AircraftPower 4.1

AircraftPower is an application designed for analyzing aircraft engine performance. It employs a standard reciprocating engine performance model to compute and exhibit both sea level and altitude performance for a total of 63 commonly-used Continental® engines and 107 frequently-utilized Lycoming® engines.

The program includes a visual representation depicting the engine performance chart, highlighting the step-by-step calculation process for determining altitude performance, reminiscent of our fundamental training in ground school. Users can manipulate input values through sliders or a customized keypad to adjust variables such as manifold pressure (or % power), rpm, pressure altitude, and outside air temperature. The tool then showcases the power output, percentage power (or required manifold pressure), and utilizes dotted lines and colored dots in the graphic display to simulate the manual calculation method. While the graphical interface is not essential, it serves as an educational and engaging visual aid.

The application offers users the flexibility to select between English or metric units for altitude, temperature, manifold pressure, and power output (note that the graphic display exclusively employs English units). Additionally, users have the option to set default values for both inputs and engine selections. Furthermore, users can opt to input indicated altitude instead of pressure altitude (which is the default setting) and may choose to input % rated power as an alternative to manifold pressure. In cases where indicated altitude is chosen, an input window for the altimeter setting will be provided.