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What is aircraft service ceiling?
Definition of service ceiling : the altitude at which under standard air conditions a particular aircraft can no longer rise at a rate greater than a small designated rate (such as 100 feet per minute)
Why does an airplane have flight ceiling?
The biggest reason for this altitude lies with fuel efficiency. The thin air creates less drag on the aircraft, which means the plane can use less fuel in order to maintain speed. Less wind resistance, more power, less effort, so to speak.
What happens if a plane flies above its service ceiling?
When the plane gets too high, there is insufficient oxygen to fuel the engines. “The air is less dense at altitude, so the engine can suck in less and less air per second as it goes higher and at some point the engine can no longer develop sufficient power to climb.” …
What plane has the highest service ceiling?
Answer: The highest commercial airliner altitude was 60,000 feet by Concorde. The highest military air-breathing engine airplane was the SR-71 — about 90,000 feet. The highest airliner flying today reaches 45,000 feet.
What limits an aircraft service ceiling?
When you can no longer climb with more than 100ft per minute (for propeller aircraft) or 500ft per minute (for jet / turbofan aircraft) you have reached your service ceiling. If the aircraft maximum altitude is determined by thrust, the absolute ceiling will take very long to reach.
Which aircraft has the highest service ceiling?
What is aircraft absolute ceiling?
Definition of absolute ceiling : the maximum height above sea level at which a particular airplane can maintain horizontal flight under standard air conditions.
What is a service ceiling in aviation?
A service ceiling is not really an absolute limit on the altitude that a particular design can achieve, but one at which the aircraft begins to run out of climb capability. The is a measure of how high an aircraft can climb, when it runs out of any further climb capability, under normal-rated load.
What does absolute ceiling mean in aviation?
Absolute ceiling. The absolute ceiling is therefore the altitude at which the engines are operating at maximum thrust, yet only generate enough lift to match the weight of the aircraft. Hence, the aircraft will not have any excess capacity to climb further. At absolute ceiling, the aircraft can no longer accelerate,…
What is the service ceiling of an RV?
The editor’s RV-9A has a service ceiling of 24,500 feet. In other words it could even keep climbing slowly beyond that. The RV-6A has a service ceiling of 25,700 feet. A Cessna 172 has a service ceiling of 14,000 feet, and a V-tail Bonanza has one of 18,500 feet.
How high is the ceiling of a commercial jet?
Most commercial jetliners have a service (or certificated) ceiling of about 42,000 ft (13 km; 8.0 mi) and some business jets about 51,000 ft (16 km; 9.7 mi).