Density Altitude?

timwinters

timwinters

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Checking various density altitudes across our area this morning just for sh*ts and giggles. Kirksville (KIRK) is almost 5600' below actual airport ELEVATION.

Which caused me to ponder...

WHY is it density ALTITUDE and not density Density ELEVATION????

It is a statement of what your airplane feels like when it is ON THE GROUND after all...

...once you take-off...then it's density altitude.
 
timwinters said:
Checking various density altitudes across our area this morning just for sh*ts and giggles. Kirksville (KIRK) is almost 5600' below actual airport ELEVATION.

Which caused me to ponder...

WHY is it density ALTITUDE and not density Density ELEVATION????

It is a statement of what your airplane feels like when it is ON THE GROUND after all...

...once you take-off...then it's density altitude.
Click to expand...
I was actually going to try to answer this one seriously, then thought better of it :D
 
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So I just ran the numbers.....

At -60, that’s .5 kilos more weight per Square meter of surface area and in order to take off, you must add this to the total weight of the aircraft e.g. gross.

My answer is..... you are over gross for take off anyway, so just put it away and wait for it to warm up.
 
timwinters said:
Checking various density altitudes across our area this morning just for sh*ts and giggles. Kirksville (KIRK) is almost 5600' below actual airport ELEVATION.

Which caused me to ponder...

WHY is it density ALTITUDE and not density Density ELEVATION????

It is a statement of what your airplane feels like when it is ON THE GROUND after all...

...once you take-off...then it's density altitude.
Click to expand...

That means your airplane can takeoff with a negative indicated airspeed.
 
timwinters said:
Checking various density altitudes across our area this morning just for sh*ts and giggles. Kirksville (KIRK) is almost 5600' below actual airport ELEVATION.

Which caused me to ponder...

WHY is it density ALTITUDE and not density Density ELEVATION????

It is a statement of what your airplane feels like when it is ON THE GROUND after all...

...once you take-off...then it's density altitude.
Click to expand...

Well, no, density altitude is what the plane feels...period! Your plane doesn't know it's sitting on the ground, thus what it "feels" is strictly related to the density of the air. So, if an airport has an elevation of, say, 1000 feet, and the density altitude is 1500 feet, then the plane is "feeling" as if it's at an altitude of 1500 feet.
I'm no instructor, and am in fact still a student pilot, but that's my take on it. Feel free anyone to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Well, no, density altitude is what the plane feels...period! Your plane doesn't know it's sitting on the ground, thus what it "feels" is strictly related to the density of the air. So, if an airport has an elevation of, say, 1000 feet, and the density altitude is 1500 feet, then the plane is "feeling" as if it's at an altitude of 1500 feet.
I'm no instructor, and am in fact still a student pilot, but that's my take on it. Feel free anyone to correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
You are wrong...in answering the question as if it is real.

(Just in case - your answer is quite correct)
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Well, no, density altitude is what the plane feels...period!.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, except the metar is talking about the airport...not the airplane. And the airport is at an elevation not an altitude.
 
If Kirksville was underground, that would kind of clean the area up.
 
timwinters said:
Boy, ain't that the truth. Spent a year in that town recently working on a project. It ain't nice.
Click to expand...

I spent a lot of time near there as a Youth, SW of their mainly.

My Uncle was on the airport board for a while, before he passed. I've been up there a few times.

The entire Northern 1/2 of MO is just kind of frucked up now.
 
Jeff Szlauko said:
Well, no, density altitude is what the plane feels...period! Your plane doesn't know it's sitting on the ground, thus what it "feels" is strictly related to the density of the air. So, if an airport has an elevation of, say, 1000 feet, and the density altitude is 1500 feet, then the plane is "feeling" as if it's at an altitude of 1500 feet.
I'm no instructor, and am in fact still a student pilot, but that's my take on it. Feel free anyone to correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
You're wrong...... the only thing that makes an airplane fly is money.
 
timwinters said:
Well yeah, except the metar is talking about the airport...not the airplane. And the airport is at an elevation not an altitude.
Click to expand...

Yes, I see your point now. I suppose the METAR could say, for example, airport KLVK has a high density elevation of 1500 feet. But then as a pilot, I'd be seeing that as high density altitude, so why not just cut to the chase, and call it that to begin with?
 
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