Methodology to Aircraft Design, Market Survey, and Airworthiness

2.1 Overview

This chapter is concerned with how aircraft design projects are managed in a com­pany. It is recommended that newly initiated readers read through this chapter because it tackles an important part of the work – that is, to generate customer specifications so that an aircraft configuration has the potential to succeed. A small part of the coursework starts in this chapter. The road to success has a formal step- by-step approach through phases of activities and must be managed.

The go-ahead for a program comes after careful assessment of the design with a finalized aircraft configuration having evolved during the conceptual study (i. e., Phase 1). The prediction accuracy at the end of Phase 1 must be within at least ±5%. In Phase 2 of the project, when more financing is available after obtaining the go-ahead, the aircraft design is fine-tuned through testing and more refined analysis. This is a time – and cost-consuming effort, with prediction accuracy now at less than ±2 to ±3%, offering guarantees to potential buyers. This book does not address project-definition activities (i. e., Phase 2); these are in-depth studies conducted by specialists and offered in specialized courses such as CFD, FEM, Simulink, and CAM.

This book is concerned with the task involved in the conceptual design phase but without rigorous optimization. Civil aircraft design lies within a verified design space; that is, it is a study within an achievable level of proven but leading-edge tech­nology involving routine development efforts. Conversely, military aircraft design lies within an aspirational design space; that is, it is a study of unproven advanced technology requiring extensive development efforts. Obviously, the latter is tech­nologically more complex, challenging, and difficult. Generally, the go-ahead for a project is preceded by a demonstration of the technology to prove the concept.

Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft Manual [1] is an indispensable source of aircraft statistics vital for any aircraft-design work. The following three magazines are also highly recommended resources:

Flight International [2]. A weekly publication from the United Kingdom. It is a newsletter-type journal, providing the latest brief coverage of aerospace activi­ties around the world.

• Aviation Week and Space Technology [3]. A weekly publication from the United States that provides more in-depth analysis of aerospace developments and thoroughly covers the U. S. scenario as well as worldwide coverage.

• Interavia [4]. A bimonthly publication that covers aerospace news, specializing in topics of interest in an essay format. The commercial airline business is well covered.