2

Considering the lift equation

$$L = C_L \frac{1}{2}\rho v^2 s$$

Given $P$ is 1,000 ft, $\rho$ is 0.002308, and $V$ is the cruise speed of a Piper Archer or 126 knots, we get

$$L = (0.4) (0.002308) (\frac{1}{2}) (126)^2 (160)$$

or 1,172.5 Newtons.

What are the pencil-and-paper formulae for calculating the best-climb and best-glide rates?

Greg Bacon
  • 5,710
  • 4
  • 38
  • 92
Aishve Torah
  • 21
  • 2
  • Without a complex aerodynamic model, I'm not sure it can be calculated. Just read the POH for this info? – abelenky Sep 25 '17 at 18:02
  • 3
    Are you asking about the airspeed that provides the best climb rate and glide rate, or are you asking for a way to calculate the actual vertical feet per minute, or feet per mile? – Devil07 Sep 25 '17 at 19:50
  • What's the actual problem you're trying to solve? Are you curious about how the figures in the POH are calculated? Are you a student pilot wanting to know how to get this information from the table in your POH? – Dan Hulme Sep 26 '17 at 12:53
  • Does this answer your question? – Peter Kämpf Sep 26 '17 at 18:45

1 Answers1

2

Did you ever consider to look at the units in your calculation?

You can't just throw together some numbers and expect a correct result. Start by converting all input to the much more sane SI units and see how it goes from there. If you plug in the units instead of the numbers on the right side of the equation, you can check for correctness by comparing to the intended unit on the left side.

Hint: 1 Newton = 1 kg·m/s².

Peter Kämpf
  • 231,832
  • 17
  • 588
  • 929