The effect of variations in local gravity and of aircraft speed on the effective weight of aircraft in high performance cruise

Abstract

Numerical data are given of the changes in effective gravity experienced by aircraft in flight at various heights and speeds. In most flight conditions this results in a reduction in the effective weight experienced by aircraft which is shown to vary considerably with heading and latitude. For Concorde in cruise there is a reduction in effective weight of approximately 0.5 per cent in westbound flight and this increases to more than 2 per cent in eastbound flight.