Forces in a climbing turn
 

I'm looking for web based resources on the aerodynamic forces on an aircraft during a climbing turn. Any pointers?

Thanks in advance. :)

Cheers!

Check your PM's

Care to share since this is meant to be a public forum where ideas etc are shared...?

Have never seen anything specifically relating to a climbing turn.

But I assume that you've got access to, and understanding, the forces in a turn, and the forces in a climb? If so, you can just combine these together.

The classic "forces in a turn" diagram shows that, in the vertical plane, the vertical component of lift is reduced, and a horizontal component of lift is created. That is true in a climbing turn.

The classic "forces in a climb" diagram shows how the lift, thrust, drag and weight all interact. Simply replace lift in this diagram with the vertical component of lift.

I'd guess that an aerodynamics expert will find fault with my simple explaination, but it should be good enough for most uses, so I hope it helps.

FFF
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The reason you have never seen anything is that you need a two dimensional diagram to show the forces in a climbing turn!
Just take a a climb and a turn diagram and there you have it.

Bare in mind that most of these diagrams show increasing thrust to effect climb but you can also climb an aircraft by increasing lift, commony known as the 'zoom' climb.

...but most people using these diagrams are referring to a steady state condition. A zoom climb is not.

Unfortunately steady states only exist in classrooms

Ok, thanks for that. I've created my own 3D diagram of the forces involved. Will post here for others to comment and use soon.

So, in a climb, we have L < W and T > D, but then when banked into the turn, L will be > W. Confirm?

Mingalababya,

Just remember, that whenever an aircraft is in a climb, lift will always be less than weight, reagrdless of whether the aircraft is turning or not.

When an aircraft is turning during a climb, the reduced amount of lift for the climb is being compensated by excess thrust, but of course more lift is required for the turn. This 'extra' amount of lift can be found, but the vertical component of that lift (for the turn) will not be able to equal the weight (pointing straight down towards the ground), whilst the aircraft is in a climb.

Hence the reason that climbing turns are always taught to be carried out with only a small amount of bank (around 15 degrees 'ish') depending on where in the world you are.

If anyone thinks different, please let me know, am always happy to be proved wrong and learn more.