Reduction of trimmed drag

Methods are reported for reducing the aircraft drag coefficient for a given aircraft lift coefficient, or speed. The emphasis is placed in determining the load distribution between the wing-body combination and the tail which reduces overall drag coefficient. Furthermore, a technique is presented which allows the determination of various aerodynamic and geometric parameters to permit the best location to satisfy inherent stability requirements. Included in the method is the calculation of sensitivity coefficients which indicate the importance of various parameters in achieving specified goals. Preliminary results indicate that such an approach is feasible.