Climbing performance

In general we may wish to design for one of two goals as far as the climbing performance is concerned. Firstly the climb angle rather than the rate of climb may be of primary consideration. This will be true, for example, if we are con­cerned with the take-off performance. The primary concern will be to avoid hitting high structures in the vicinity of the airport and for this it is the angle of climb that is critical. In other circumstances it may be the rate of climb that is the factor of most interest. This would be true, for example, for an interceptor aircraft. It is important at this stage to realise that the maximum angle of climb and the maximum rate of climb do not occur together, but as we shall see, at two distinct operating points.