6861 / Research on airplane performance on a grass airfield

Paper presented at the 16th European-African Regional Conference of the ISTVS

https://doi.org/10.56884/EVDP1196

Title: Researches on airplane performance on a grass airfield

Authors: Jaroslaw Pytka, Paweł Tomiło, Anna Zalewska-Tytłak, Mateusz Klepka, and Sławomir Tarkowski

Abstract: The paper presents experimental researches on airfield performance of an aircraft operating from a grass runway. For this research, a methodology of field measurements was developed and measurements of take-off and landing distance were carried out on a grass airfield, taking into account important factors, such as soil cone index, soil moisture, vegetation density and atmospheric factors. The method of measuring the distance of take-off and landing ground roll based on neural network models turned out to be very convenient to use, the advantage is cheap hardware and ease of use. On the basis of the results of CI and MC measurements on two test airfields, it was concluded that the ground performance of aircraft obtained at grass airfields with different soil substrate may differ significantly. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish grass runways in terms of soil type. Flight test results showed that the impact of green vegetation on the runway is more significant than the impact of soil strength, expressed by means of soil CI. The overarching goal is to implement the measurement method and obtained results into the GARFIELD system – an online information system on grass airfield conditions.

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