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#1
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Three more newbie Qs, if you don't mind :)
Hi all,
I'm encouraged by your non-disparaging response to my first posting here yesterday. I have a few more Qs that will look utterly idiotic to you guys -- but remember that I'm not a pilot 1. Is there a way of mathematically justifying the dictum that a successful takeoff is guaranteed if you develop 70% of the desired thrust in half the runway length? And is this dictum kind of set in stone or are there riders? 2. I've heard that you can let an aircraft fly itself off, so to speak, by lifting the nose early in the takeoff roll to the desired takeoff attitude. To a non-pilot like me, it's intriguing how this can be possible. I know that plane manufacturers prescribe takeoff flap settings, which means that there's gotta be some predetermined angle of the wing with reference to the horizontal that'll give the aircraft an optimal kind of lift at some speed enough to make it afloat and keep it afloat. How then would increasing this wing angle, which is what would happen by an early nose-lift, help? If at all, I feel it'll get the craft airborne without enough speed to sustain itself, whereupon it should start descending before too long... I could be completely wrong in the way I'm thinking here but would love to hear how this principle works. 3. Is it possible for a cruising aircraft (say at 35000 feet) to descend and land without the pilot having to pitch the nose downward even once? I mean, is it possible to lose altitude by just a combination of the throttle and flaps? I know it might take a lot longer to do it this way but is it a theoretical possibility? You may be stifling laughs by now at these but I hope to get better in the days to come through such Qs... not wrong to hope, is it? Cheers, Ramapriya |
#2
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Ramapriya wrote: 2. I've heard that you can let an aircraft fly itself off, so to speak, by lifting the nose early in the takeoff roll to the desired takeoff attitude. The aircraft will accelerate most rapidly by keeping the wings nearly level and keeping the nose or tail wheel off the ground, however, the plane will still accelerate if the nose is held higher. Consequently, the pilot can raise the nose to takeoff attitude as soon as the plane is traveling fast enough for the elevators to work. When the plane is moving fast enough, it will lift off the ground. *If* the pilot has held the nose at the correct attitude, it will continue to climb. There are two reasons why this is not usually done, even with light aircraft. The first is that the aircraft will accelerate better with the nose fairly low. The plane will use less runway if the nose is keep down until the normal "rotation" point (the speed at which the nose should be raised). The second is a phenomena called "ground effect". When very close to the ground (within about 1 wingspan) an aircraft will climb at a lower speed than it will higher up. A careless pilot who gets the nose too high may climb well for a couple of wingspans and then find that the plane isn't going fast enough to keep climbing. In extreme cases, planes have been known to descend back to the runway again. This is, at best, embarrassing. Taking off this way is used by some pilots for taking of an aircraft which has a tailwheel when the winds are strong and blowing from one side (as "crosswind"). This keeps the tailwheel on the runway, which helps keep the plane straight until it leaves the ground. I personally don't like doing this. 3. Is it possible for a cruising aircraft (say at 35000 feet) to descend and land without the pilot having to pitch the nose downward even once? I mean, is it possible to lose altitude by just a combination of the throttle and flaps? I know it might take a lot longer to do it this way but is it a theoretical possibility? Pilots usually descend by using only the throttle. Putting flaps down, however, changes the attitude of the nose even without further pilot input. You will also probably have to raise the nose to slow down. This can be delayed until the last minute, but it still must be done before touchdown. For example, I will cruise at about 120 mph. I will adjust the attitude of the nose (this is called "trimming" the plane) until the wings are level and set the throttle at 2600 rpm and stay that way until I want to come down. If I slow the engine down to 2400 rpm, the plane will descend at about 500 feet per minute. The wings will still be pretty level, and my speed will still be 120 mph. This is not like a car, where slowing the engine slows the car. Now, let's say there's a runway in front of me and I decide to fly straight in and land. I can descend just by slowing the engine down, but I can't touch down in my plane at 120 mph. Lowering flaps will slow me down and raise the nose a bit, but it also increases lift, so I have to slow the engine down even more to descend, and it won't slow me down enough or raise the nose enough. I know from experience that I will have to raise the nose to slow the plane enough to land safely. If I want a smooth landing, I will either raise the nose even more in the last few feet or add a bit of power to slow the descent (or both). Now. In theory, a pilot could land some aircraft without touching the trim, but the plane would touch down much faster than it is designed to do. This would abuse and possibly blow the tires. It would also require much more runway than usual. With some aircraft, it might also result in the nosewheel touching down first, with possibly disastrous consequences. George Patterson If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have been looking for it. |
#3
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"Ramapriya" wrote in message
om... I'm encouraged by your non-disparaging response to my first posting here yesterday. I have a few more Qs that will look utterly idiotic to you guys -- but remember that I'm not a pilot You need to go take a flying lesson. Anyone with this much interest in airplanes ought to be thinking about being a pilot. 1. Is there a way of mathematically justifying the dictum that a successful takeoff is guaranteed if you develop 70% of the desired thrust in half the runway length? And is this dictum kind of set in stone or are there riders? First, thrust during takeoff is relatively constant, from the beginning of the takeoff roll, to actually leaving the runway. This is more true for jets, but is reasonably close to the truth even for propeller-driven airplanes. As far as "guaranteeing" a takeoff, sure...given a particular airplane, engine power, runway characteristics, air temperature and density, etc. you can calculate the distance required to takeoff. Compare that to the runway length itself, and that will tell you whether you can take off. Of course, mechanical failure, sudden change in wind, that sort of thing can screw up the calculations. But theoretically, yes...it's easy to calculate whether an airplane can take off or not. 2. I've heard that you can let an aircraft fly itself off, so to speak, by lifting the nose early in the takeoff roll to the desired takeoff attitude. Most airplanes will "fly itself off" even without lifting the nose early. Climb rate is a result of excess thrust, beyond that required to counteract drag. For any given configuration of the airplane, there is a particular airspeed that the airplane will "want" to fly (this can be adjusted by the pilot using "elevator trim"). Once reaching this speed, the nose will pitch up on its own, and any additional thrust not required to maintain that speed will be used to climb. Lifting the nose early may slow down the takeoff by increasing drag, but as long as there's enough power (which would be true most of the time, provided the nose isn't raised *too* much), the airplane will still eventually accelerate to the given climb speed and take off. Raising the nose during the takeoff roll is a common practice when using unpaved runways, to help protect the nosewheel and even the propeller. Usually the nose isn't really raised, so much as the weight is lifted from the nosewheel. But it's basically the same idea. 3. Is it possible for a cruising aircraft (say at 35000 feet) to descend and land without the pilot having to pitch the nose downward even once? Sure. Just as a climb is a result of excess thrust, a descent is a result of insufficient thrust. If engine power is reduced below that required to maintain the trimmed airspeed in level flight, the airplane will descend, taking energy from gravity to make up for the difference. In fact, there has been at least one accident I'm aware of in which the pilot became incapacitated (from carbon monoxide poisoning), ran out of gas and the airplane simply glided to a landing in the middle of a soy bean field. Minor damage to the airplane, and if I recall correctly the pilot did eventually recover from the CO poisoning (he wasn't injured in the landing). As far as it being "a lot longer to do it this way", that's not actually true. Well, it is compared to not reducing power, but it's not compared to normal descent practices. The *primary* way airplanes descend is by control of engine power, because without a power reduction, an airplane will usually wind up faster than is safe during the descent. Generally, we'll reduce the power enough to keep the airspeed as high as possible while still being safe, but for many airplanes (and especially when the air is not perfectly smooth) that airspeed is not much higher than the basic cruise airspeed. Hope that helps. Pete |
#4
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"Ramapriya" wrote in message om... 1. Is there a way of mathematically justifying the dictum that a successful takeoff is guaranteed if you develop 70% of the desired thrust in half the runway length? And is this dictum kind of set in stone or are there riders? I've never heard it but I don't fly jets. I doubt it can be mathematically justified. Too many variables. 2. I've heard that you can let an aircraft fly itself off, so to speak, by lifting the nose early in the takeoff roll to the desired takeoff attitude. You're barking up the right tree, at least partially. The Angle of Attack is the critical element, though for most purposes you can use airspeed instead. There are three numbers that apply he Vx: Best angle-of-climb speed: This is the speed at which you gain the most altitude per unit of distance traveled over the ground. If there's a tall tree at the end of the runway you need to clear, this is what you want to use. Vy: Best rate-of-climb speed: The speed at which you gain the most altitude per minute. This is both faster and more efficient than Vx, but because it's shallower you may hit the tree at the end of the runway if you climb at this speed. Vr: Rotation speed: This is the speed at which you want to lift the nose off the runway. If you rotate too soon, you will create drag and actually lengthen the takeoff roll. If you rotate too late, you lenghten takeoff roll unnecessarily. This number becomes pretty important on big jets, not as much on small planes unless you're trying to dig out of a short runway. There's also the phenomenon of "ground effect." When a wing is within one wingspan of the ground, it will generate more lift. The result is that you can get a plane to lift off the ground and fly in ground effect at lower airspeed than it will fly at. If you try to climb out of ground effect without sufficient airspeed, the most likely result is that you'll bounce back down onto the runway. If you wait too long to abort you'll meet that tree at the end of the runway. However, you can use this to your advantage in some situations. For instance, if you're taking off from a grass field (which tends to slow you down more than asphalt) you take off and pop up into ground effect and then stay there (not climbing) until you accelerate to Vx and then climb. Because there is less drag up in the air you will take off in less distance. Regarding the core question of the airplane "flying itself off" I don't think this would work in most larger planes, but it would definitely happen in most light airplanes. 3. Is it possible for a cruising aircraft (say at 35000 feet) to descend and land without the pilot having to pitch the nose downward even once? I mean, is it possible to lose altitude by just a combination of the throttle and flaps? I know it might take a lot longer to do it this way but is it a theoretical possibility? This is a pretty complicated question actually. There have been several incidents where aircraft lost all primary controls and landed with some success. United 232 (?) is one of the most famous, but the DHL plane shot by a missile over Baghdad last year also suffered total hydraulic failure and managed to land on its gear under control. UA232 might have also, but for a puff of wind at the very end. A full description of the challenges this situation poses would have to start by teaching you basic aeronautics. If you are interested in that, I suggest you read "Stick and Rudder" by Langewiesche, and is written for the non-pilot. Suffice it here to say that it is a deadly serious challenge, among the worst situations you can find yourself in short of plummeting straight towards the ground. But as these crews demonstrated, it is not hopeless. -cwk. |
#5
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Take a demonstration flight at a flight school near you. An inexpensive way
to get a lot of your questions answered. -0- "Ramapriya" wrote in message om... Hi all, I'm encouraged by your non-disparaging response to my first posting here yesterday. I have a few more Qs that will look utterly idiotic to you guys -- but remember that I'm not a pilot |
#6
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"G.R. Patterson III" wrote Snip The second is a phenomena called "ground effect". When very close to the ground (within about 1 wingspan) an aircraft will climb at a lower speed than it will higher up. A careless pilot who gets the nose too high may climb well for a couple of wingspans and then find that the plane isn't going fast enough to keep climbing. In extreme cases, planes have been known to descend back to the runway again. This is, at best, embarrassing. Snip George Patterson Anybody have a clue what would be happening, if an Airliner took off, settled back to the runway, and took off again? Mis-calculated rotation speed? Seems hard to understand, to me. Recently happened to a niece of mine, but not a knowledgeable flyer, so no more details to be had. Any confessions out there? ;-) -- Jim in NC --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.788 / Virus Database: 533 - Release Date: 11/1/2004 |
#7
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Anybody have a clue what would be happening, if an Airliner took off, settled back to the runway, and took off again? Mis-calculated rotation speed? Seems hard to understand, to me. Recently happened to a niece of mine, but not a knowledgeable flyer, so no more details to be had. Any confessions out there? ;-) -- Jim in NC I have had one wing get picked up by strong cw, the wing lifted off the ground then set back down. That would have to be a strong cw for that to happen to an airliner. |
#8
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In article ,
G.R. Patterson III wrote: The aircraft will accelerate most rapidly by keeping the wings nearly level and keeping the nose or tail wheel off the ground, however, the plane will still accelerate if the nose is held higher. There are some jets that will rotate into a high drag configuration and never gain enough speed to fly. I remember reading about an accident where an inexperienced pilot (maybe a new owner of ex-Soviet equipment?) ran off the end of the runway like that. -- Ben Jackson http://www.ben.com/ |
#10
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Er... actually I'm from India, where flying is affordable to a very
small section of the populace, and I've never been in that category. Poverty hasn't helped keep my interest for flying down, although it hasn't helped in making that actually happen :\ Also, I'm 37 and 64 inches tall, both prohibitive minuses to even think of flying lessons, from what I've heard. One guy (a pilot) had said I wouldn't be able to reach the rudder pedal with my short stature, making me wonder if planes don't have adjustable seats like cars do Ramapriya "Will Robinson" wrote in message news:awPid.25$mL1.15@trnddc08... Take a demonstration flight at a flight school near you. An inexpensive way to get a lot of your questions answered. |
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