DEBUG AIRCRAFT FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

This window is used to create an initial 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, and will be used by the EFB and other applications, however the file has no direct implications for the simulation and is purely meant to be informative and for use in add-ons.

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).
• Spoiler Angle: This sets the spoiler angle (in degrees) for the configuration.
• 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. Note that this value is clambed to the number of flaps sections defined in the flight model file.

 

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.
  • Min Pressure Altitude - Set the minimum pressure altitude for the tests.
  • Pressure Altitude Step - Set the step value increments for the pressure altitude tests.
  • Number of Points - Set how many data points (steps) the pressure altitude tests should have.
  • Max Pressure Altitude - the maximum pressure altitude is derived automatically based on the combination of the minimum, step value, and number of points.

 

• Outside Air Pressure Deviation range (°C)

  Defines the OAT deviation range from ISA for the tests.
  • Min OAT deviation - Set the minimum OAT deviation for the tests.
  • OAT Deviation Step - Set the step value increments for the OAT deviation tests.
  • Number of Points - Set how many data points (steps) the OAT deviation tests should have.
  • Max OAT Deviation - the maximum OAT deviation value is derived automatically based on the combination of minimum, step value, and number of points.

 

• Mach Number Range

  Defines the Mach range to use for the tests.
  • Min Mach - Set the minimum Mach for the tests.
  • Mach Step - Set the step value increments for the Mach tests.
  • Number of Points - Set how many data points (steps) the Mach tests should have.
  • Max Mach - the maximum mach value is derived automatically based on the combination of minimum, step value and number of points.

 

• Angle Of Attack Range (in Degrees)

  Defines the range in AoA to use for the tests.
  • Min AoA - Set the minimum AoA for the tests.
  • AoA Step - Set the step value increments for the AoA tests.
  • Number of Points - Set how many data points (steps) the AoA tests should have.
  • Max AoA - the maximum AoA value is derived automatically based on the combination of minimum, step value, and number of points.

 

• Engine Throttle Control Range

  Defines the throttle control range to use for the tests.
  • Min Throttle - Set the minimum throttle position for the tests.
  • Throttle Step - Set the step value increments for the throttle position tests.
  • Number of Points - Set how many data points (steps) the throttle position tests should have.
  • Max Throttle - the maximum value is derived automatically based on the combination of minimum, step value, and number of points.

 

• Turbine Engine Test Settings

  These settings allow one to better control the numerical stability of the turbine engine test.
  • Required Accuracy - This defines the maximum allowed difference between each calculated engine parameter value across the two most recent iterations during the iterative search for a stable engine state. If any parameter's value difference exceeds this threshold, the search continues with a new iteration. Value is given as a percentage, must be greater than 0, and the default is 0.001%.
  • Max Number Of Iterations - The iterative search will stop if a stable engine state with the required accuracy is not found within the number of iterations specified here. Value must be creater than 0 and the default value is 1000.

 

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.