(Climb and Drift-down Performance 9.4 METHODS FOR PREDICTING TIME-TO-CLIMB, TIME-TO- ~DRIFT-DOWN, AEO CEILINGS AND OEI CEILINGS In this Section the following performance aspects will be presented: 9.4.1 Method for Predicting Time-to-Climb Performance 9.4.2 Method for Predicting Time-to-Drift-down Performance 9.4.3. Method for Predicting AEO and OEI Ceilings 9.4.1 METHOD FOR PREDICTING TIME-TO-CLIMB PERFORMANCE ‘The rate—of-climb, R.C. of an airplane was defined in Eqn (9.8) as: re = & x ¢ (9.66) The time required to climb from one altitude to another can therefore be evaluated from: by h-t = | «& (9.67) ay The horizontal distance covered during the climb may be estimated from: hy ds = [ vos = Vavelly — 4) = Rep (9.68) i, The weight of the fuel consumed during the climb may be estimated from: & bs We. We, = | We, dt = | Rah (9.9) é be The integrals in Eqns (9.67) through (9.69) are normally evaluated numerically. There are sever- al reasons for this: a) The rate-of-climb, R.C. depends on airplane configuration, weight, altitude and thrust or power setting, all of which may vary during the climb b) The speed during the climb is in general not a constant. 404 Chapter 9Climb and Drift-down Performance ©) The fuel flow rate, W,, depends on airplane configuration, weight, altitude, and thrust or power setting, all of which may vary during the climb. The functional relationships needed to perform the integrations explicitly are normally so com- plicated that explicit integration becomes impractical. Numerical integration can be accomplished in the following four steps: Step 1: Determine the maximum rate~of-climb for a range of altitudes and for a range of weights, all ata given thrust or power setting. Which thrust or power setting should be used depends on the type of engine and on any installation limitations* which are associated with that engine. These calculations may be done: at maximum continuous thrust or power at maximum climb thrust or power at any other thrust or power required These calculations are normally done for standard atmospheric conditions with increments of +/~ 5 degrees C. The maximum rate~of-climb may be determined with the method implied by Eqn (9.27) for jets and Eqn (9.43) for propeller driven airplanes, Step 2: Plot the maximum rate~of~climb versus altitude and weight for a given thrust or power setting at a given atmospheric temperature. ‘An example graph is given in Figure 9.14, Note the three ceiling definitions. Step 3: Eqns (9.67) through (9.69) can be evaluated numerically with a table or spreadsheet An example tabulation is given in Table 9.6. Notes with Step 3: The calculation starts by dividing the expected airplane ceiling into incremental ranges of altitude. The following incremental ranges are recom— mended: for fighters: 2,000 ft for jet transports: 4,000 ft for propeller driven transports: 5,000 ft * Typical installation limitations may involve the use of air-conditioning packs, anti- or de-icing systems and other systems which consume a significant amount of power. ‘Chapter 9 405Climb and Drift~down Performance Turbo-prop transport for a range of weights, given power setting, given temperature Altitude, bsol}te ceifing feet 30K Service ceiling for piston airplanes Service ceiling for jet airplanes 20K Increasing Weight 10K +—| 9 Wi ty) | 0 100 500 1,000 2,000 Maximum Rate-of—climb, 8-C.mo, f/'min Figure 9.14 Example of Maximum Rate-of-climb Versus Altitude and Weight Table 9.6 Numerical Integration for Time—to—climb, Distance Covered and Fuel Used Range of | Average Increment in | Increment in Average | Average [Time Total Press. Alt. | Press, Al, [Press. All. ‘True Alt. Weight | RC Increment | time a) 2 8) 4) (3) 6 m7 1® Select | Compute | Ah, = Abive = Assume | RCaye | At = | ZA by, + hy, hy, to ha, | = a, | Alp x aoa Wave | See Alnus ~— Fig. 9.15 | R-Cave ‘Average Incremental horizontal | Horizontal | Average fuel |Incremental| Total fuel flight distance covered distance | flowrate fuel used | used in speed covered w elim Veve AS = Vive x At EAS ‘ AW, From climb performance data From engine data 406 Chapter 9(Climb and Drift-down Performance A ‘Valid for a given power setting and a given temperature Altitude, Increasing — 5 fect 30K | Weight See application of Eqn (9.74) on p. 409 20K. , . “CF 10K hy ° 0 1,000 RCare 2,000 Maximum Rate-of-climb, R.C.may, fUmin > Figure 9.15 Example of Maximum Rate-of-climb Versus Altitude and Weight The calculations should be done for a range of airplane weights at the beginning of the climb, ‘The selected range of weights depends on the airplane type. For a B~747, the weight difference between take-off and landing on a maximum payload-range mission is about 40%. In such a case weight increments of 5% should be aecounted for in climb calculations. The R.C, calculated for each step is the average R.C. for the average weight of the airplane in climbing from h, to hy . After the fuel weight used in climbing from one altitude to another has been deter- mined, the average weight assumed for the climb calculations may have to be iterated. Step 4: Plot the variations of distance, fuel used and time-to-climb for the range of altitudes and airplane weights, An un-scaled example of such plots is shown in Figure 9.16. A numerical example of the calculation of the time to climb to altitude is now presented for the case of the turbo-prop airplane at a constant weight of 33,720 bs. The maximum rate-of-climh data are those of Figure 9.15. The example is given in Table 9.7 Table 9.7 shows that the time required to climb to 30,000 ft (which is approximately the service ceiling for this airplane) is just under 44 minutes. Chapter 9 407Clin’ and Drift-down Performance Pressure Pressure Pressure altitude, altitude, | Initial altitude, ft ft oli ft A climb A weight Increasing Increasing weight at weight at start of climb start of climb Tncreasing weight at start of climb Horizontal distance Fuel used, Ibs Time spent, t, ye covered, ftornm = > min, or hrs Figure 9.16 Example Plot of Distance Covered, Fuel Used and Time Spent in a Steady Climb Table 9.7 Numerical Determination of the Time-to—Climb to 30,000 ft Altitude, Maximum Rate- ‘Average Rate— Time Total time ft of-climb, {min of-climb, ft/min increment, min. spent, min. R.C.mex RC ive Ag t= SA oO 1,700 oO 1,600 3.13 5,000 1,500 3.13 -———___———_ 1,399 —— 3.60 10,000 1,280 6B 1,155 ———— 4.33 11.06 885 ———— 5.65 16.71 585 855 25,000 430 25.26 215 18.18 30,000 120 43.44 v v From Fig. 9.15 Time to climb to 30,000 ft 408, Chapter 9Climb and Drift-down Performance Ibis seen from Figure 9.14 that the maximum rate~of-climb, when plotted against altitude can berepresented by sequential straight fine segments, or in some cases, by one straight line. For agiven altitude interval the R.C. at any altitude, h, may be written as: RC = RC, ~ kh - hy) (9.70) where the slope, k, may be determined from: RCy, — RC k = 2S 7 RCn 71) hy — hy In such a case, the time-to-climb can evaluated directly from Eqn (9.67) as: RC, RC. 1 ty L r = = Ain) Lyf 9.72) Boh ay tees = kha — sal Kk (ee) On) In the following it is assumed that the entire plot of maximum R.C. versus altitude can be repre- sented by a straight line, as shown in Figure 9.17. a - Typical values for absolute ceilings are: Altitude, PSE Absolute ceiling Type Absolute Ceiling, ft hinft Piston-propeller h Normally aspirated 10K - 18K Supercharged 15K -25K ‘Turbo-jets and —fans Commercial 35K-SOK Military 40K-55K Fighters SSK~75K R.C,, Maximum Rate-of-climb, Trainers 35K ~45K RC. infpm Figure 9.17 Linearized Maximum R.C. with Altitude and Example Absolute Ceilings In this case, the climb performance can be modelled as: RC. = RCo — b/hyscoiue) (9.73) ‘The time-to~climb to a given altitude, h, for a given absolute ceiling, Mgpsoite » and for a given sea-level maximum rate-of-climb, R.C.y, may be determined from: Chapter 9 409Climb and Drift-down Performance = Dabsotute 1 ‘eins = RC of tc) Om In preliminary design, Eqn (9.74) can be used to determine the required, maximum sea-level rate-of-climb, R.C.g required to satisfy a given time-to-climb to altitude requirement. Eqn (9.74) can be applied to the case of the turbo-prop transport of Figure 9.15. The straight line approximation, drawn in Fig, 9.15 suggests: R.C.g = 1,850 ft/min and byycoiye = 32,000 ft Eqn (9.74) yields for the time-to-climb to 30,000 ft: 48 minutes. This is not too far from the numerically determined time of 44 minutes. Another useful graphical representation of the ability of an airplane to reach a given altitude for a given weight, is to plot: a) the thrust-limited altitude as a function of weight for various thrust settings b) the buffet-limited altitude for various thrust settings Figure 9.18, based on the Fall 1996 issue of Boeing Airliner magazine shows an example. The maximum certified altitude (MCA) of the 747-400 is 45,100 ft. The MCA depends on the ability of the fuselage structure to withstand the pressure differential between the cabin pressure and the prevailing outside air pressure, As seen in Figure 9.18, the 747-400 with PW4000 engines can reach that altitude only at very low weights. The thrust-limited altitude is plotted for the following two cases: 1) with a 100 fVmin residual climb capability 2) with a 300 fvmin residual climb capability ‘The buffet-limited altitude is plotted for the following two cases: 1) with a 0.2g margin to initial buffet (this allows 34 degrees of bank in a level turn) 2) with a 0.3g margin to initial buffet (this allows 40 degrees of bank in a level turn) Initial buffet is defined as a condition of a peak-to-peak 0.1g accelerometer reading at the pilot's seat track. It is normally caused by a shock induced flow separation somewhere on the wing (high speed buffet) or a stall induced flow separation somewhere on the wing (low speed buffet). 410 Chapter 9Climb and Drift-down Performance Data from: Ref. 9.6 Buffet limited altitude: 0.3g margin to initial buffet =] imited altitude: residual climb rate at maximum climb thrust, ISA ‘Thrust limited altitude: 100 ft/min residual climb rate at maximum climb thrust, ISA 20K 400 500 600 700 800 Weight in 1,000 Ibs Figure 9.18 Achievable Altitudes as a Function of Weight for the Boeing 747-400 with P&W4000 engines 9.4.2. METHOD FOR PREDICTING TIME-TO-DRIFT-DOWN PERFORMANCE When one engine becomes inoperative (OBI) the performance of an airplane is affected in two ways: a) The amount of available thrust (or power) is reduced b) The drag of the airplane is incteased because of the extra drag on the stopped engines and the trim drag required to keep the airplane on a straight line flight path As a result, when an airplane is operating at its maximum cruise altitude, it will have to descend (ie. drift down) to a lower altitude. Particularly for transoceanic twins, operating under ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) rules, the time to drift-dowa, the distance covered and the remaining range capability of the airplane on one engine and with a higher drag level all at the OEI cruise ceiling can become important issues. The rate-of-descent (R.D.) of an airplane with OEI may be determined with Eqns (9.40) and (9.65) for jet and for propeller driven airplanes respectively. Chapter 9 aulClimb and Drift-down Performance ‘The rate-of-descent, R.D. of an airplane was defined in Eqn (9.17) as: = —¢h RD. (9. 9.75) The time required to drift-down (descend) from one altitude to another follows from: hy hone { dh 0.76) hy The horizontal distance covered during the drift-down maneuver may be estimated from: be ds = { Veosydt = Vavety — ty) 9.77) by ‘The weight of the fuel consumed during the descent may be estimated from: ® hy W, = [ee = [a (9.78) u hy The integrals in Eqns (9.75) through (9.78) are normally evaluated numerically. There are sever- al reasons for this: a) The rate-of-descent, R.D. depends on airplane configuration, weight, altitude thrust or power setting, and added drag, all of which may vary during the climb b) The speed during the climb is in general not a constant. ) The fuel flow rate, Wy, depends on airplane configuration, weight, altitude thrust or power setting, and added drag, all of which may vary during the climb. ‘The functional relationships needed to perform the integrations explicitly are normally so com- plicated that explicit integration becomes impractical. Numerical integration can be accomplished in the following four steps: Step 1: Determine the minimum rate-of-descent for a range of altitudes and weights, at a given thrust or power setting for the OEI condition. The thrust or power setting to be used depends on the type of engine and on any installation limitations (See foot— note on p. 405.) which are associated with thatengine, The calculations may be done: at maximum continuous thrust or power at maximum climb thrust or power at any other thrust or power required 412 Chapter 9Step 2: Step 3: Chapter 9 Climb and Drift-down Performance ‘These calculations are normally done for standard atmospheric conditions with increments of +/- 5 degrees C. The minimum rate-of-descent may be determined with the method implied by Eqn (9.40) for jets and Eqn (9.65) for propeller airplanes. Plot the minimum rate-of-descent versus altitude and weight for a given thrust or power setting at a given atmospheric temperature Figure 9.19 shows the thrust available and thrust required data for a range of altitudes for a twin engined business jet with a weight of 16,000 Ibs. Observe that the thrust available with one engine inoperative is roughly half that with all engines operating. Also observe that the thrust required with one engine inoperative is somewhat higher than that required for all engines operating, The reason is item b) on page 411. For the case of Figure 9.19 itis seen that the airplane must descend for altitudes high— er than 20,000 ft. Table 9.8 contains the minimum descent rate calculations based on the data on the right side of Figure 9.19. ‘The data are plotted in Figure 9.20, The descent calculations are continued until the airplane reaches its so-called OEL cruise altitude, The OEI cruise altitude is defined as that altitude for which (at the given weight) the airplane can climb at R.C. = 100 f¥/min. For the airplane of Figure 9.19 at a weight of 16,000 Ibs that altitude is established by interpolation in Figure 9.20: the OEI ceiling is 25,200 ft Eqns (9.76) through (9.78) can be evaluated numerically with a table or spreadsheet. An example tabulation is also given in Table 9,8. The calculation starts by dividing the expected airplane ceiling into incremental ranges of altitude, The following in— cremental ranges are recommended: for fighters: 2,000 ft for jet transports: 4,000 ft for propeller driven transporis: 5,000 ft Itis seen in Figure 9.20 that the R.D. versus altitude is essentially astraight line. With Eqn (9.76), this would theoretically result in an infinite time to descend. In practice the airplane will be flown with a rate of descent not less than about 100 ft/min, The descent time from 40,000 ft to the OET ceiling may be evaluated by numerical in— tegration. The results are also shown in Table 9.8. The descent time to the OEI cei!~ ing (also called the drift-down time) is estimated to be 45.9 min. 413Climb and Drift-down Performance < Wi eqUNN YR <= W equ YEW v0 90 ro 80 90 v0 to ——— — 0 (OAV) Bugeredy soupsug [TV 000" LAs — —} ior! 000% ~A-. Mase : ~ A soe “AH sz 00" smOz Ty HOI 7 000'r I's ar Spat Y TSN\A onal om 00's y Sq] 000°9T= i ove(Climb and Drift-down Performance Table 9.8 Numerical Determination of the Time-to-Descend to OEI Cruise Altitude [Alitude] Taya. — Toa] M | V [Minimum Rate ft 7 ~of-descent, W = 16,000 Ibs Ibs fUsec | tumin Standard atmosphere 40,000 500 0.70} 678] i271 35,000 333 0.63} 613 765 ‘These data are plotted T- in Figure 9.20 30,000 167 567 355 125,000 67 sis | -130 |Altitude,| Altitude | Average Rate~ | Time Total time ft Increment, | ofdescent, increment, min. | spent, min, ft R. At, t= ZAt, t~ 4,000 4,100 36 3.6 — T- 4,000 700 57 93 — 4,400 350 12.6 219 — 2,400 100 24.0 45.9 — be From Fig. 9.20 Time to drift-down to CEI ceiling Minimum Rate— - and: Sredesoontfuiain W = 16,000 Ibs, Standard Atmosphere A 1500 , 1.00 LJ 500 100 1100 | BIE YG — EAMES D -100 500 40,000 30,000 OE! Ceiling 20,000 Altitude 2 Figure 9.20 OFT Minimum Descent Rate Versus Altitude for the Airplanc of Figure 9.19 Chapter 9 415(Climb and Dritt-down Performance The horizontal distance covered depends on the average speed which, according to Table 9.8, is roughly 598 fUsec. The horizontal distance covered is given by: 45.9 x 60 x 598 / 6,076 = 271 nm. Notes with Step 3: The distance covered during the OEI drift~down is an important parameter in flight track planning for over-water flights, where so-called "wet foot prints” must be avoided. A wet footprint (meaning landing in the water, following flame—out of the remaining engine due to fuel starvation) occurs if an airplane, when suffering an engine out condition during a prolonged over-water flight, cannot reach a suitable diversion airport. The operational importance of the wet foot-print idea is discussed in detail in Reference 9.8, Note that there is a problem with these calculations, The minimum rate of descent occurs at a lower Mach number as the airplane descends. This requires the pilot to slow the airplane down. Low speed buffet considerations may inhibit this. Also, to case pilot workload in such a descent, it would be prefered to fly ata constant Mach number, Modern Slight management systems (FMC) can be programmed to fly a drift-down pattern automatically. = be | Si ‘Helsinki Start of OE drift-down New York: a — _| _| “ [ 1 6 cteper9Climb and Drift-down Performance 94.3 METHOD FOR PREDICTING AEO AND OEI CEILINGS Several previous discussions have already mentioned various definitions of airplane ceilings. Itis useful to review these definitions in one place. Absolute Ceiling The absolute ceiling of an airplane is that altitude at which the rate-of-climb, R.C. = 0. For a given weight, the rate of climb depends on the air-speed and on the thrust (or power) level selected by the pilot. In the case of the absolute ceiling at a given weight, the thrust level is assumed to be the maximum continuous thrust (or power) allowable in civil operations and the maximum military thrust (or power) in military operations. The speed is that at which the thrust required (or power required) becomes tangent to the thrust available (or power available) curves. Figure 9.21 shows a graphical example illustrating how the absolute ceiling comes about Given weight, Given weight, Tay altitude and Prega altitude and temperature temperature reed Speed, V Speed, V 9.21 Method for Determining the Absolute Ceiling of an Airplane A more direct graphical method for determining the absolute ceiling is to plot the maximum available climb rate versus altitude as shown in Figure 9.17. Extending Figure 9.17 to negative climb rates (i.e, rates of descent) results in a combination of Figures 9.17 and 9.20 and is shown in Figure 9.22. This definition of absolute ceiling applies to AEO and OEI operations. Obviously with OEI the available thrust (or power) will be less than that for AEO. Also, with OEI the drag of the airplane will be higher than that with AEO. Figure 9.19 provides an illustration of the difference between AEO and OEI characteristics. Chapter 9 a7(Climb and Drift-dowa Performance Altitude, h n weight, thrust (or power) ing and temperature Absolute Ceiling << Minimum Rate-of-Descent 0 Maximum Rate-of-Climb gm. RD. RC. Figure 9.22 Direct Method for Determi: 1g the Absolute Ceiling of an Airplane Service Ceiling The service ceiling of an airplane is that altitude at which the rate-of-climib, takes on the follow- ing values: at maximum continuous thrust or power: for commercial piston-propeller airplanes R.C. = 100 f'min. for commercial jet airplanes R.C. = 500 ft/min. at maximum military thrust or power: for military airplanes RC. = 100 fi/min. ‘The graphical method of Figure 9.23 may be used to determine the service ceiling. Altitude, h Given weight and temperature Civil: maximum continuous thrust or power Military: maximum military Serviee Ceiling thrust or power 0 Maximum Rate-of-Climb RC Figure 9.23 Direct Method for Determining the Service Ceiling of an Airplane 418 Chapter 9Climb and Drift-down Performance This definition of service ceiling applies to AEO and OEI operations. Obviously with OEI the available thrust (or power) will be fess than that for ABO. Also, with OEI the drag of the airplane will be higher than that with AEO. Figure 9.19 provides an illustration of the difference between ‘AEO and OEI characteristics. Cruise and Combat Ceiling for Military Airplanes ‘The cruise and combat ceiling of a military airplane is that altitude at which the rate~of-climb, takes on the following values: Cruise ceiling at maximum continuous thrust or power for M<1.0: 300 ft/min. for M>1.0 1,000 fumin. Combat ceiling at maximum thrust or power forM<1.0 500 fV/min. for M>1.0 1,000 ft/min. The method used to determine these ceilings is similar to that suggested in Figure 9.23. Table 9.9 shows examples of various airplane ceilings published in Jane’s All the World’s Air- craft of 1995-1996 (Ref. 9.7). Note the significant differences between AKO and OEI ceilings. Table 9.9 Examples of Airplane Ceilings (Data from: Ref. 49,865 NA Lockheed-Martin F-16C 27,185 50,000 Not appl, McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C| _36,710 50,000 (Combat)|__N.A. Noxthrop-Grumman B-2A _| 336,500 NA. 50,000 (Combat)|_NA. Fairchild Metro 23 16,500 2,700 25,000 11,600 Boeing 767-200 300,000 NA. NA. 21,400 Cessna Citation VI 22,000 3,700 51,000 23,500 Cessna Citationjet 10,400 3,311 41,000 26,200 Beechcraft 1900D 16,950 2,625 33,000 17,000 Piper Malibu Mirage 4,300 1,218 25,000 [Not app! Chapter 9 419