Physics & chemistry
Elements of Airplane Performance
Ger J. J. Ruijgrok, Mark Voskuijl, Carmine Varriale
TU Delft OPEN Publishing · Third edition (2025) · English · Published 2025
Flight-performance principles for fixed-wing aircraft, including aerodynamics, propulsion, flight envelopes and conversion tables.
- Learning stage
- Advanced college
- Prerequisites
- Undergraduate mechanics, aerodynamics and calculus.
- PDF pages
- 432 in this file
- Editorial review
- 2026-10-29
Contents
Choose the section you need. Listening availability is shown for each section.
Preface
Basic concepts
Basic concepts
Introduction
The airplane is regarded a rigid body
Application of Newton's law with respect to an axis system attached to the Earth
Gravitation
The effect of curvature of the Earth
Coordinate-systems
Angles and velocities describing the angular displacement of the airplane
The airplane
Flight types, airplane configuration and flight condition
Forces on the airplane
SI-system of units
Problems
The atmosphere
The atmosphere
Nature of the atmosphere
Variation of pressure with altitude
Standard atmospheres
Off-standard atmospheres
Humidity
Vertical motion in the atmosphere
Wind
Atmospheric fronts
Problems
Equations of Motion
Equations of Motion
Translational Motion
Rotational motion
Unsteady motion
The most general steady motion
Special types of steady flight
Translational equation for variable mass
Problems
Aerodynamic Basis
Aerodynamic Basis
Aerodynamic coefficients
Airfoil and wing characteristics
The lift-drag polar
Parabolic lift-drag polar
Problems
Air Data Instruments
Air Data Instruments
Introduction
The altimeter
The vertical-speed indicator
The airspeed indicator
The Machmeter
Ambient air temperature measurement
Problems
Propulsion
Propulsion
Types of airplane propulsion systems
The piston engine
The electric motor
Definition of thrust for jet propulsion
Ideal turbojet cycle
Component efficiencies
Typical turbojet performance
The turboprop engine
The turbofan
Hybrid-electric propulsion architectures
Problems
Propeller Performance
Propeller Performance
Propeller thrust and efficiency
Propeller geometry
Blade element theories
Propeller charts
Installed propeller performance
Problems
The airplane in Symmetric Flight
The airplane in Symmetric Flight
Fundamental equations
Integral and point performance
Air loads
Stalling speeds
Load factor envelopes
Problems
Performance in steady symmetric flight
Performance in steady symmetric flight
Basic Relations
Drag and power required
Thrust and power available
The performance diagram
Performance prediction using analytical expressions
Problems
Effect of Altitude
Effect of Altitude
Effect of altitude on drag and power required
Rate of climb and climb angle
Stall, propulsion and buffet boundaries
Flight envelope
Problems
Flight and airplane condition effects
Flight and airplane condition effects
Effect of weight
Effect of engine failure
Effect of changes of engine control setting
Effect of airplane configuration
Problems
Turning Performance
Turning Performance
Governing equations
Equations for the performance in a coordinated turn
Calculation of turning performance
Analytic expressions for best turning performance
Climbing and descending turns
Problems
Gliding Flight
Gliding Flight
Symmetric Flight
Effect of altitude
Effect of wind
Turning flight
Cross-country flight
Problems
Symmetric Climb and Descent
Symmetric Climb and Descent
Quasi-steady symmetric flight
The unsteady quasi-rectilinear climb
Optimum climb
Effects of vertical wind gradients
Limitations on vertical velocity
Problems
Cruise Performance
Cruise Performance
Range and Endurance
Approximate analytic expressions for range and endurance: propeller propulsion
Approximate analytic expressions for range and endurance: jet propulsion
Effect of wind on cruise performance
Weight breakdown
The economic performance of transport airplanes
Problems
Airfield Performance
Airfield Performance
The takeoff maneuver
Takeoff ground run
The airborne phase of the takeoff maneuver
Effect of wind on takeoff
The landing maneuver
The airborne distance of the landing maneuver
The landing ground run
Problems
Newtonian Mechanics
Newtonian Mechanics
Newton's laws of motion
Newton's first law
Newton's second law of motion
Effect of rotation
Non-inertial reference frames
Systems of particles
General bodies
Rigid bodies
Center of gravity
Switching Between Axis Systems
Switching Between Axis Systems
Euler angles and axis systems
Matrix representation
Rotation matrices
Moving Earth and body axis system relationships
Moving Earth and air-path axis system relationships
Air-path and body axis system relationships
Deriving the equations of motion: symmetric flight
Deriving the equations of motion: generic flight in wind field
One-dimensional steady flow equations
One-dimensional steady flow equations
Continuity equation
Bernoulli's equation
The momentum equation
The energy equation
Isentropic relations
The speed of sound
Bernoulli's equation for compressible flow
Isentropic flow of a perfect gas through a channel of varying cross-section
Normal shock waves
Oblique shock waves
International Standard Atmosphere
Conversion Factors
References
Sources and permissions
The author and publisher remain the source of this textbook. Permission information applies to the specific files in this edition.
Author, publisher, and discovery sources
Authors: Ger J. J. Ruijgrok, Mark Voskuijl, Carmine Varriale
Publisher: TU Delft OPEN Publishing
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-29
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-25
CC BY 4.0
Ger J. J. Ruijgrok; Mark Voskuijl; Carmine Varriale. Elements of Airplane Performance. TU Delft OPEN Publishing. Third edition (2025). CC BY 4.0. Cover: Alispective / Pexels, Turkish Stars Aerobatic Display in Clear Blue Sky, retained under the Pexels license (https://www.pexels.com/license/).
Changes: Original PDF bytes are unchanged. Catalog metadata and page viewing are supplied by iReadAll. No endorsement implied. Structured extraction, audio, translation and independent image redistribution are not approved.
Checked 2026-10-29