What effect does an uphill terrain slope have on launch performance of a fixed-wing sUAS?
A) Increases launch distance
B) Increases launch speed
C) Decreases launch distance
The answer to this question is A.
When you have an uphill terrain slope and you’re launching a fixed-wing aircraft on that slope, you’ll need to increase your launch distance to get the aircraft up into the air.
If the take-off speed for a Cessna is, as an example, 140 knots with full throttle, it’s still 140 knots regardless of the slope of the runway. Since the horsepower of the Cessna is finite, if you increase the angle of the runway, that will make it harder to get up to 140 knots. Take-off will require a longer distance.
