Colorado College

An Independent Study in Physics
Using Problem-Based Learning:

Saving American Airlines


The Problem

The world has a limited supply of petroleum reserves and at some point in the future, it is likely that the price of hydrocarbon-based fuels will increase substantially.  Imagine that you are an advisor for the CEO of a major air carrier (let's assume American Airlines for this study).  The shareholders of the company assume that top management has contingency plans for such an occurence, so the CEO's job (and your job!) requires that you understand the options.  Based on your knowledge of jet aircraft performance (range and endurance), recommend moves the CEO might consider to minimize the impact of such an increase in fuel cost.  Your recommendations should include aircraft design considerations and/or changes in fleet operations.  Use Internet and library resources to determine the size and composition of AA's fleet of aircraft.  Begin by using the Breguet Range equation to make rough estimates of aircraft cruising perfomance.  Later, you will refine your estimates using AERODYNAMIC software.  Limit any technical analysis of aircraft to the Boeing 777 but extend any conclusions you draw to the entire fleet of American Airlines aicraft.

Relevant Online Resources

Stage 1 (estimated fuel burn for a "typical" mission)

- Use library and/or Internet resources to estimate the primary aerodynamic characteristics (lift and drag coefficients) of the
   Boeing 777 aircraft.

- Using the Breguet range equation, estimate the fuel burn for a "typical" 777 mission.  You will need to estimate the aircraft
  fuel capacity and define a flight profile for your mission.  You will also need to estimate thrust specific fule consumption
  (TSFC) for the aircraft.

Stage 2 (estimated fuel burn using AERODYNAMIC)

Stage 3 (sensitivity analysis)

Stage 4 (estimated economic impact and fleet considerations)
 

Final Product Requirements

Write a report that summarizes your recommendations to the CEO of American Airlines.  Be sure to identify your assumed values (e.g., aerodynamic characteristics and TSFC of the 777).  Describe the results of your sensitivity analysis highlighting the impact of changes in aircraft drag, TSFC, and mission altitude on fuel burn.  Finally, estimate the economic impact of such changes and your extrapolations to fleet-wide operations.  Be prepared to give an oral presentation (using graphics software) summarizing your recommendations.