Flight Test Evaluation of a Method to Determine the Level Flight Performance of a Propeller-Driven Aircraft

A flight test method has been developed for determining the level flight drag and propulsive efficiency of propeller-driven aircraft. The overall drag of the aircraft is expressed in terms of the measured increment of power required to overcome a corresponding known increment of drag, which is generated by a towed drogue. The simplest form of the governing equations, , is such that all of the parameters on the right side of the equation can be measured in flight. An evaluation of the governing equations has been performed using data generated by flight test of a Beechcraft T-34B.