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Climb gradient is the proportional to the ratio of climb rate to forward airspeed:
For the KC-135R, the climb gradient for a given configuration (flap setting)
increases
with
increasing
airspeed at slow speeds. This is in contrast to the C-130, where climb rate generally
decreases
with
increasing
airspeed at slow speeds.
Relative to a swept - wing jet aircraft, the C-130 has a much larger difference between best rate
of climb airspeeds and practical cruise airspeeds. This shows up in C-130 cruise step climbs,
where the aircraft is slowed to best rate of climb, the climb is accomplished, and then once level,
the aircraft is accelerated at maximum continuous power until reaching the desired cruise
airspeed. The cruise airspeed is typically at a very low excess power condition:
