Aircraft performance curves

[Jukka Juutinen]

Originally Posted by Christer Bergström

Juha, those particular performance curves which show the variation of max speeds of overhauled FAF aircraft seem to be quite interesting.

However, what I've seen here is people just asking for those plain performance curves which we have seen so many examples of in cheap few dozen-page aircraft monographies. I have heard complaints that there are no performance curves at all, but I have never heard the people who are so interested in those performance curves ever discuss the veracity of ordinary performance curves.

What I'd like to know is: For what are those ordinary performance curves so useful?

In short: they are a very compact way to present plenty of information in easily understood manner. Tell me which is the best way to describe aircraft speed, rate of climb and time to climb at various power settings from the sea level up to the service ceiling? You can have all this data in one compact graphic presentation requiring less space than covered by a cigarette box. That is the beauty of performance curves!