(M) and range (/?). It was found in

(M) and range (/?). It was found in Refs. 1-3 that thereare three local optimal cruise Mach numbers, at M 2.4, M 1.6, and M 0.95. The global optimum is M 2.4, themaximum value permissible for this design; however, itmay be that at short ranges one of the lower cruisespeeds is better. The second issue is the effect onperformance caused by the need to restrict flight tosubsonic speeds during flight over land, where sonicbooms are prohibited. Thus we consider mixedsupersonic/subsonic flights. Third, we determine theeffect on performance of changes in engine fuelconsumption as an example of the use of the algorithm to determine sensitivities to key parameters. Suchsensitivities are important information for aircraftdesigns. Finally, we determine the payload-rangecurve of the aircraft.