AE31007: Steady Gliding Flight

Presented by
Dr. Susmita Bhattacharyya
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Contents

• Different types of gliders

• Steady gliding free body diagram and EOM

• Range and Endurance

• Ways to increase range and endurance

• Steady Gliding Flight Envelope

• Exercise
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 Different Types of Gliders
• A glider is a heavier-than-air machine without engine
• It is of three types: Sailplane, Hang glider, Para glider
• Sailplanes have fuselage, long aspect ratio wings, wheeled under carriage, and all control surfaces
• Hang gliders have aluminium/composite wings with control surfaces. Pilot sits in a harness. They are foot launched
• Paragliders have flexible, fabric wings. Pilot sits in a harness. They are foot launched, and easy to pack
• Rockets glide back when fuel is exhausted

Sailplane

Hang glider Parachute

Paraglider

Taken from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/glider.html 3

 Glider Launch Mechanisms and Applications
• Launch mechanisms
▫ A glider can be towed with a powered plane and launched from a height
▫ Sailplane gliders use undercarriage to take off
▫ Hang gliders and para gliders are foot-launched

• Applications: Air sports, aerial survey, recreational activities, research

purposes

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 Free Body Diagram and EOM
• A glider uses its potential energy to overcome
drag to remain in the air
• Dynamic EOM for steady gliding
▫ 𝐷 + 𝑊 sin 𝛾 = 0, L − W cos 𝛾 = 0, 𝛾 < 0
• Kinematic EOM
▫ 𝑥 = 𝑉 cos 𝛾 , ℎ = 𝑉 sin 𝛾 Figure 2.4 from Pamadi

𝐷 𝐷 𝐶𝐷 1
• 𝛾 is small, so 𝛾 = − = − = − = −
𝑊 𝐿 𝐶𝐿 𝐸
1
• 𝛾𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
𝐸𝑚

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 Range and Endurance
• Range (ground distance covered during flight)
and endurance ( time in the air) are two
important performance measures
• Higher range is required to reach far-off places
(e.g. cross country flights)
Figure 2.4 from Pamadi
• Higher endurance is needed for aerial survey,
photography, sports, etc.
• We will discuss how to maximize these two
quantities
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 Range (1/2)
• Range is an important performance measure
∆s
∆h
• Higher range (R) is required to reach far-off
places (e.g. cross country flights) ∆x
• We will find the expression of maximum
How to find maximum ∆x
range ∆s = ∆𝑥 2 + ∆ℎ2

𝑊 𝑛2 𝑊 1 For a given ∆ℎ, ∆𝑃𝐸 is the change in potential energy

2 2
• 𝐷= 𝑢 + ≈ 𝑢 + 2 , Speed
2𝐸𝑚 𝑢2 2𝐸𝑚 𝑢 ∆𝑃𝐸 = D∆s

for 𝐷𝑚𝑖𝑛 → 𝑢 = 1 If D is minimum, ∆s is maximum

𝐷 ≅𝑊𝛾
2𝑊 4 𝑘 𝐷𝑚𝑖𝑛 → min 𝛾 → 𝐸𝑚
▫ 𝑉 = 𝑉𝑅 =
𝜌𝑆 𝐶𝐷0
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 Range (2/2 )
• Expression of maximum R using EOM

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑ℎ 𝑑𝑥 −𝑉 1
= 𝑉, = 𝑉, = =− = −𝐸
𝑑𝑡 𝑑ℎ 𝑑𝑡 𝑑ℎ 𝑉 𝛾 𝛾

−∆ℎ
• 𝑑𝑥 = −𝐸𝑑ℎ, 𝑅 = −𝐸∆ℎ (𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 α), 𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = −𝐸𝑚 ∆ℎ =
2 𝑘𝐶𝐷0

• Show that 𝐶𝐷𝑖 = 𝐶𝐷0 for 𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥

𝑑𝑥
• Effect of winds: horizontal headwind = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑤 𝑑𝑥 =
𝑑𝑡

𝑉𝑤
− 𝐸− 𝐸 𝑑ℎ → range is reduced
𝑉

• Glide ratio is the ratio of ground distance travelled to height lost https://slidemodel.com/templates/headw
• Typical glide ratios of sailplanes, hang gliders and para gliders are inds-tailwinds-powerpoint-template/

~60, (10—15), ~10, respectively

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 Endurance (1/2 )
• Endurance is the time for which the glider can be
airborne ∆h
• Condition for minimum power required
∆t
1
𝑃𝑅 = 𝐷𝑉 = 𝜌𝑉 3 𝑆𝐶𝐷
2

2𝑊 2𝑊 𝐶𝐷 ∆x
𝐿≅𝑊 →𝑉= → 𝑃𝑅 = 𝑊 3/2
𝜌𝑆𝐶𝐿 𝜌𝑆 𝐶 𝐿 How to maximize endurance

𝐶𝐷
For a given ∆ℎ, ∆𝑃𝐸 is the change in potential
• Minimum 𝑃𝑅 implies minimum 3/2
𝐶𝐿 energy
• Next we will use EOM to see if we find the same ∆𝑃𝐸 = power required to overcome drag × ∆𝑡

condition If power required is minimum, ∆𝑡 is maximum

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 Endurance (2/2 )
𝑑ℎ𝑠 𝐷 𝐷 2𝑊 𝐶𝐷 2𝑊 𝐶𝐷 2𝑊
• Expression of sink rate: 𝑑𝑡
=V𝛾 =𝑉
𝑊
=𝑉
𝐿
=
𝜌𝑆𝐶𝐿 𝐶𝐿
=
𝜌𝑆 𝐶𝐿 3/2
, 𝐿=𝑊→𝑉=
𝜌𝑆𝐶𝐿

𝐶𝐷 𝐶𝐷0 +𝐾𝐶2𝐿
𝑑 𝑑
2𝑊 𝐶𝐷 𝐶𝐷 𝐶𝐿 3/2 𝐶𝐿 3/2 𝐶𝐿 3/2
• ℎ𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑛 = , → → =0 → → 𝐶𝐷𝑖 = 𝐾𝐶𝐿2 = 3𝐶𝐷0
𝜌𝑆 𝐶𝐿 3/2 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝐿 3/2
𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝐷 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑑𝐶𝐿 𝑑𝐶𝐿

3𝐶𝐷0 3/4
3/2 3/2
𝐶𝐿 3𝐶𝐷0 𝐶 14 27 2𝑊 4 𝑘
• → 𝐶𝐿′ = , 𝐿 = 𝐾
= ,𝑉 = ≈ 0.76𝑉𝑅
𝐶𝐷 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐾 𝐶𝐷 𝑚𝑎𝑥 4𝐶𝐷0 4 𝐾 3 𝐶𝐷0 𝑚𝑝 𝜌𝑆 3𝐶𝐷0
Figure 2.5 from Pamadi
2𝑊 4 𝐾3 𝐶𝐷0
• Substituting the above, ℎ𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 4
𝜌𝑆 27

ℎ𝑓 1 𝜌𝑆 4 27
• Maximum endurance 𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = − ℎ 𝑑ℎ
𝑖 4 2𝑊 𝐾 3 𝐶𝐷0

𝜌𝑆 𝐶𝐿 3/2
• For small height change, 𝜌 can be assumed constant, hence, 𝑡 = ℎ𝑖 − ℎ𝑓 (given α)
2𝑊 𝐶𝐷

1 𝜌𝑆 4 27
• Maximum endurance 𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 3 ℎ𝑖 − ℎ𝑓 10
4 2𝑊 𝐾 𝐶𝐷0
 How to increase Range and Endurance by Design?
∆ℎ
• Maximum range 𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐸𝑚 ∆ℎ =
2 𝑘𝐶𝐷0

▫ Increase 𝐸𝑚 → reduce 𝐾 and 𝐶𝐷0

1 𝜌𝑆 4 27
• Maximum Endurance 𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ℎ𝑖 − ℎ𝑓
4 2𝑊 𝐾3 𝐶𝐷0

▫ Light weight material

▫ High aspect ratio wings
▫ Near elliptical planform
▫ Low drag laminar airflow airfoil

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 How to Increase Altitude
Image Source: Wikipedia
• Use thermals
▫ An upward gust of warm air caused by local heating of air adjacent to ground
• Use Ridge lift 𝑉𝑊

▫ wind striking a mountain ridge/clif steep enough to direct it upwards

• Use wave lift
▫ Wind blowing over mountains produce oscillations that gradually die down
• How does the glider gain altitude when in a rising column of air
▫ ℎ𝐺 = 𝑉𝑤 − ℎ𝑠 , 𝑉𝑤 > ℎ𝑠

𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑉𝑊 ℎ𝑠 𝑉𝑊
▫ ∆ℎ = ℎ𝐺 ∆𝑡 = 𝑉𝑤 − ℎ𝑠 = − 𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = − 𝛾 𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
𝑉 𝑉 𝑉 𝑉

▫ Through simulations it can be shown than for maximum ∆ℎ, 𝛾 corresponds to that
at stall
▫ To have a safe margin, practical strategy is to fly at 𝛾 for minimum sink rate 12
 Steady Gliding Flight Envelope
• 3D plot of altitude, absolute glide angle and velocity showing a region where steady gliding is possible

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 Exercise
• Prove mathematically that the 2D plots of steady gliding envelope look as below

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 References
• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=paragliders&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=O_OqhI9RNnUpUM%252CGubIMRiX3H0XPM%25
2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTo70UV_hhCatH-R-
s7bieSfkt4Dw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjo2NvUlp7rAhWw6XMBHS1nCjkQ_h0wHHoECAgQBQ&biw=1366&bih=635#imgrc=O_OqhI9RNn
UpUM (paraglider)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute (parachute)
• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=glider&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=cwloH9AcXK6WpM%252CqlPkkpRRtB9vjM%252C_&ve
t=1&usg=AI4_-
kTDZrBbHdzb_1yVhzifoaPUoqw7rg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb98fHlKjrAhVVH7cAHSFTA1oQ9QEwGHoECAMQNw&biw=1366&bih=598#
imgrc=6z-vRrz3xsM_TM (glider on slide 12)

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