First Iteration to Fine Tune CG Position Relative to Aircraft and Components

The preliminary aircraft configuration begins in Chapter 6 with a guesstimated MTOM, engine size, and CG position. It is unlikely that the computed aircraft mass as worked out in this chapter will match the estimated mass. In fact, the example shows that it is lighter, with a more accurate CG position; therefore, this replaces the estimated values in Chapter 6.

In principle, the aircraft configuration must be revised at this stage of progress as the first iteration. Final sizing is accomplished in Chapter 11, when iteration is required. Coursework may require only one iteration cycle of computation.

8.13 Rapid Mass Estimation Method – Military Aircraft

This extended section presents the military aircraft rapid mass estimation method in terms of mass fraction (in percentage) of maximum take-off mass (Mi/MTOM),

where subscript ‘i represents the ith component. The range of fractions are obtained from statistics given in tabular form in Table 8.8.

Table 8.8. Military trainer aircraft mass fraction