The properties of a sample of 31 very powerful classical double radio
galaxies with redshifts between zero and 1.8 are studied. The source
velocities, beam powers, ambient gas densities, total lifetimes, and total
outflow energies are presented and discussed. The rate of growth of each side
of each source were obtained using a spectral aging analysis. The beam power
and ambient gas density were obtained by applying the strong shock jump
conditions to the ends of each side of the source. The total outflow lifetime
was obtained by applying the power-law relationship between the beam power and
the total source lifetime derived elsewhere for sources of this type, and the
total outflow energy was obtained by combining the beam power and the total
source lifetime. Composite profiles were constructed by combining results
obtained from each side of each source. The composite profiles indicate that
the ambient gas density falls with distance from the central engine. The source
velocities, beam powers, total lifetimes, and total energies seem to be
independent of radio source size. This is consistent with the standard model in
which each source grows at a roughly constant rate during which time the
central engine puts out a roughly constant beam power. The fact that the total
source lifetimes and energies are independent of radio source size indicates
that the sources are being sampled at random times during their lifetimes.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Extragalactic Jets: Theory and
Observation from Radio to Gamma Ray", eds. T. A. Rector and D. S. De Young,
ASP conference series, Replaced version has minor textual correction