AircraftPower

AircraftPower is an Aircraft Engine Performance App. It uses a standard reciprocating engine performance model to calculate and display the sea level and altitude performance of 63 normally-aspirated Continental® engines and 107 normally-aspirated Lycoming® engines. A graphic display shows the engine performance chart and illustrates the manual construction method for determining altitude performance that we learned in ground school (and promptly forgot). As the user changes the input values, using the sliders or a custom keypad, for manifold pressure, rpm, pressure altitude and outside air temperature, the power output and percent power are displayed, and dotted lines and colored dots in the graphic display follow the manual construction method. While the graphics aren't really necessary, they are instructive (and interesting) to watch.

The user may choose english or metric units for altitude, temperature, manifold pressure and power output (however, the graphic always uses english units), and may select default values for the input settings and the engine. The user can also choose to input the indicated altitude instead of the pressure altitude (the default). If so, an input window for the altimeter setting appears. The sliders used in this app have a special vernier mode that permits a much better setting accuracy than a normal slider. The user may also use a custom numeric keypad to enter data.