Aircraft Performance/Mission Analysis

Most of the sizing program necessarily can also operate as mission analysis codes. They can also evaluate poitn performance. The codes listed here are limited to performance only.

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BASIC Aircraft Performance

Use:Aircraft performance (also estimates drag from geometry)
Author:Sid Powers
Address:KERN International, Inc.,
575 Washington Street, Pembroke, MA 02359, (617) 826-0095
Platform:IBM or Apple ][ (!)
Documentation:Powers has written a book including the user's manual (Powers, 1984)
Availability:from Kern, with volume discounts.
License:not for distribution to others
Code:The user gets the BASIC source code
Graphics:no
Discussion:A series of computer programs for the IBM PC that model the full size dedicated mission analysis programs used in industry reasonably well. It's the closest to a real mission program I've seen for students. Originally it was developed on an Apple ][. The source code is provided, and a version of several of the programs that run in QuickBASIC on a Macintosh is available at VPI. It consists of a system of codes. They are driven from a main graphical interface. The key ones are DRAG to estimate drag, TABLE to input your own DRAG table, THRUST to generate an engine deck, MISSION to define the mission, PERF computes the mission performance, and E/M, which computes the performance envelope, Ps contours and turn rate. I would like to see this updated to current standards. I had to modify it for use on a Mac because our design team had airplanes over a million pounds a few years ago, and the output formatting was inadequate.
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Airplane Performance

Use:evaluates airplane performance
Author:Donald R. Crawford
Address:Crawford Aviation, P.O. Box 1262-, Torrance, CA 90505, (310 ) 375-9227
Platform:any computer with BASIC
Documentation:a book by Crawford (Crawford,1984)
Availability:listings in the book, disk available
License:buy the book
Code:BASIC Source Code is provided.
Graphics:no
Discussion:This is a book with BASIC listings. A disk of BASIC codes is available for IBM computers. Some of my students have been happy with this program. The book is about $20, and and the disk is about $40. However, it would be informative to type in the listings and examine exactly what is going on. Naturally this book is also oriented toward GA aircraft. Calculates airspeeds, sink rate and rate of climb, excess power, power available, and a variety of general aviation type point performance parameters.
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EGADS V1.3.1

Use:evaluation of an aircraft.
Author:John E. Melton
Address:Applied Aerodynamic Branch, Aerodynamics Division (RAA), M/S 227-6, NASA Ames research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, ATTN: EGADS
Platform:Macintosh, PC Version under development
Documentation:Melton has written a NASA TM (Melton, 1994)
Availability: From the author on his web site.
License:-
Code:The user gets the compiled QuickBASIC code
Graphics:yes, both aircraft geometry and performance graphs.
Discussion:The emphasis is on GA prop airplanes. There are a number of worksheets. These are categorized under Control, Aircraft Files, Layout, Propulsion, Weight and Balance, and Performance. Sample input files include Cessna 152-like, Piper Cherokee-like, and Glasair III-like airplanes. The program has significant online help and famous aircraft parameters to help in the design. It is really more than just performance. It also calculates the aerodynamic center and does trim and stability. Naturally , given the geometry we have yet another drag build-up module. It also has a CAD-like capability to develop aircraft geometry. It includes a simple vortex lattice-type lifting line theory for aerodynamic calculations. This is a very good program for students.
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TAKEOFF

Use:computes takeoff distance, including balanced field length
Author:Sean Lynn, Pete MacMillin
Address:c/o W. H. Mason, Virginia Tech
Platform:a computer with a C compiler, or a Mac
Documentation:Sean Lynn internal Virginia Tech reports and user's manuals.
Availability: free
License:-
Code:user gets C code or an executable for a
Macintosh
Graphics:no
Discussion:This is a simple code to estimate the balanced field length. This is an area where there appeared to be few good codes beyond the simple Loftin one line algebraic estimate. At the next level are serious industrial type codes. This program fills a void. It started out as an undergraduate research project, and has been improved over the last year (and, of course, converted to C). Lynn developed the methods based on papers by Powers (Powers, 1981) and Krenkel and Salzman (Krenkel and Salzman, 1968).
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The Smetana Codes

Use:stability and control derivatives and stability analysis/performance
Author:Fred Smetana
Address:NC State University, Raleigh, NC
Platform:any computer
Documentation:Prof. Smetana's book (Smetana, 1984)
Availability:Prof. Smetana had made copies available
License:-
Code:FORTRAN
Graphics:limited to print plot output
Discussion:Professor Smetana of NC State is willing to make his performance and stability and control codes available. They run on IBM and Macintosh computers. Buy the book and decide if they fulfill your needs. They were developed specifically for GA aircraft, but are useful for other aircraft also.
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