WHITE PAPERS
Prepared by Specific Range Solutions Ltd.
This paper evaluates the impact of cruise power setting on total fuel consumption and block time based on a simulated short-haul flight between Ottawa and Toronto of a Socata TBM 850, a light single-engine turboprop aircraft. The effects of altitude, upper winds and air temperature are also assessed.
This paper was presented at the 17th Propulsion Symposium of the Canadian Aeronautics & Space Institute AERO 2009 Conference, May 5th, 2009 in Kanata, Ontario.
The recent volatility in the price of fuel, increasing public concern over the impact of aviation on the environment, particularly CO2 emissions and more currently, the economic downturn are driving factors for airlines to review and where possible, further optimize their flight operations by reducing fuel burn and associated emissions.
Concerns regarding the cost and price volatility of fuel, the recent economic downturn, stiff marketplace competition and growing public awareness of the environmental impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the climate are spurring airlines to optimize their flight operations to reduce fuel burn.
Despite the increasing sophistication of commercial aircraft and air traffic control communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems, flight planning and operations remain strongly influenced by Mother Nature. Winds aloft and to a lesser extent temperature, impact route selection, flight time, fuel burn and ultimately, costs. The use of accurate forecasting of upper winds and temperature data enables higher precision flight planning expressed in terms of reduced fuel burn, as well as improved arrival time and fuel burn estimates. The reduction of planning variance reduces operational costs.
This study was performed in response to a query from Vaisala Oyj, a company based in Finland specializing in airport weather measurement systems. The question was regarding the difference in fuel burn between Flex or reduced thrust take-off compared to maximum thrust take-off. For the purposes of this analysis, the Airbus A380-800 aircraft equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 970-84 engines was chosen.
This paper was presented at the 18th Propulsion Symposium of the Canadian Aeronautics & Space Institute AERO 2011 Conference, April 27th, 2011 in Montreal, Quebec.
This study presents the results from a Windows-based application developed and validated by Specific Range Solutions Ltd that optimizes the cruise leg of the TBM 850 turboprop aircraft. The user inputs the departure and destination airports, aircraft weight, cruise leg distance, en-route upper wind and temperature data. The program includes adjustments for bleed flow, airframe drag and fuel flow, as well as a propeller model sub-routine that calculates the effect of two different RPM settings. The user then selects the parameter to minimize, either duration of the cruise leg, direct operating cost or fuel burn.
This article presents the results of a case study of a popular small airliner, the Beechcraft 1900D, flying a representative profile using actual data from an unidentified Canadian operator, and then comparing that flight to a more optimized one using a few well-established flight operations optimization techniques.
The use of continuous descent from cruise altitude at an optimum descent power setting has a number of benefits for commercial operators including reduced fuel burn and associated costs, increased engine life and thus reduced maintenance costs, and finally increased safety margin by allowing the aircraft to stay as high as possible for as long as possible in mountainous terrain. The need for dive and drive descents is also eliminated, unless otherwise instructed by Air Traffic Control (ATC) or prescribed by an instrument procedure.
Specific Range Solutions Ltd. » Blog Archive » Continuous Descent Approach Analysis for Ottawa Airport Published
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