2003-2004 Cessna/ONR/AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition Speed Comparison
We collected a lot of flight data, and we're still going through it, while at the same time attempting to collect data from previous years. On top of all that, we also have to figure out how we want to display all this information. In a first effort I'm including a speed "analysis." This includes total mission average speed, and per-lap average speed. Please look at the following bullets before viewing the speed analysis.
Table with total mission average speed
Table with per lap average speed
Bottom line is, use this information while understanding the limitations of the data presented. This data is intended to enlighten, inform, and to educate. If you have better data, we'd love to have it to check our data, and to share with the rest of the DBF community. The use of the 3600 ft course length means that this data has a major flaw… it does not represent the actual instantaneous speed of the aircraft, since we'd need the actual distance flown. Instead, this data represents a comparison of the speeds obtained by the different aircraft, which is a reflection of course distance and aircraft speed. A second "error" introduction is that these times include landing times, which might skew the results a little. But I feel it's important to include this time in the speed calculations, since the landing speed is included in the score calculation. Perhaps next year we'll bribe a cop into letting us borrow their radar gun so we can get some instantaneous speeds.
--CwicSeolfer
- Speeds are calculated based on an "ideal" circuit based on the flight path figure supplied in the 2003/2004 rules…. 3600 ft/lap.
- The data collected was done independently of the competition organizers: This data is not official data, and does not include penalties incurred.
- Due to a lack of volunteers and inexperience, not all the flights were recorded.
- Due to the experience of the volunteers (including me) not all the data was recorded accurately.
Table with total mission average speed
Table with per lap average speed
Bottom line is, use this information while understanding the limitations of the data presented. This data is intended to enlighten, inform, and to educate. If you have better data, we'd love to have it to check our data, and to share with the rest of the DBF community. The use of the 3600 ft course length means that this data has a major flaw… it does not represent the actual instantaneous speed of the aircraft, since we'd need the actual distance flown. Instead, this data represents a comparison of the speeds obtained by the different aircraft, which is a reflection of course distance and aircraft speed. A second "error" introduction is that these times include landing times, which might skew the results a little. But I feel it's important to include this time in the speed calculations, since the landing speed is included in the score calculation. Perhaps next year we'll bribe a cop into letting us borrow their radar gun so we can get some instantaneous speeds.
--CwicSeolfer
This file was last modified on May 01, 2006.
