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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Improving the efficiency of smaller transport aircraft

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6022314
Considered apart from its propulsive system the high altitude airplane itself adapted to higher flight altitudes than those in current use. Scaling on the assumption of constant aircraft density indicates that this conclusion applies most importantly to smaller transport aircraft. Climb to 60,000 ft could save time and energy for trips as short as 500 miles. A discussion of the effect of winglets on aircraft efficiency is presented. A 10% reduction of induced drag below that of a comparable elliptic wing can be achieved either by horizontal or vertical wing tip extensions.
Research Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Moffett Field, CA (USA). Ames Research Center
OSTI ID:
6022314
Report Number(s):
N-84-28780; NASA-TM-85992; A-9831
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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