Determination of bank angle from speed and heading change per time period

Grumman-581 wrote
Anyone know of a formula for determing the current bank angle, given
the current velocity and rate of change in heading over a particular
period of time?

I think that you are going to have to work with TAS instead of GS,
but Figure 2.29 on page 179 of Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators has
a graph of all the factors involved.

Bob Moore

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:17:32 +0000, in
28, Bob Moore wrote:
I think that you are going to have to work with TAS instead of GS, but
Figure 2.29 on page 179 of Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators has a graph
of all the factors involved.

Yeah, to be perfectly accurate, I would need air speed and not ground
speed in addition to wind angle corrections, but I was curious if I could
get a good approximation of the bank angle from just what I'm getting from
the GPS without having to add a considerably costlier device like an
accelerometer / gyro with rs232 outputs... The Garmin 18 5Hz puck type GPS
goes for around $150... A bit more than the 1Hz units that are typical for
car navigation, but not entirely out of line for this project... The
accelerometer / gyro systems that I've seen so far with rs232 outputs go
for around $1K-$2K... I understand that there is some new work in
accelerometers for PC-based pointing devices that have brought the prices
down considerably compared to the previous devices like this:

http://www.watson-gyro.com/products/...A_80_spec.html

Grumman-581 wrote:
The accelerometer / gyro systems that I've seen so far with rs232
outputs go for around $1K-$2K...

You can get a 3-axis accelerometer with analog output for around $300.
I recently used one like this
http://www.xbow.com/Products/product...s.aspx?sid=185 for a project
in a ground vehicle. I used a three-axis one that takes power and gives
you three analog outputs X, Y, Z. The same company also sells an RS232
A/D board but IMHO it's a little spendy at $300. If USB is OK I know
you can get small USB DAQ boxes from several different vendors. I was
using an older National Instruments full length ISA card, but then again
it was OK for me to have an entire desktop PC case in the back seat of
the car.

None of this stuff is official aviation stuff (nice aluminum box, round
connectors, etc) but then again it doesn't have an official aviation
price tag either.

Standard disclaimers apply; I don't get money from any of the companies
mentioned.

Matt Roberds

"Grumman-581" wrote in message
news : On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:17:32 +0000, in
: 28, Bob Moore wrote:
: I think that you are going to have to work with TAS instead of GS, but
: Figure 2.29 on page 179 of Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators has a graph
: of all the factors involved.
:
: Yeah, to be perfectly accurate, I would need air speed and not ground
: speed in addition to wind angle corrections, but I was curious if I could
: get a good approximation of the bank angle from just what I'm getting from
: the GPS without having to add a considerably costlier device like an
: accelerometer / gyro with rs232 outputs... The Garmin 18 5Hz puck type GPS
: goes for around $150... A bit more than the 1Hz units that are typical for
: car navigation, but not entirely out of line for this project... The
: accelerometer / gyro systems that I've seen so far with rs232 outputs go
: for around $1K-$2K... I understand that there is some new work in
: accelerometers for PC-based pointing devices that have brought the prices
: down considerably compared to the previous devices like this:
:
: http://www.watson-gyro.com/products/...A_80_spec.html
:

Don't know why wind angle would be important. Have to assume a coordinated turn also - a rudder turn would yaw like
crazy but not necessarily result in a bank angle....