DEBUG AIRCRAFT FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

This window is used to create a flight_performance.cfg file, which contains information that can be compared with the POH and manufacturer data for the aircraft, and then used to tweak the flight model setup. The output data is also useful for calculating a vertical navigation profile as well as the take-off and landing distances required when creating flight plans.

IMPORTANT! Currently this file and debug window are only useable by planes with turbine/turbofan engines.

 

The output from this window is principally related to the engine performance and aerodynamics performance, and you can use this window to generate performance data for multiple configurations. This is done at the top of the window where you can click on the + / - buttons to add or remove configurations. A configuration has the following editable properties:

• Name Of Configuration: This is a string that can be used to identify the configuration in the file.
• Landing Gear Released: This is a toggle to tell the configuration to run the performance tests on the aircraft with landing gear down (checked) or up (un-checked).
• Wing Configuration: This section requires an index value, which is the index of the [FLAPS.N] section to use to setup the wing for the current configuration aerodynamic performance tests.

 

Having set up the configurations you can then change the Export Settings. These settings are related to the conditions that will be used for the flight performance tests and consist of a number of editable properties. All the available settings have the same three properties which are:

• Minimum Value: This sets the minimum value to be used for graphing the parameter data.
• Step Value: This sets the value to be used to increment the parameter at each data point.
• Number Of points: This sets how many data points to use when graphing the parameter data.

 

The actual sections that can be defined are as follows (note that the options here will be used to set the conditions used to test all configurations):

• Pressure Altitude Range (in ft): Defines the altitude range that will be used to set the air pressure for the tests.
• Outside Air Pressure Deviation range (°C): Defines the OAT deviation range from ISA for the tests.
• Mach Number Range: Defines the Mach range to use for the tests,
• Angle Of Attack Range (in Degrees): Defines the range in AoA to use for the tests.
• Engine Throttle Control Range: Defines the throttle control range to use for the tests.

Note that in all tests the maximum value is derived automatically based on the combination of minimum, step value and number of points.

 

Finally there is an option to generate Human Readable Content. When this is checked, the file that is output will be in a more user-friendly format showing various tables and data points that are easier to interpret than the standard CFG output. The image below illustrates the difference:

 

Once you have setup the configurations to test and the parameters to use for the testing, you can go ahead and Export the file by clicking on the Export button at the bottom. This will then run all the tests on the aircraft and export the file to the given location. This is - by default - the location of the config folder for the currently selected preset of the aircraft package. However the output path is editable and you can export the file to anywhere on your computer if required.