Do static/probe based TE systems actually measure TE?

[Ken Kochanski (KK)]

A couple of damp glider pilots (bad wx in the ne usa) were having a
discussion over hot americanos this morning.

Do static/probe based TE systems actually measure TE? ... or are they
simply a mechanism to get us an approximation of TE.

To measure TE, don't you need a system that can instantaneously
measure velocity/acceleration/altitude changes ... where the
performance parameters of the glider are known for these parameters
throughout the flight envelope ... for the current flying weight ...
corrected for temperature and altitude, etc., etc.

The coffee was good, as usual.:-)

KK

[[email protected]]

Newsflash: pretty much every instrument in your cockpit is only giving
you an approximation of something. Even the yaw string.


On Apr 28, 3:45 pm, "Ken Kochanski (KK)" >
wrote:
> A couple of damp glider pilots (bad wx in the ne usa) were having a
> discussion over hot americanos this morning.
>
> Do static/probe based TE systems actually measure TE? ... or are they
> simply a mechanism to get us an approximation of TE.
>
> To measure TE, don't you need a system that can instantaneously
> measure velocity/acceleration/altitude changes ... where the
> performance parameters of the glider are known for these parameters
> throughout the flight envelope ... for the current flying weight ...
> corrected for temperature and altitude, etc., etc.
>
> The coffee was good, as usual.:-)
>
> KK