A 10% increase in landing weight results in what change to landing distance?

A 10% increase in landing weight leads to significant changes in both landing distance and kinetic energy due to the fundamental physics involved in aircraft landing dynamics. When the landing weight of an aircraft increases, it has a direct correlation to the kinetic energy present at the moment of touchdown, which is proportional to the square of the velocity and mass.

Kinetic energy can be expressed as ( KE = \frac{1}{2} mv^2 ). So, if the mass (or weight) of the aircraft increases by 10%, the kinetic energy also increases by approximately 19%, which is determined by the square relationship between weight and kinetic energy.

Furthermore, the landing distance of an aircraft is influenced by the weight as well, since heavier aircraft require more distance to decelerate safely. The change in landing distance is not a direct linear relationship; instead, it often follows a more complex mathematical relationship, which indicates that landing distance will increase more than the weight increase due to the additional kinetic energy needing to be dissipated. Thus, with a 10% increase in landing weight, the landing distance increases by about 19%.

This reasoning aligns perfectly with the conclusion that a 10% increase in weight causes a 19% increase in kinetic energy