Aerobatics Analysis
Aerobatic Capabilities of “Marginally Aerobatic” Airplanes ‐ Bernardo Malfitano, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Aerobatic Capabilities of “Marginally Aerobatic” Airplanes Bernardo Malfitano Aerobatic pilot, Boeing structural fatigue and damage tolerance engineer/researcher/instructor, airplane design instructor Note 1: This is an informal paper that I wrote in my spare time for fun. It does not represent the views of my employer, my flight instructors, the FAA, or anyone else. It has not been reviewed by peers or experts. There may quite possibly be errors in my math, bugs in my code, and/or poor assumptions in my physics. If you would like to provide any feedback, please do feel free to email me. Note 2: Do not disobey the limitations set by the manufacturer of any aircraft! Respect the POH and the placards on the panel, including the ones that prohibit aerobatic flight on most airplanes. Open up any book on airplane performance, and various equations are derived which allow for the calculation of the climb rate, climb angle, required runway length, range, and other specifications for a given airplane (with a given weight and at a given density altitude). Airplane design books give similar equations that make it possible to determine (given some parameters such as airplane weight) how much wing area would be needed in order for takeoff and landing to be possible at a certain runway, how much fuel would be needed to carry a certain payload a certain distance, and how much engine power would be needed in order to achieve a certain climb rate.
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