I’m sure you all recognize this old familiar formula for calculating Specific Power from Thrust, Drag, Weight and Velocity. It’s otherwise known as the Energy Maneuverability Theory.
Really neat formula, and very easy to compute in your head while trying to avoid getting shot out of the sky! What it really does is help engineers build new airplanes after they find out the old ones didn’t have enough Energy Maneuverability and got shot out of……well, you know the rest.
This formula lets you create a really neat chart (the “Envelope” they talked about in “the Right Stuff”, if you saw that) that shows what your airplane can do. Take your dhart and overlay it with somebody else’s chart, and where they don’t match up – well, that shows where one of you have an advantage. You can do something he can’t! All ya’ gotta do is get and stay there and you’ve theoretically won! It may show up as airspeed or altitude, but unless you’re flying the same make and model, there’s a difference somewhere.
Now, if you’re flying the same make and model - - - well, you’re gonna’ win, ‘’cause nobody’s as good as you, right?
Of course, you might run into one of those guys who's gonna' find a way to win no matter what he's flying, so just sit back and enjoy it.....
(With thanks to Col John Boyd)
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