Patent ID: 8091334

Claim:
A method for operating a turbofan engine assembly including a core gas turbine engine, a fan assembly coupled to the core gas turbine engine, a core cowl which circumscribes the core gas turbine engine, a nacelle positioned radially outward from the core cowl, a fan nozzle duct defined between the core cowl and the nacelle, and a core cowl baffle positioned within the fan nozzle duct, said method comprising: varying an operating speed of the fan assembly from a first operating speed to a second operating speed; and selectively positioning the core cowl baffle in an upstream direction with respect to the core cowl from a stowed position during normal flight conditions to a low thrust position during off-design flight conditions to vary a throat area of the fan nozzle duct such that the throat area in the low thrust position is less than the throat area in the stowed position to facilitate improving engine efficiency at the second operating speed.