Climb Performance & Service Ceiling
Rate of climb versus altitude, temperature and loading from aircraft-specific validated data; no generic estimates presented as approved figures.
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Move the amber point: up and down changes the pressure altitude, sideways the temperature (the rate of climb falls as it gets warmer). The thin purple lines are the four printed temperature columns of Figure 5-6, the green dots Figure 5-7's standard-day rates, the cyan line your temperature carried to every altitude at the same deviation from standard.
Cessna 172S only: Information Manual 172SIM incorporating POH/AFM Revision 5 (19 July 2004, P/N 172SPHUS05), serials 172S8001 and on, conventional panel — not the G1000 (NAV III) handbook. For training — not for flight planning of a specific airplane; use the POH/AFM for your serial number. The climb tables are printed for 2550 lb, flaps up, full throttle, mixture leaned above 3,000 ft.
The readout gives the rate of climb, the climb speed, the climb TAS and groundspeed and the climb gradient in feet per nautical mile — the number an obstacle or departure procedure asks for. Set the start and top of the climb (or drag the cyan markers on the right) for the time, fuel and distance: the tool subtracts the two Figure 5-7 rows exactly as the POH sample does and adds 10 % for every 10 °C above standard.
Service ceiling: the POH prints 14,000 ft as a specification. The tables stop at 12,000 ft, where the rate is still well above 100 fpm, so the 100-fpm altitude cannot be read from them without extrapolating — the tool shows the printed value and says that the derived one is not reachable inside the tables.
Assumption: the chart profile keeps the same deviation from standard temperature at every altitude; the climb groundspeed is the climb TAS minus the headwind you enter.
Data: POH Figure 5-6 Maximum Rate of Climb at 2550 lb (p. 5-17; the 12,000 ft / 40 °C cell is printed “- - -” and stays blank), Figure 5-7 Time, Fuel and Distance to Climb at 2550 lb (p. 5-18) with its notes, Figure 5-1 airspeed calibration flaps up (p. 5-9), the specification page (service ceiling 14,000 ft, 730 fpm at sea level, p. ii). Transcribed twice independently with an empty diff.
Method: bilinear interpolation inside Figure 5-6 only (no number outside −20 to 40 °C, above 12,000 ft or next to the blank cell); climb segment = row at the top minus row at the start, linear between the 1,000-ft rows, × (1 + 0.10 × ISA deviation / 10) above standard only; climb TAS = KIAS → KCAS (Figure 5-1) → TAS (exact relation, the same functions as TAS / CAS / EAS); gradient = rate × 60 ÷ groundspeed (the Digital Flight Computer relation). The temperature profile assumes a constant ISA deviation with altitude (labelled). No weight correction is printed, so none is applied.
Verified: the POH sample (2,000 → 8,000 ft: 2.2 gal, 15 NM, 11 min; at ISA+16 2.6 gal and 17.4 NM), Figure 5-6 read at ISA equals Figure 5-7 within 15 fpm at every row (729 vs 730 fpm at sea level), density altitude identical to TAS / CAS / EAS, its calibration table identical to the dataset's.
- Cessna Model 172S Information Manual 172SIM incorporating the Pilot’s Operating Handbook and FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual, Revision 5 (19 July 2004), P/N 172SPHUS05 — applies to Model 172S serials 172S8001 and on, conventional panel (not G1000); for training, not for flight planning of a specific airplane
- POH Section 5 Performance — Figure 5-6 Maximum Rate of Climb at 2550 lb (p. 5-17), Figure 5-7 Time, Fuel and Distance to Climb at 2550 lb with notes 1–4 (p. 5-18), Figure 5-1 Airspeed Calibration (p. 5-9), sample problem fuel required (p. 5-6)
- POH Introduction, Performance – Specifications: service ceiling 14,000 ft, rate of climb at sea level 730 fpm (p. ii) — printed specification
- FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C (2023), ch. 11 Aircraft Performance — climb performance, service ceiling (100 fpm) and absolute ceiling, effect of density altitude