I would like to gather data on the best glide ratio of different commercial aircraft. Unfortunately, it has proven non-trivial to obtain data aside from a few lucky examples.
Eurocontrol's BADA gives $c_L$ and $c_d$, which could be used to compute L/D. Unfortunately, their license explicitly prohibits comparison of different aircraft types. The open-source alternative OpenAP research project only contains data on a small number of aircraft and seems to be off in some cases (best glide ratio of a Cessna Citation II ~6).
Are L/D curves or glide polars available for commercial aircraft? Which is the best way to obtain data both for historical aircraft and current models?
I'm aware of the answers to the following questions:
- "How does the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's glide ratio compare to other airliners?", gives two good examples
- "Where can I find glide ratios for commercial aircraft?", gives no examples or sources
- "How to calculate the Glide Ratio from Drag & Lift?", gives information on $c_{l/d}$
- "How far can airplanes glide?", gives only a general overview
the table on the Wikipedia page on Gliding Flight and a few prominent forum posts:
Forum post (condorsoaring.com), no source provided
| Aircraft Model | Glide Ratio |
|---|---|
| Boeing B707-320 | 19.4 |
| Boeing 767-200 | 19.0 |
| Douglas DC-8 | 17.9 |
| Boeing 747-100 | 17.7 |
| Douglas DC-10 | 17.7 |
| Airbus A320 | 17.0 |
| Lockeed Tristar L1011 | 17.0 |
| Douglas DC-9 (1966) | 16.5 |
| Boeing B727-200 | 16.4 |
| Douglas DC-3 | 14.7 |
Forum post (pprune.org), estimates etc.
| Aircraft Model | Glide Ratio |
|---|---|
| B767-200 | 17.9 |
| B727 | ~17 |
| B757-200W | ~19.5 |
| B737-800W | ~19.5 |
| B777-200 | ~19 |
| B787-8 | 21-22 |
