|
pepolk0001 -> RE: Combat Radius of an air superiority fighter (12/24/2014 4:19:56 AM)
|
Do a search and you will find that an overwhelming number of factors go into aircraft performance calculations. But... pilots put their pants on every morning just like you and me, so in most situations it is impractical to use equations and calculus to plan your fuel for a flight or mission.
Generally the pilot is intimately familiar with the aircraft fuel flow for various mission profiles. If a particular mission profile is more critical, the pilot has access to relatively simple tabulated and/or charted fuel burn data in their flight manual. There is little standardization for how the data is tabulated, and military/service directives specify what reserves are required (usually based on weather, crew composition, and airfield location). It may be easy for the pilot to know rough numbers for fuel flow rates for at least two broad categories of flight:
(1) Range (e.g. transit from base to your operating area)--you need to know average fuel flow and speed over ground (airspeed +/- wind speed).
(2) On-station/operating area (e.g. CAP-ing, combat maneuvering, loitering etc.) -- you are most concerned with your fuel burn because you aren't concerned with travelling the distance from A to B.
Aircraft manufacturers advertise a combat radius based on an assumed mission profile (like the numbers in your post). Who knows where this "assumed" profile comes from--perhaps from the design specifications that the government put forth in the contract. These numbers are rather misleading to the operator and mission planner, because they offer little insight into the actual fuel burn of the aircraft; therefore you will make yourself crazy trying to translate these combat radius numbers into tactically relevant information.
What you really need to do is use distance to the operating area and speed over ground to determine the time required to transit to/from the operating area (divide distance by speed), and multiply that time by fuel flow. The remaining fuel is available for operations and reserve. Don't forget to account for fuel acquired from tankers.
Ultimately it comes down to being an art vice a science though.
//
Fortunately, from what I can tell, this simulation provides just as much fuel flow data as you need! Just scroll to the bottom of the aircraft page in the database. I'm new to this sim, but it's friggin' awesome.
|
|
|
|
