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ME 4241 Aircraft Performance, Stability and Control
ME 4241 Aircraft Performance, Stability and Control
2014/2015
A0097821X
A0092203U
A0097859B
A0097725R
10 March 2014
rapidly changing wind or the flight path of an airplane, the following forces which
acts on the airplane must be considered: lift, drag, weight, and thrust. In a
dynamic situation, changes in the lift and the drag are most significant because
they depend at any instant on the airplane's relative wind vector.
When the airplane flies into a vertical wind, the angular change in the direction
of the total wind vector, with respect to the airplane's path relative to the
ground, changes the angle of attack which causes a change in both lift and drag.
If the vertical wind's direction is downward, angle of attack is reduced and the lift
and drag will decrease causing the airplane to accelerate downward. The basic
stability of the airplane will cause it to pitch up initially; however, the ultimate
effect on the airplane's flight path will be an increase in the descent rate relative
to the ground. When an airplane flies into an area where the direction of the
horizontal wind changes abruptly, the indicated airspeed will change. The
change is equivalent to the abrupt change in the relative wind. Both lift and drag
will also change abruptly and thus produce an imbalance in the forces acting
along the airplane's longitudinal and vertical axes. If the airplane flies into an
increasing headwind, the relative wind will increase. The indicated airspeed, lift,
and drag will increase; the airplane's nose will pitch up; and the vertical speed
will change in the positive direction. If the airplane flies into a decreasing
headwind, the effect will be the opposite. The indicated airspeed will decrease,
lift will decrease, the airplane's nose will pitch down, and the vertical speed will
change in the negative direction.
Rainfall Analysis
Previous studies conducted both numerically and experimentally concluded that
rain effect causes significant aerodynamic penalties on the aircraft. A loss of lift,
increase in drag and a decrease in the stall angle can be observed. Three main
reasons for the aerodynamic efficiency degradation have been postulated,
namely the loss of boundary layer air momentum, the roughening of airfoil
surface, and the decrease in airfoil momentum.
When rain droplets impinge on the airfoil, splashback of the droplets into the
airflow field would occur. The cloud of droplets (also known as ejecta fog)
produced by the rain impact would be reaccelerated to the local flow velocity,
and hence de-energizes the boundary layer, resulting in the loss of boundary
layer air momentum [2]. Numerical simulation by Valentine and Decker [3] on
the rain effect on airfoil in 1995 reported the presence of ejecta fog in their
simulations and concluded that the splashback effect results in a decrease in
stall angle.
In addition, according to Wan et al. [4] , the roughening of airfoil surface is due to
a fraction of raindrop that is not splashed back which remains on the upper airfoil
surface as a layer of thin water film on the airfoil. This runback water layer tends
to accumulate in regions of flow separation, which alters the shape of the
airfoil[2]. This inadvertently results in a loss of lift and an increase in drag. In
addition, under the rain conditions experienced by Flight 759, the water layer on
the wing surface would also enhance flow separation and reduce the stall angle.
Under such conditions, while the aircraft is in a high lift configuration for take-off,
a reduction in stall angle may inadvertently trigger an aerodynamic stall
scenario.
Lastly, rain impacting the airfoil surface will result in momentum transfer from
the rain droplets to the airfoil. However, this effect is considered to be less
significant than the other effects for rainfall rates below 500 mm/h [2]. At the
time of take-off, the meteorological data indicated a rainfall rate of 144 mm/h
near the departure end of the runway [5]. Hence, the effect of momentum
transfer can be deemed to be insignificant for the rainfall rate given at the time
of the tragedy.
Suggestions
Microburst-induced wind shear and rain are two weather conditions that usually
occur. There have been many air accidents involving microburst-induced wind
shear and it is necessary to be able to detect such weather conditions as it is
very dangerous to airplanes.
After Pan Am flight 759 and another similar air crash, Delta Airlines flight 191, it
is mandatory for all commercial aircraft to have an airborne wind shear detection
and alert system [6]. This will allow the pilots to know the precise location and
the conditions of the atmosphere along the flight path of the airplane. With this
data, the pilot can make necessary amendments to his flight path after seeking
for approval. This detection and alert system is also more efficient than the
previous method of obtaining data from the radar located in the vicinity of the
airport to alerting the air traffic controller and then to inform the pilot as there
will be lag time involved. With on-board system, the pilots can make critical
decisions quickly.
In the event of a severe thunderstorm, the pilot has to make a decision whether
to land the plane or move to another suitable airport by calculating the fuel left.
Such weather usually combine strong winds with heavy rain, making it difficult
for the pilot to control the plane, keeping in mind that the tarmac may be wet
and slippery.
Conclusion
With modern equipment that are available in the airports and on-board planes,
relevant data are made available to the pilots quicker to make better decisions.
Also, sufficient training for the pilots to ensure their procedures are correct is
also necessary. All these will make air travel safer.
References
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