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An Iberia Airbus_A321_on_the_climbout_from_London_Heathrow_Airport_.html" ;"title="London_Heathrow_Airport.html" ;"title="Airbus A321 on the climbout from London Heathrow Airport">Airbus A321 on the climbout from London Heathrow Airport ">London_Heathrow_Airport.html" ;"title="Airbus A321 on the climbout from London Heathrow Airport">Airbus A321 on the climbout from London Heathrow Airport In aviation, a climb or ascent is the operation of increasing the altitude of an aircraft. It is also the logical phase of a typical flight (the ''climb phase'' or ''climbout'') following [ akeoff and preceding the cruise. During the climb phase there is an increase in altitude to a predetermined level. The opposite of a climb is a ''
descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree ** Ancestry ** Lineal descendant **Heritag ...
''.


Climb operation

A steady climb is carried out by using
excess thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sy ...
, the amount by which the thrust from the power plant exceeds the drag on the aircraft.
L. J. Clancy Laurence Joseph Clancy (15 March 1929 - 16 October 2014) was an Education Officer in aerodynamics at Royal Air Force College Cranwell whose textbook ''Aerodynamics'' became standard. He was born in Egypt to Alfred Joseph Clancy and Agnes Hunter. I ...
(1975): ''Aerodynamics''. Pitman Publishing Limited, London,
The aircraft will climb steadily until the excess thrust falls to zero. Excess thrust might fall to zero as a result of the pilot's deliberate action in control of the output of the engines, or as the engines' response to reducing air density.


Climb phase

The climb phase, also known as climb-out or initial climb, is the period during which the aircraft climbs to a predetermined cruising altitude after take-off. The climb phase immediately follows take-off and precedes the cruise phase of the flight. Although a single climb phase is typical, multiple climb phases may alternate with cruise phases, particularly for very long flights in which altitude is increased as the weight of fuel aboard decreases (see '' step climb''). As the climb progresses, the rate of climb decreases as thrust reduces due to reducing air density. A gradual climb improves forward visibility over the nose of the aircraft. Aircraft also climb when flying in a zone of rising air, but since such zones are unpredictable and inconveniently located, and since most are poorly adapted to passive climbs of this type, only gliders attempt such climbs on a regular basis.


"Normal" climb

In some jurisdictions and under some conditions, “normal” climbs are defined by regulations or procedures, and are used to develop
airway The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa. Air is breathed in through the nose to th ...
systems,
airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...
s, and instrument procedures. Normal climbs are simply standardized climb rates achievable by most aircraft under most conditions that are used as conservative guidelines when developing procedures or structures that are partially a function of such rates. For example, a normal climb of 20 meters per km (120 feet per nautical mile) might be assumed during the development of a navigational procedure or while defining airspace limits in airport terminal areas.


See also

*
Rate of climb In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...
*
Angle of climb In aerodynamics, climb gradient is the ratio between distance travelled over the ground and altitude gained, and is expressed as a percentage. The angle of climb can be defined as the angle between a horizontal plane representing the Earth's surf ...


References

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