Airplane Performance on Grass Airfields presents an experiment-based approach to analysis and flight testing of airfield performance on grass runways. It discusses improvements for operational efficiency and safety of these airfields.
The book analyzes the interaction between the landing gear wheels and the surface of a grass runways during both takeoff and landing. Considering the ground performance of an aircraft on a grass runway, the book covers test methods and devices for measuring performance and introduces an information system for the surface condition of grass airfields: GARFIELD. The system is based on a tire-grass interaction model and uses digital soil maps, as well as current meteorological data obtained from a weather server.
The book is intended for researchers and practicing engineers in the fields of aviation and aircraft safety and performance.
1 Introduction
2 Airfield performance of an airplane – the state-of the-art
3 Modeling of airfield performance of airplane on a grass runway
4 Methods
5 Results
6 GARFIELD – an online information system on grassy airfields
Biography
Jaroslaw Alexander Pytka (DSc, PhD, MS, Automotive Engineer), born 1968 in Wrocław, Poland, is working at the Department of Motor Vehicles, Lublin University of Technlogy, Poland, as a Researcher and Educator for undergraduate and graduate students of Automotive Technology. He received his MS degree from the Lublin University of Technology in Automotive Engineering in 1992. He earned his PhD in Soil Physics from the Institute of Agrophysics, Lublin, Poland. His major research interest is wheel-soil interaction analysis with a focus on experimental studies. One of the practical applications of research results by Dr. Pytka is an assessment of grass runway surface in terms of determining the airfield performance of airplanes. He has been dealing with this subject for 12 years, and this monograph is a summary of a significant step in developing research methods.
