LIFT

Aerodynamic
AEE214- force

INTRODUCTION TO AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE

WEEK 7
Lift

Dr. Serhat YILMAZ

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RELATION BETWEEN ALTITUDE AND

LIFT
SPEED
• Lift is defined as the net force generated normal (at 90º) to the relative airflow
or flight path of the aircraft. In order to keep constant the Lift,
L Altitude Air density velocity of aircraft must be doubled

40 000 ft U | U0 / 4 V0 u 2
D Keep constant to
maintain (L/D)max
V
Surface area
V : Free stream velocity
Dynamic pressure U : Ambient air density Fixed
Constant area
Depends on U0 / 4
- Shape of the surface
- Angle of attack (D) In order to keep constant the Lift,
Lift coefficient
- Surface conditions dynamic pressure must be constant
- Mach number (Compressibility) See level U0
- Reynolds Number 3 4
 RELATION BETWEEN ANGLE OF
LIFT (COEFFICIENT) CURVE
ATTACK AND SPEED
Continuing to
In order to keep constant the Lift,
increase the angle of
speed of aircraft must be doubled
attack beyond this
CL V0 u 2 point makes it
Lift coefficient impossible for the
For a 4 times less CL increases with airflow to maintain
angle of attack up its previous smooth
to a maximum flow over the
(CLmax), which contour of the upper
corresponds to surface, and lift will
Fixed the critical angle
Constant
Constant density area reduced.
of attack.
(Constant altitude)

In order to keep constant the lift, dynamic

D pressure must be 4 times greater
CLmax corresponds to a minimum flight speed.
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EFFECT OF THE AIRFOIL SHAPE ON

LIFT AND DRAG
LIFT CURVE
• Aerofoil sections with different thickness and camber
combinations produce specific CL-D curves.
The introduction of camber
has a beneficial effect on
CLmax

An increase in the thickness of

a symmetrical aerofoil gives a
higher CLmax

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CONDITION OF THE SURFACE FLIGHT AT HIGH LIFT CONDITIONS
• Surface roughness, especially near the leading edge, has a
considerable effect on the characteristics of aerofoil section.

CL max , in particular, is sensitive to leading

edge roughness.

In general the CLmax decreases

progressively with increasing roughness of
the leading edge.

Roughness further downstream than

about 20 percent of the cord from the
leading edge has little effect on CLmax
or the lift-curve slope
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WING TERMINOLOGY WING TAPER AND SWEEP ANGLE

Taper Ratio = CT / CR CR : Root Chord

b = span, [m] CT : Tip Chord

c = Average chord, [m]

S = Wing area, [m²] = b u c The taper ratio affects the lift distribution and the structural weight of the wing.

Sweep Angle : Usually measured

as the angle beetwen the line of
Aspect ratio (AR) 25% chords and a perpendicular
to the root chord.
AR = b / c
AR = b² / S

The sweep of a wing causes definite changes in compressibility, maximum lift, and stall characteristics

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MEAN AERODYNAMIC CHORD (MAC) WING TIP VORTICES
• The chord drawn through the geographic centre of the planform area.
• A rectangular wing of this chord and the same span would have identical
pitching moment characteristics.
• The MAC is located on the reference axis of the aircraft and is a primary The pressure difference
reference for longitudinal stability considerations. between the lower and
upper surfaces modifies
the directions of flow,
inducing a span-wise
vector towards the root
on the upper surface and
generally, towards the tip
on the lower surface.

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WING TIP VORTICES WING TIP VORTICES

At higher angles of attack

(Lower IAS) the decreased
chordwise vector will increase
the resultant spanwise flow,
making the vortices stronger

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WING TIP VORTICES WING TIP VORTICES

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DOWNWASH DOWNWASH
• Trailing vortices create certain vertical velocity • The result is a reduction in the effective angle of attack of the
components in the airflow in the vicinity of the wing. part of the wing under the influence of the trailing vortices.

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 AIRCRAFT WAKE VORTEX
WAKE TURBULENCE
CHARACTERISTICS
• Determined by the “generating” aircraft’s ;
• Wake vortex generation begins when the nosewheel lifts
• Gross weight – the higher the weight, the stronger the vortices.
off the runway on take-off and continues until the
nosewheel touches down on landing. Wake vortices are • Wingspan – has an influence upon the proximity of the two tip vortices.
most severe when generated by heavy aircraft. • Airspeed – the lower the speed, the stronger the vortices.
• Configuration – vortex strength is greatest with aircraft in a “clean” configuration
(for a given speed and weight).
• Attitude – the higher the angle of attack, the stronger the vortices.

21 (7000 kg > W) (136000 kg > W > 7000 kg) (W > 136 000 kg) 22

VORTEX MOVEMENT NEAR THE

DISTRIBUTION OF TRAILING VORTICES
GROUND
• Behind a large aircraft the trailing vortices can extend as • If the generating aircraft in within 1.000 ft. of the groud, the two
much as 9 nautical miles. vortices will “touch-down” and move outwards at about 5 kts
from the track of the generating aircraft at a height approximately
equal to ½ aircraft’s wingspan.

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VORTEX MOVEMENT NEAR THE PROBABILITY OF WAKE TURBULENCE
GROUND ENCOUNTER
• If the surface wind is light and steady, the wake vortex • Certain separation minima are applied by Air Traffic Control (ATC), but this does not
quarantee avoidance.
system “in contact” with the ground will drift with the
• ATC applied separation merely reduces the probability of an encounter to a lower level,
wind and may minimize the magnitude of the upset if an encounter does occur.
• Particular care should be exercised when following any substantially heavier aircraft,
especially in conditions of light wind.
• The majority of serious incidents, close to the ground, occurs when winds are light.

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WAKE TURBULENCE AVOIDANCE GROUND EFFECT

During landing and taking off, the closeness of the wing to the ground prevents full
• Staying above and/or upwind of a preceding or crossing development of the trailing vortices, making them much weaker.
aircraft will usually keep your aircraft out of the
generating aircraft’s wake vortex.
• Unfortunately, deviating from published approach and
departure requirements in order to stay above/upwind
of the flight path of a preceding aircraft may not be
advisable.
• Maintaining proper separation remains the best advice
for avoiding a wake turbulence encounter.
Reduced downwash causes to increase the effective angle of attack of the wing. Therefore, when an
aircraft is “in ground effect” lift will generally be increased and induced drag CDi will be decreased.
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 GROUND EFFECT GROUND EFFECT
• The influence of the ground effect depends on the distance of the • While ground effect may possibly change the aerodynamic characteristics of
wing above the ground. the tailplane in it’s own right, a low mounted tailplane will have it’s effective
angle of attack modified by the changing downwash angle behind the wing.
• A large reduction in CDi will take place only when the wing is very • A high mounted tailplane may be outside the influence of the changing
close to the ground, (within half the wingspan) downwash angle and not suffer the same disadvantages.

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GROUND EFFECT GROUND EFFECT

• (b) If airspeed is allowed to decay significantly during short finals and
the resulting sink-rate arrested by increasing the angle of attack, upon
entering ground effect the wing could stall, resulting in a heavy landing.
• As the aircraft with a constant
CL and IAS descents into ground
effect the following changes • (c) The pilot may need to increase pitch input to maintain the desired
will take place ;
landing attitude. This is due to the decreased downwash reducing the
effective angle of attack of the tailplane. The download on the tail is
reduced, generally producing a nose down pitching moment.
• (a) If a constant pitch attitude
maintained as ground effect is • (d) Due to the changes in upwash, downwash and tip vortices, there will
encountered, a floating be a change in position error which may cause the ASI to misread. In the
sensation may be experienced majority of cases, local pressure at the static port will increase and
due to the increase in CL and
cause the ASI and altimeter to under read.
the decrease in Cdi.

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