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Reply To: Boeing 747

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#504243
Schorsch
Participant

I always like to use formulas! 😀

CD = CD0 + f*CA²
(f is a factor, which is in our region of interest constant)
So basically:
CD ~ CA²
or in words
drag is proportional to the square of lift.
CA = W/(rho*v²*S)
S: wing area (constant), rho: air density (independent of weight), v: airspeed, W: weight

W1=500klbs (which is something like the lowest possible flying weight of a B747).
W2 = 850klbs (which is something like maximum weight for any B747-200 at altitude)
rho=.5 kg/m³ (~28000ft)
S = 5500ft²

v: 250KIAS = M0.66 = 200m/s TAS

CA(W1=500klbs) = 0.45
CA(W2=850klbs) = 0.77
When you look at the graph above, you’ll see that Ca of W2 is actually outside the y-axis limit. I actually think it must be close to buffet onset boundary.

If we increase airspeed to 290KIAS, we have for W2:
CA = .57 with M=0.77.