Op zaterdag 6 juni 2015 21:02:52 UTC+2 schreef jfitch:
For reference, an ASH26E uses about 2 liters for a warm up and climb to 2500 ft agl, and will do 680 Km on its 16 liter tank (according to the book - never had a retrieve that long!). To do that you climb to altitude limits then fold the engine and glide, and repeat as needed. Is the climb performance on a jet significantly better so that the climb and glide technique improves retrieve range over a level cruise?

Yes. The higher the thrust/weight ratio is, the more it pays off. Best CLIMB speed for example for a 450 kg ship and a 800N jet is way above 100 kts.

For highter thrust/weight ratio's, fuel efficiency goes up too; a dolphining flight can get similar mileage to a decent car, even with the typical fuel burn of such a jet (70 kg/hr for the 800N AMT).