Banked Turn and Its Effects on Stall Speed

This presentation includes the following topics:-

• What bank angle actually is ??
• Why is it necessary to bank your airplane to the side of the turn?
• What happens to your stall speed (Vs) in a banked turn?
• Calculation of Stall speed (Vs) in a Banked turn (Real Example).
• Derivation of the formula to calculate Vs in banked turns.
• Calculation of Stall speed of an Airplane at a particular bank angle.
• Table showing variation of Stall Speed with respect to given bank angle.
• Conclusion (What we have understood from the presentation?)
 What is Bank Angle?

 Bank Angle is the angle (θ) at which the aircraft is inclined along its
longitudinal axis (Roll Axis) with respect to the horizontal.
 In other words, When the aircraft is rolled to the left or right, the bank
angle is the angle between the horizontal axis (a line from wingtip to wingtip)
and the horizon.
 Why is it necessary to roll to the side of the turn??

 When an aircraft starts turning, it is subjected to one more force other than
thrust, drag, lift and weight. It is known as the Centrifugal Force. This force can
cause the aircraft to deviate out of the planned path as this force will try to pull
the aircraft outside the path.
 Another reason is that, if only rudder control (at the vertical stabilizer) is used to
turn the airplane to the required side of the turn, it will cause the aircraft to
violently Yaw to the side of the turn. This will not at all be comfortable for the
passengers and the pilot either.
 So, during the turn the aircraft is banked along its roll axis using the Ailerons at
the wingtips and yawed to side of the turn using the rudder. This is known as “Co-
ordinated Turn”.
 When the aircraft is banked to the side of the turn, the lift generated from the
wings will be used to both counteract the Centrifugal Force and to keep the
aircraft levelled. In other words, the lift will be used to initiate the turn and at the
same time support the weight of the aircraft.
 Components of Aerodynamic Lift
As we have discussed just now, the aerodynamic lift gets divided into two components:-
 Horizontal Component (Lh):- It is that component of lift which is acting on the aircraft, horizontally. This component of lift counteracts
with the Centrifugal Force. This prevents the aircraft to move outside its turning path and make the turn. It is calculated as:

Lh = Total Lift * Sin θ

 Vertical Component (Lv):- It is that component of lift, which counteracts or supports the weight of the aircraft. This component should
be maintained to avoid loss of altitude in a banked turn.

Lv = Total Lift * Cos θ

 What happens to the stall speed (Vs) in a banked
turn ?
 As we have discussed earlier, the total lift is divided into two
components namely: Horizontal Component (Lh) & Vertical Component
(Lv). Now, when the aircraft is in levelled & unaccelerated flight, the
total lift will be equal to the Vertical component which is supporting the
weight of the aircraft.

 Now, since in a banked turn the total lift gets bifurcated into 2
components, obviously the vertical component will no longer be able to
support the weight of the aircraft and hence, the aircraft will not able
to maintain a levelled flight.

 To maintain the level in a banked turn, the vertical component must

sufficiently be increased to support the weight of the aircraft so that it
is able to maintain a levelled flight.
 What happens to the stall speed (Vs) in a banked turn ?
 To increase lift in a banked turn, you have to pull back on your controls to increase the
Angle of Attack. “Angle of Attack (AoA) is the angle between the chord line of the airfoil
and the relative airflow.”

 But as you increased the Angle of Attack, the lift-induced drag increases simultaneously.
To compensate with the increased drag, you have to increase the thrust of the engines.

 This means to maintain the level flight you fly at a higher Angle of Attack. This means
you have increased your Stall Speed. Therefore, we conclude that,
Stall Speed increases with Bank Angle
 Calculation of Stall Speed in a Banked Turn

To correctly determine the stall speed in a banked turn, we will take a real
life example of an aircraft turning to the left.
Example:- Imagine a Boeing 747, weighing 375 tons wants to turn to the left.
So, it has to roll to the left and add left rudder input to do this.
Let us assume that, the airspeed at which the aircraft is flying will require a
30 degree bank angle to achieve the Standard Rate of Turn (Rate one Turn) of
3 degrees per second.
Also, the stall speed at the current weight is given as 170 KIAS (knots
Indicated Airspeed).

 Calculations of Stall Speed (Vs)

As per the weight is given, the lift needed to maintain the weight of the
aircraft will be equal to:
Lift = Weight = Mass * Gravity
Lift = 375,000 * 9.8 m/s^2
Lift = 3,675,000 Newtons
 Calculation of Stall Speed in a Banked Turn

 Let us now calculate the Horizontal (Lh) & Vertical Component (Lv) of Lift using the given
data:
Lh = Total Lift * Sin θ Lv = Total Lift * Cos θ
Lh = 3,675,000 N * Sin 30 Lv = 3,675,000 N * Cos 30
Lh = 1,837,500 Newtons Lv = 3,182,643 Newtons
 Now, it is the vertical component which will support the weight of the aircraft. In a
straight and level flight, the vertical component would be 3,675,000 Newtons. But due to
the bifurcation, the vertical component has now been reduced to 3,182,643 Newtons.
 This means, we have to increase the lift by (3675000 ÷ 3182643) = 1.154 times.
 So, to increase the vertical component by 1.154 times, we must increase the Angle of
Attack sufficiently. But, if we increase the Angle of Attack not only the vertical
component, but also the horizontal component will increase; which in turn will increase
the total lift.
Therefore, total lift in the banked turn = Total lift in straight & level flight * 1.154
Total lift in the banked turn = 3675000 N * 1.154 = 4,240,950 N
 Calculation of Stall Speed in a Banked Turn

 This increase in total lift in a banked turn is the G- force which is

needed to do the turn.
 As, in the turn the total lift increased by 1.154 times= 1/Cos 30.
This means, Total lift after the turn = Total lift before the turn * 1.154
Total lift after the turn = Total lift before the turn * (1/ Cos 30)

Therefore, G = 1/Cos θ

Note : Before we calculate what will be the Stall Speed (Vs) in a banked
turn, we have to first derive the “Formula for Finding the Stall Speed in a
banked turn”.

Have a look at the next slide for the derivation of the formula….
Derivation of the Formula to calculate stall speed in
a Banked Turn
 We know that the formula for lift at stall speed is:
L = Clmax * 0.5 * ρ * A * (Vs^2) --------------------------- Equation (1)
As the lift increases by G times, the equation will be:
G * L = G * Clmax * 0.5 * ρ * A * (Vs^2)
G * L = Clmax * 0.5 * ρ * A * G * (Vs^2)
G * L = Clmax * 0.5 * ρ * A * ((√G)^2) * (Vs^2)
 So, we got the equation as,
G * L = Clmax * 0.5 * ρ * A * [(√G * Vs)^2)] ------------- Equation (2)
 Now, if we compare equation 1 & 2, we see that the stall speed in a
banked turn becomes √G times the stall speed before.
 Also, G = 1/Cos θ.
 Therefore, we can say that -------
Vs (in banked turn) = Vs * √(1/Cos θ)
 What will be the stall speed of the Boeing 747 in
the given condition??
 We have earlier seen that the stall speed of the Boeing 747 was 170 KIAS.
 According to the derived formula, the stall speed in the 30 degree banked turn will
be calculated as:
We know, in a 30 degree bank, G = 1/Cos 30
 G = 1.154
 Therefore, Vs (in banked turn) = 170 * √1.154
 Vs (in banked turn) = 170 * 1.074 = 182.5 KIAS

 This corresponds to roughly 7.4 % increase in stall speed in a 30 degree banked

turn.
 Relation of Stall Speed with Bank Angles

Serial Danger Level Bank Angle G– % increase in Typical Stall Speed Stall Speed
No. (in degrees) Force Stall Speed (unaccelerated flight) in banked
turn

1. Very Low 15 1.035 7.3 170 KIAS 182.41 KIAS

2. Within Limits 30 1.154 7.4 170 KIAS 182.58 KIAS

3. Moderately high 45 1.414 18.9 170 KIAS 202.3 KIAS

4. High 60 2.0 41 170 KIAS 240 KIAS

Extremely
5. 75 3.8 96.5 170 KIAS 334.05 KIAS
Dangerous
 What we have concluded from the presentation ??

 Bank angle is the angle at which the aircraft is inclined along its roll axis, with respect to
the horizontal.
 Bank angle is necessary to counteract the centrifugal force and make a coordinated turn.
 During the turn, lift is bifurcated into Vertical & Horizontal Components.
 Stall speed increases because of the increase in G- force in the banked turn.
 Stall speed becomes Square root of the G- force in a banked turn.
 G- force can be calculated as : G = 1/Cos θ implies that G = Sec θ.
 Bank angle should be kept within safe limits of 30- 45 Degrees to maximum limit of 60
degrees, as stall speed increases at an alarming rate with higher bank angles.

Thank You !!