Modelling WW2 Aircraft Performance

[Charly_Owl]

Hi everyone!

 

I often see knowledgeable people on these boards post aircraft performance charts. Sometimes they are taken directly from books, but sometimes they're home-made using simple tools like Excel spreadsheets or something similar to MatLab.

 

I was thinking of doing a fun little project: try to model an old WW2 aircraft's performance based on available data. I got the idea from this thread:

 

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/flight-test-data/model-ww2-aircraft-performance-17250.html

 

While reading the thread on World War II Aircraft New Production, I decided to ask if anyone knows whether we can now calculate the performance of a WW2 aircraft (we being something like these guys at Braunschweig http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dlr.de%2Fen%2FDesktopDefault.aspx%2Ftabid-1%2F86_read-12449%2F ). Clearly we need to know the design of the aircraft in detail as we would if we were going to build it. That would be no problem for a Bf-109F4 or a Ki-84 Hayate but might be hard for a Bloch MB-157 (to name three aircraft whose performance inspires long threads). We would also like the engine power or the thrust from the propeller and exhaust stubs but being able to calculate performance at a known thrust would simplify the debates. Obviously we would also like to model the handling including turn and rate of roll.

 

I was wondering... Did anyone do a similar project before? I had a quick introductory course in aerodynamics in university but we (unfortunately) didn't see much about piston-engine aircraft.

 

The ultimate goal of this little project would be to do a quick tutorial aimed to the average joe that doesn't necessarily have a background in engineering to explain what influences aircraft aerodynamic and engine performance and how. Are there resources on the Internet available to know the basics of modelling an old warbird's performance based on data you can find relatively easily?

[Charly_Owl]

Oh no, not at all.