Autopia has an interesting piece about an airborne fuel economy competition won by this funky looking plane getting 45 MPG at 207 MPH:
Source:
Getting 45 MPG at 207 MPH | Autopia | Wired.com
Now the article says:
Quote:
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If 45 mpg doesn’t sound like much, consider that an airplane’s engine is constantly working to keep the plane aloft and moving forward. There’s no coasting, which you can get away with in a car using the old pulse-and-glide.
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I know there are a few pilots around here. What I wonder is whether that quote about P&G is true. I would think that you
could pulse & glide an airplane, pulse = gain altitude; glide = well, gliding.
And theoretically you should be able to pin an airplane's engine's load pretty much indefinitely at exactly the right BSFC point for max pulse efficiency, no?
Full article:
Getting 45 MPG at 207 MPH | Autopia | Wired.com