Evaluation of Energy Maneuverability Procedures in Aircraft Flight Path Optimization and Performance Estimation

摘要

An assessment is made of the applicability of energy maneuverability techniques (EM) to flight path optimization. A series of minimum time and fuel maneuvers using the F-4C aircraft were established to progressively violate the assumptions inherent in the EM program and comparisons were made with the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory's (AFFDL) Three-Degree-of-Freedom Trajectory Optimization Program and a point mass option of the Six-Degree-of-Freedom flight path program. It was found the EM results were always optimistic in the value of the payoff functions with the optimism increasing as the percentage of the maneuver involving constant energy transitions increases. For the minimum time paths the resulting optimism was less then 2% for the maneuvers where the constant energy percentage was less than 35% followed by a rather steeply rising curve approaching in the limit 100% error for paths which are comprised entirely of constant energy transitions. (Author)