> > Just something to file away ... big jets should have a climb mode in > > which the power is regulated to max climb by the autothrottles and speed > > is held with the pitch control. > > Filed it away. But not sure of the purpose of this mode.
It's more efficient as follows ... The autothrottle does its very best to get as much power as possible (given operational limits) from the engine. This will vary from flight to flight, as well as between engines. Maximum rate of climb is achieved when excess thrust beyond that needed to overcome drag is maximized. Since thrust is mostly speed invariant for the climb regime (so I gather), this really means minimizing drag. For a given aircraft configuration, there is a specific airspeed that minimizes drag, and is the _basis_ for Vy. Thus, we adjust pitch to whatever value is needed to maintain that optimal airspeed. ... it's no different from what pilots do manually ... _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
