5 ms·
How much does this affect an aircraft range? I assume the mechanism is that lighter aircraft needs less lift, and less lift means less drag, less drag - less po
by murkt 7y ago
How much does this affect an aircraft range? I assume the mechanism is that lighter aircraft needs less lift, and less lift means less drag, less drag - less power on the engines - less fuel consumption - more range.
I somehow always thought that more weight of an aircraft lessened its range almost only because it needs much more power to take off and gain a cruising altitude.
- hervature 7y agoIt adds a logarithmic factor: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/45439/how-much-of-an-improvement-would-a-1-weight-decrease-on-an-airplane-be-to-the-i https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/45439/how-much-...
- Someone 7y agoEven ignoring more efficient flight at lower weight, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliners_by_maximum_takeoff_weight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliners_by_maximum_t... shows that maximum landing weight can be a lot lower than maximum take-off weight. So, to land at take-off weight, you’ll have to significantly strengthen the landing gear. That already is 2.5 to 5% of the Maximum takeoff weight and 20% of the airframe direct maintenance cost (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_gear#Aircraft_landing_gear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_gear#Aircraft_landing_...)