Flying range

Typically, the following range types are considered in flight tactical characteristics of aircraft: technical, practical, and tactical.

Technical flight range refers to the maximum flight range of an aircraft (aircraft) in standard atmospheric conditions, without wind, when the aircraft is completely refueling and fully developed, with the exception of the undeveloped remainder. The presence of an undeveloped residue is due to the fact that not all fuel refueled in the aircraft tanks can be generated, which is associated with the design features of the fuel system. Typically, the non-produced fuel residue is 1.5% by weight of the fuel being refueled. Technical range is an important indicator of the ultimate capabilities of an aircraft (aircraft). However, the completion of a real flight with empty tanks is unacceptable for safety reasons, since any unforeseen deviation from the route, the presence of a headwind, etc., can cause the aircraft (aircraft) to not reach the destination aerodrome. Therefore, a more realistic indicator is the practical range of flight.

Practical flight range - the distance that an aircraft can fly at a given state of the atmosphere, taking into account fuel consumption for starting and testing engines, taxiing before takeoff, takeoff, pre-landing maneuver, landing, taxiing after landing, and also taking into account the air navigation fuel reserve determined for appropriate type of aircraft. Airworthiness. The practical range of flight substantially depends on the mass of the target load. The dependence "load - range" is one of the main characteristics of the aircraft. In this dependence, three characteristic sections can be distinguished: 1 - restriction on the maximum target load (mainly due to the strength of the structure); 2 - takeoff weight restriction; 3 - fuel mass limit (fuel tank capacity).

The air navigation fuel reserve is designed to compensate for possible deviations of flight conditions from the calculated ones, as well as to wait in the air in the vicinity of the destination aerodrome or to reach a reserve aerodrome in case of special circumstances. Aeronautical fuel supply is, as a rule, 10-15% of the mass of refueling fuel.

Maximum practical range - the practical range at altitude and speed of long range and full fueling.

It should be noted that during the flight, as the fuel is consumed, the mass of the aircraft (aircraft) decreases, as a result of which the height of the practical ceiling gradually increases. If the aircraft (aircraft) will constantly fly at the height of the practical ceiling, that is, with a small climb, then in this case its flight range will be greater than with horizontal flight. This method of cruising was called flight over the ceilings.

Tactical flight range is a practical range taking into account fuel consumption at all stages provided for by the flight mission.

On the example of an airplane:

• Technical range - the flight range of a single aircraft to the full consumption of fuel;
• Practical range - flight range taking into account the guarantee of 10-15% of the remaining fuel (based on the mass of refueling);
• Tactical range - flight range, taking into account the fuel supply for the mission, not related to the advancement on the route.

Summarizing, it is necessary to take into account that the aircraft is not only an airplane, but also a glider that does not have a fuel engine (the exception is the class of motor gliders ), a spaceship that flies in the Earth’s atmosphere and in a vacuum in space, a balloon, etc.

At the same time, the airship is also an aircraft. If it is said about an airplane that it flies, then about aircrafts it is easier to say that they "float" in the air, which is what the name "aeronautics" corresponds to. The aircraft can continue to fly normally while the engine is running, after which it will go into planning with loss of speed and altitude. The operating time of the engine is determined by the presence on the aircraft of a fuel reserve, which is always available only in limited quantities. The airship "floats" in the air. Due to the lifting force of the gas, it can rise vertically, it can, if desired or in case of a stop of the motors it has, whose operation it acquires translational movement , completely stop in the air and not fall. He has the ability to make long non-stop flights, advantageously using tailwinds. So the practical flight range of the same airship may be different depending on different flight conditions.

• Practical range / Aviation: Encyclopedia. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia. Editor-in-chief G.P. Svishchev. 1994.

• Range and duration of flight - Lectures. Org - the publication of material for training.
• Airships and their military use - Pyotr Pavlovich Ionov. 1937.