Endurance is a concept in aviation. Endurance is used for the length of time spent in
cruising flight. Endurance can be written as:
where W stands for weight, F for fuel flow, t for time.
Endurance is sometimes erroneously equated with range. The two concepts are distinctly different, range is a measure of distance flown while endurance is a measure of time spent in the air. For example, a typical sailplane exhibits high endurance characteristics but poor range characteristics.
Endurance can factor into aviation design in a number of ways. Some aircraft, such as the P-3 Orion or U-2 spyplane require high endurance characteristics as part of their mission profile (often referred to as loiter time (on target)). Endurance, like range, is also related to fuel efficiency; fuel efficient aircraft will tend to exhibit good endurance characteristics and vice versa.
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