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In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air. It describes the aerodynamic efficiency under given flight conditions. The L/D ratio for any given body will vary according to these flight conditions.
It is a better measure of the aerodynamic efficiency of an aircraft than the wing aspect ratio. It is defined as: = where is span and is the wetted surface. Illustrative examples are provided by the Boeing B-47 and Avro Vulcan. Both aircraft have very similar performance although they are radically different.
The Monarch Butterfly has a very low 0.168 kg/m 2 wing loading The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 has a high 837 kg/m 2 maximum wing loading. In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total weight of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing.
For conventional fixed-wing aircraft with moderate aspect ratio and sweep, Oswald efficiency number with wing flaps retracted is typically between 0.7 and 0.85. At supersonic speeds, Oswald efficiency number decreases substantially. For example, at Mach 1.2 Oswald efficiency number is likely to be between 0.3 and 0.5. [1]
An aircraft flying at this speed is operating at its optimal aerodynamic efficiency. According to the above equations, the speed for minimum drag occurs at the speed where the induced drag is equal to the parasitic drag. [4]: Section 5.25 This is the speed at which for unpowered aircraft, optimum glide angle is achieved.
The weight of the aircraft is the common factor that links all aspects of aircraft design such as aerodynamics, structure, and propulsion, all together. An aircraft's weight is derived from various factors such as empty weight, payload, useful load, etc. The various weights are used to then calculate the center of mass of the entire aircraft. [37]
A clean flying wing is sometimes presented as theoretically the most aerodynamically efficient (lowest drag) design configuration for a fixed wing aircraft. It also would offer high structural efficiency for a given wing depth, leading to light weight and high fuel efficiency. [2] Because it lacks conventional stabilizing surfaces and the ...
In the definition of load factor, the lift is not simply that one generated by the aircraft's wing, instead it is the vector sum of the lift generated by the wing, the fuselage and the tailplane, [2]: 395 or in other words it is the component perpendicular to the airflow of the sum of all aerodynamic forces acting on the aircraft.