircraft climbs (gains PE) using excess power above that
required to maintain level flight
2. The aircraft climbs by converting airspeed (KE) to altitude (PE).

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
CLIMB PERFORMANCE

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AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE:
CLIMB PERFORMANCE

Two primary reasons to evaluate

climb performance:

1. Aircraft must climb over obstacles

to avoid hitting them.

2. Climbing to higher altitudes can

provide better weather, fuel
economy, and other benefits.

Determine the max AOC and max ROC

to achieve the greatest altitude gain
overtime.
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ANGLE OF CLIMB (AOC)

AOC is the inclination (angle) of the flight

path.

• For maximum AOC performance, a pilot

flies the aircraft at Vx so as to achieve
maximum altitude increase with minimum
horizontal travel over the ground
• One method to climb (have positive AOC
performance) is to have excess thrust
available. Essentially, the greater the
force that pushes the aircraft upward, the
steeper it can climb.
• Maximum AOC occurs at the airspeed and
angle of attack (AOA) combination which
allows the maximum excess thrust. 41
ANGLE OF CLIMB (AOC)

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Rate of Climb (ROC)

ROC is a comparison of altitude gained relative to the time needed to reach that altitude.

• ROC is simply the vertical component of the aircraft’s flight path velocity vector.
• For maximum ROC performance, a pilot flies the aircraft at VY so as to achieve a maximum gain in
altitude over a given period of time.
• Maximum ROC occurs at an airspeed and AOA combination that produces the maximum excess power.

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Thank you
ENGR. KGMG

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