Rate of Climb


Rate of Climb

(Image source: Wikipedia)
The Rate of Climb is an aircraft's vertical speed measured in feet per minute. An F-15 like the image at left has the power to climb straight up, like a rocket.  
A Vertical Speed Indicator measures the Rate of Climb. When an aircraft is descending, the Rate of Climb becomes the Rate of Descent, or Sink Rate.  
There are optimum speeds and Rates of Climb. Typical jetliners climb anywhere from 2000-4500 feet per minute. This rate reduces as the plane gets higher. After about 15,000 feet, the air isn't thick enough to maintain that high of performance. When an airplane reaches its performance ceiling, it will use all of its power to maintain that altitude.  
Our little airplane climbs at 1000 feet per minute, generally. It depends on several factors: The initial altitude at which we're starting out, our loaded weight, and outside air temperature and humidity.   

Standard Rate of Descent is 2500 feet per minute in a commercial airliner. I'm not sure what it is in our airplane, but I suspect it's not as fast. Have you ever descended in an airplane and your ears got plugged up and/or even painful? It was probably due to too fast a Rate of Descent.

Comments

  1. Susan KaneApril 21, 2014 at 1:54 PM

    I don't know if I want to know all those facts just now. in 60 days we are flying to visit our daughter. I think I will need a Valium, or two.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sharon HimslApril 23, 2014 at 7:03 PM

    Whoa! A thousand feet a minute. I had no idea.
    Shells–Tales–Sails

    ReplyDelete

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