Question

Radar Avoidance A high-performance jet plane, practicing radar avoidance maneuvers, is in horizontal flight of h = 55 m above the level ground. Suddenly, the plane encounters terrain that slopes gently upward at 4.3°, an amount difficult to detect (see Figure 2-22). How much time does the pilot have to make a correction to avoid flying into the ground? The speed of the plane is 1050 km/h.

Answer 1

tan = h / s
Where is the angle of slope, h is the initial height of the plane from the ground, and s is the horizontal distance the plane can fly before flying into the ground.
s = h / tan
= 55 / tan(4.3)
= 731.5 m
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Time taken, t = s / v
Where v is the speed of the plane.
v = 1050 km/h = 291.7 m/s
t = 731.5 / 291.7
= 2.51 s