Wiz,
I must admit that I though Jumbo's idea was closer except the heavier aircraft possesses more POTENTIAL energy (ht above ground x mass) which is then converted during the descent as Jumbo says into Kinetic energy via 1/2mV2, and therefore has more energy to glide further. I can see that the polar diagram for LD changes with mass but I would have thought that the energy the aircraft possesses at the start of descent will be the bigger influence.
I am standing to be corrected!
TOD
Last edited by Thridle Op Des; 5th October 2009 at 04:51.
Reason: not forgetting the Kinetic energy trade