Aircraft Performance

Question 1

1. Why does a pilot need to know about aircraft performance?

7

Answer 1

a. Safety and accident prevention
i. Implications of exceeding performance limitations
ii. Overlooked often due to being in a training environment
b. Operational Efficiency
c. Required for solo FAR 61.87 “operational limitations”
d. Required for Private Pilot FAR 61.105
e. Know when arriving
f. Know your options
g. Know what procedures you can do

Question 2

What should we teach?

1 2 3

Answer 2

•	Define
•	Why is it important to learn? 
•	Definitions of Terms
o	Density altitude
o	Ground roll
o	Total distance over 50’

Question 3

Factors effecting performance:

11

Answer 3

o	Takeoff
o	Landing
o	Cruise
o	Climb
o	Glide
o	Stall
o	Temp
o	Altitude
o	Runway condition
o	Configuration
o	Atmospheric conditions

Question 4

Common errors

Answer 4

• Don’t understand how performance is affected
• Accuracy isn’t a priority
• Confuse terms (ISA, ground roll/total distance, etc.)
• Fail to note conditions on performance charts (on dry grass etc.)
• Can only use one type of chart presentation (graph vs. table)
• Don’t know where to get the basic information to solve problem
o Temp
o Pressure altitude
o Winds
o Elevations