Estimating the Productivity of Large Transport Aircraft in Army Deployments: A Simplified Method

摘要

The basic elements of the method are route analysis and loading simulation. For any specified type of deployment, the results from a limited number of cases can be used to derive tables which, together with an aircraft's payload-range curve, allow the analyst to determine the minimum fleet-size required for a specified task or, alternatively, to determine the magnitude of the task which a fleet of a given size can perform. The results for twenty important cases are presented to illustrate the method and to aid the current process of evaluating alternative designs for the CX-HLS aircraft. Indices of fleet-size for the C-141 aircraft are shown for each case, and tables from which comparable indices can be determined for the CX-HLS are included. Additional data relevant to the comparison of the C-141 and the CX-HLS are also given. The method described, and the data provided for the cases studied, make it possible to estimate the productivity of large transport aircraft in army deployments. In many cases this technique will prove sufficiently accurate for answering the questions at issue; other cases call for actual simulations.