4 ms·
Yes, but parasite drag is indirectly affected by weight. A lot of the parasite drag comes from the wings and engines, and they scale up with weight, as long as
by cameldrv 7y ago
Yes, but parasite drag is indirectly affected by weight. A lot of the parasite drag comes from the wings and engines, and they scale up with weight, as long as you want to keep the same takeoff/landing distances.
- Retric 7y agoThis is a comparison of the impact of seating arrangements for otherwise identical aircraft. The maximum takeoff weight stays the same, the difference is how much fuel they can add before they hit it. Which is why ultra long haul flights tend to have more leg room. This can be as much as 5 inches for the same airlines.
- cameldrv 7y agoFair enough, but my point was that for a given set of capabilities (landing speed/distance, range), if you want to add more payload, you need more wing. The additional payload costs you drag from induced drag, but it also costs you parasite drag from the bigger wing you need to generate that lift at landing speed. You even see this with some stretched versions of airliners, they enlarge the wings or make changes to the high lift devices.