L-39:
· 15% better climb
· 25% faster descent speed
· 50% improvement in specific range
· 14% more range on 19% less fuel, clean
· 21% more range on 13% less fuel with wing tanks
· 40% less runway
· 15 KIAS slower stall
· 23 to 30% faster roll
· 20% higher yaw stability
· 50 to 60 KIAS faster at all power settings
L-29:
20% more range
30% less runway
15 KIAS slower stall
Scimitars require between 5 and 7% less RPM than a tip-tank equipped aircraft in level flight from 200 to 300 KIAS. Thrust lapse rates vs. RPM from ground load testing showed this yielded a 30 to 50% fuel burn savings with the highest specific range advantage at 200 KIAS. The high fuel burn differential is due to the engine operating well below its maximum rating where thrust and fuel burn are proportional to the square of the RPM. Especially at low power settings, the fuel burn savings of a few RPM are very high.
Scimitars were designed to improve L/D at a loading of 4G at 400 KIAS. This translates directly to 1G at 200 KIAS which is almost exactly the max range cruise point in both our and the GDR calculations.
