Generalized maximum specific range performance

Torenbeek, Egbert; Wittenberg, H.

doi:10.2514/3.44920

Cited by 19 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…16 They defined conditions for maximum specific range, taking into account the effects of compressibility on the airplane drag and the effects of engine rating, altitude, and speed on the engine characteristics. They noted that the unconstrained optimal cruise point differs from that constrained by available thrust, but they apparently did not make recommendations on using this insight to select design thrust loading of an aircraft.…”

Section: Iia Steady-state Analytical Approximation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reachability of Optimal Cruise Conditions

German

Patterson

Pate

et al. 2012

50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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Optimal aircraft cruise performance occurs along particular trajectories traversed through Mach number and altitude space as the mission fuel mass is expended. Ideally, these optimal trajectories depend primarily on the interplay between aerodynamic performance and engine fuel burn rate and on the lapse of these metrics with Mach and altitude. In many situations, however, the ideal operating conditions are constrained by point performance capabilities of the aircraft. For example, stall may limit the efficiency of low speed loiter operations, and maximum speed and altitude capability may reduce the achievable specific range. In this paper, we investigate the implications of thrust limits on aircraft range performance in comparison to unconstrained operations at the cruise conditions corresponding to optimal aerodynamic efficiency. We derive the conditions of optimality for both a twoparameter quadratic drag polar and a drag polar with wave drag, and we demonstrate the concepts by exploring Mach-altitude "sky maps" for three subsonic turbojet aircraft examples. Finally, we explore the implications of changes in the aircraft drag polar, thrust loading, and wing loading on optimal aerodynamic performance.

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Section: Iia Steady-state Analytical Approximation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%