Piano-X

You are invited to try Piano-X (Windows) here and now: A free, revolutionary new version of Piano, the prestigious aircraft analysis tool used by many airframe and engine manufacturers worldwide.

Piano-X provides unprecedented analytical power to anyone involved in the science of aircraft emissions, in airline fleet planning, or in the assessment of both existing and projected aircraft.

With a uniquely simple interface, Piano-X lets you see results within moments of downloading. To get you started, several free aircraft models are provided. You will have instant access to fuel consumption, environmental emissions (NOx, HC, CO, CO2), drag and performance characteristics at any range and payload combination. If you find Piano-X useful, you will be able to purchase other individual aircraft models, or the entire Piano database of more than 250 files covering a huge variety of commercial aircraft types.

Piano-X is much more than a database - it is a full-strength performance program incorporating precisely the same analytical routines as Piano. Unlike Piano, you will not be able to define completely new aircraft 'from scratch' with Piano-X: Instead, you purchase predefined models. But you will then be able to adjust these models exactly as you want:

What are the effects of changing Flight Levels in an A380? What happens if the empty weight of the Boeing 787-9 goes up by 1000 pounds? What if the sfc is 0.5% better, or the drag improves, or there is less climb thrust, or the NOx and hydrocarbon emissions must reflect the latest engine certification results? Piano-X does not expect you to rely solely on current estimates - you can change all of the above for yourself at anytime, to match changing realities, today and tomorrow, or to understand the impact of missed promises and guarantees. And you won't need a PhD in computer science or aeronautics to get the information you need out of Piano-X.

The Piano-X database is precisely the same as supplied with Piano. Aircraft models do not imply the approval or cooperation of any manufacturers or represent guaranteed performance. They do constitute the best and truly independent estimates of aircraft characteristics available to Lissys and are underpinned by two decades of expertise in analysing commercial aircraft, with global contacts and a customer list that speaks for itself.

You can Google 'piano aircraft emissions' to find several major environmental studies (some at intergovernmental level) that reference Piano. It is mentioned in ICAO's annual environmental report (large pdf).

Lissys is constantly reviewing future projected aircraft and can provide consultancy related to Piano or Piano-X models. If you are an aeronautical engineer and interested in generating your own aircraft models entirely from scratch, take a look at the full Piano, which lets you do precisely that, and is now available on Windows.