Climb Performance of Piston-Propeller Airplane with Cambered Wing and Variable Propeller Efficiency

Abstract

More accurate analytical solutions of the maximum rate of climb and maximum climb angle are proposed for the climbing flight of the piston-propeller airplane. For the solutions, it is assumed that the propeller efficiency is a function of the airspeed and the airplane has cambered wing drag polar. The solutions are compared with the performance calculated through traditional assumptions of a constant propeller efficiency and a symmetrical wing drag polar. Moreover, the quartic equation to find the best climb angle speed is solved exactly. The comparison proved that the solutions with traditional assumptions result in a higher service ceiling, a shorter climb time, and a shorter climb distance.