Aircraft Range(s)

[shearder]

Hi all

I bought an Antonov AN-148. Nice plane etc. But, when looking at the stats for it's range on FSA it says the range is 1900 but, in my calculations I am burning around 7,5lbs of fuel per nm AVERAGE - taking other flights in consideration. So my last trip my fuel calcs were correct +/- and i did 673nm trip using 4831lbs of fuel. That is from start, taxi and takeoff to landing and shutdown. In terms of the flight 240 till above 10000 then 340 at 32000ft - well that flight anyways.

The question i am getting to is with the above in mind my theoretical (at this stage) range would be around 1300nm. Now we ALL should know it is NOT good practise to work your fuel to the last nm - for obvious reasons. So let's say i have a 1150nm range and that is a fine line!! So, how do i edit my aircraft to mirror the stats?

The version on FSA is the 80 seater and carries around 9822lbs of fuel. According to the stats it should use around 5.17lbs of fuel/nm. So i am burning approx. 2.3lbs MORE per nm. That is giving me approximately 31% less range per lbs of fuel.

Now according to the FSA stats the AN-148 is a 148-100B version. This typically would have a range of 3500KMs OR +/- 2200miles OR +/- 1900nm. The 148-100A version has a range of 2100KMs OR 1312Miles OR 1134nm.... AHHHHHHHH Now you see where i am going with this??

My plane has a capcity of 9822lbs of fuel and at an average of 7.5lbs/mile So basically i am ONLY getting 1138nm - So this model has A148-100B characteristics but A148-100A Fuel Capacity.

Yes a long winded message but I have a plane which (virtually) I have bought with a specific capacity in mind and the model i have has smaller fuel capacity. Now in my model what i have noticed is that it should have a center fuel tank but all the fuel is in the wings only!! I am starting to feel that my model is NOT a B variant but an A variant!! How do i change this as i cannot find another model of the same. How do i add a fuel tank in the centre to cater for the B variant characteristics in so far as fuel and range is concerned. For the most part they are the same plane - i.e. passenger capacity etc.

Thanks in advance.

[shearder]

I figured it out. I guess the easiest was to ratio the scalar but then it would not give accurate fuel usage data. So I added a center tank in the config file based on the number of pounds spec'd on a 1900nm range. So i will be testing tonight!

[joefremont]

We generally use what ever the manufacturer (or other trusted source) lists as the maximum range for the AC, its used mostly as a sanity check so airlines don't but short range aircraft on long range routes. As always your milage will varry based on your payload, wind conditions and how accurate the model is your using.

We often see pilots flying the AN-124 to maximum range with maximum payload, this is not a realistic combination since sources I have read say it can only go 1/3 the maximum range with full payload, but from a system stand point its hard to regulate.

[shearder]

Hey Joe (hendriks? hmmmm lol)

Yes i can understand that. I did a whole spreadsheet on this plane today. Could be overkill i guess but I like to be pretty realistic. I did some checks on Wikipedia and on the Antonov site itself etc. So based on my flight i just did - i was a little heavy footed but in theory i should now get around 1835.6nm Which I am pleased with. Also, PAX was higher this flight so that also pushed fuel usage up a little. Anyhow - I can't use one flight to guage but I think i am "there"

Thanks for your response