4 ms·

Long before there was the tyranny of the rocket equation, there was also the tyranny of the wagon equation [1] that limited how far per-industrialized armies co

Long before there was the tyranny of the rocket equation, there was also the tyranny of the wagon equation [1] that limited how far per-industrialized armies could move with wagons and animals (though the equation wasn't formalized). [1] https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-wagon-equation https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-wago...

s1artibartfast 2y ago
I would tend to assume that the equation was formalized.
- throwup238 2y ago
  Logisticians were intimately aware of the concept but I’ve never seen an equation formally written down or mentioned anywhere in ancient or medieval texts. They would have used a simplified version for planning - counting days of food an army has and how far they can move from their bases on that food, plus how much they can forage for and how much they can take from the local population. It looks more like a Civ5 game board than a neat equation like the ideal rocket equation.
Gravityloss 2y ago
Breguet range equation for airplanes also predates rocketry though postdates wagons. Airplanes can already have a significant portion of their weight as fuel. It has a logarithm of the mass ratio as one of the terms.
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  And by "significant", half or more their take-off weight. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress: dry weight 38.25 tonne, fuel capacity 141.6 tonne, ratio 3.7:1. Max takeoff weight: 221.3 tonne. If at max fuel, that's 63% fuel. In practice, this aircraft refuels, often multiple times, on missions, which may span the globe. Boeing 747-8: dry weight 220 tonne, fuel capacity 238.6 tonne, ratio 1.08:1. Max takeoff weight: 447.1 tonne. If at max fuel, that's 53% fuel. Much of the fuel burn is on take-off and climb, meaning that cruise portions of flight are already at significantly less than take-off weight, and further reduce with time. You'll occasionally see long-distance flight profiles in which the altitude of the aircraft increases over the flight (in 1,000 ft increments given air traffic regulations) as fuel load decreases and maximum efficient altitude increases.

s1artibartfast 2y ago

I would tend to assume that the equation was formalized.

throwup238 2y ago
Logisticians were intimately aware of the concept but I’ve never seen an equation formally written down or mentioned anywhere in ancient or medieval texts. They would have used a simplified version for planning - counting days of food an army has and how far they can move from their bases on that food, plus how much they can forage for and how much they can take from the local population. It looks more like a Civ5 game board than a neat equation like the ideal rocket equation.

Gravityloss 2y ago

Breguet range equation for airplanes also predates rocketry though postdates wagons. Airplanes can already have a significant portion of their weight as fuel. It has a logarithm of the mass ratio as one of the terms.

dredmorbius 2y ago
And by "significant", half or more their take-off weight. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress: dry weight 38.25 tonne, fuel capacity 141.6 tonne, ratio 3.7:1. Max takeoff weight: 221.3 tonne. If at max fuel, that's 63% fuel. In practice, this aircraft refuels, often multiple times, on missions, which may span the globe. Boeing 747-8: dry weight 220 tonne, fuel capacity 238.6 tonne, ratio 1.08:1. Max takeoff weight: 447.1 tonne. If at max fuel, that's 53% fuel. Much of the fuel burn is on take-off and climb, meaning that cruise portions of flight are already at significantly less than take-off weight, and further reduce with time. You'll occasionally see long-distance flight profiles in which the altitude of the aircraft increases over the flight (in 1,000 ft increments given air traffic regulations) as fuel load decreases and maximum efficient altitude increases.