GENERAL AVIATION

AIRCRAFT DESIGN:
APPLIED METHODS
AND PROCEDURES
SNORRI GUDMUNDSSON BScAE, MScAE, FAA DER(ret.)
Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering,
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON

NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
 Dedication

I dedicate this book to my Father and Mother, to whom I am forever

indebted, and my wonderful wife Linda for her unconditional
support and patience.
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK
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First edition 2014

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 Preface
The purpose of this book is to gather, in a single place,
a diverse set of information and procedures that are
particularly helpful to the designer of General Aviation
aircraft. Additionally, it provides step-by-step deriva-
tions of many mathematical methods, as well as easy-
to-follow examples that help illustrate their application.
The procedures range from useful project management
tools to practical geometric layout methods, as well as
sophisticated aerodynamics, performance, and stability
and control analysis methods.
The design of an airplane generally begins with the
introduction of specific requirements: how fast, how
far, how many, what amenities, what mission? Once
introduced to such requirements, the entry level designer
often asks: “What’s next? Where do I even begin?”
This book provides step-by-step procedures that lead
the reader through the entire process; from a clean-
sheet-of-paper to the proof-of-concept aircraft. They
were selected and developed by the author’s many years
of experience in the aircraft industry; initially as a flight-
test engineer, then structural engineer, aerodynamicist,
and eventually an aircraft designer. Subsequent years
of experience in academia have allowed the presentation
methods to be polished, based on student feedback. In
the author’s own design experience, a book such as
this would have been extremely helpful in the form pre-
sented here, both as a resource and guide. This book is
written with that in mind.
An effective design process not only answers whether
the proposed design will meet the desired requirements,
but also what remedies are viable in case it does not.
During this phase, the speed of analysis is almost always
of the utmost importance, and the competent designer
should be able to predict differences between variations
of the desired vehicle. However, the design process is
multifaceted e it is more than just solving equations e
managing the process is also imperative. It is not only
necessary to wield the proper tools, but also to know
when to apply them. This is particularly important for
For supporting materials please visit:
http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780123973085
xiii
the manager of the design team; they should always
know what steps follow the current one and what tools
and resources are required.
This book is intended to provide the experienced, as
well as the aspiring, designer with clear and effective
analysis procedures. There is already a good collection
of well written college textbooks available on aerody-
namics, structures, flight dynamics, and airplane design
available for the engineering student. Many are written
solely with the student of aerospace engineering in
mind and, consequently, often present simple problems
inspired more by mathematical convenience than prac-
tical situations. Such conveniences are usually absent in
the industrial environment, where problems involve
natural processes that do not always accommodate
“equation friendly” shortcuts. This book also offers a large
chapter on propellers, a topic many textbooks, sadly,
ignore. The propeller is here to stay for the foreseeable
future and this warrants the large space dedicated to it.
This book differs from such textbooks as it is solely
written with the analysis of real airplanes in mind. Most
of the examples presented involve actual production
aircraft, allowing results to be directly compared to pub-
lished data. This gives the reader a great sense for the
accuracy of the various analysis methods. It also provides
a number of numerical methodologies that take advan-
tage of the power of the modern desktop or laptop
computer. This comes in the form of powerful program
snippets and spreadsheet setups intended for analysis
work with Microsoft Excel. This book offers the student
a thorough introduction to practical and industry proven
methods, and the practicing engineer with a great go-to
text. I am certain you will find it a very helpful book
and that it will increase your productivity.
Snorri Gudmundsson
Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, Florida.
 Acknowledgments
A large book like this is a substantial undertaking. It
can only become a reality with contributions from
many individuals and companies who, in one way or
another, participated in its making. I want to use this
opportunity and thank these individuals and companies
for their help in providing various information and
support so that I would be able to provide you, the reader,
with material of greater depth than otherwise possible.
I want to begin by thanking my editor: Mr. Joe
Hayton, and Project Managers Ms. Chelsea Johnston
and Ms. Pauline Wilkinson of Elsevier Publishing, for
invaluable guidance during the development and
production of the book. I’d also like to thank
Dr. Howard Curtis, my fellow Professor of Aerospace
Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
who believed strongly enough in the project to suggest
it to Joe.
The following individuals and companies deserve an
expression of my gratitude. I want to thank Mr. Don
Pointer of the Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation for
providing information about Dassault business jets. I
also want to extend my thanks to Flightglobal.com,
Williams International, Price Induction, Hirth Engines,
and Electraflyer for material provided by them. I want
to thank Mr. Raymond Ore for providing cutaways of
the Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft and the Ed Coates
collection. I am indebted to my former student,
Mr. Phil Rademacher, for the large number of photo-
graphs he supplied for the project. Mr. Rademacher is
an expert in aircraft recognition and, as such, has won
a number of intercollegiate competitions. Phil provided
me with an enormous pool of aircraft photos, of which
many can be found throughout this book. Another
student of mine, Mr. Nick Candrella, also provided
selected pictures. A former colleague of mine, Mr. Jake
xv
Turnquist provided selected pictures as well and also
deserves thanks. I also want to thank Nirmit Prabahkar,
Manthan Joshi, Thomas Ford, Brian Smith, Teddy Li,
Matthew Clark, and Fabio An for data collection. I also
want to thank Dr. Laksh Naraynaswami for proofreading
Section 7, The Selection of the Powerplant, and providing
priceless guidance regarding turbo-machinery and inlet
design. I also want to thank Mr. Brian Meyer of Hartzell
Propellers Inc. for his contribution to the book.
Mr. Meyer provided priceless guidance and help in
proofreading Section 14, The Anatomy of the Propeller,
supplied material and suggestions that made the section
much better. I want to further extend thanks to Hartzell
Propellers for their permission to use selected material
on propellers. I want to thank Mr. Dale Klapmeier of
Cirrus Aircraft for permitting detailed information about
the SR20 and SR22 aircraft to be presented in the book.
I also want to thank Mr. Paul Johnston, Cirrus’ chief engi-
neer for initial proofreading and helpful suggestions.
I want to thank Mr. Bruce Barrett for several anecdotal
nuggets from his colorful career as a flight-test pilot.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Professor Emer-
itus Charles Eastlake who provided most of the material
on the development cost analysis of Section 2 in this
book, in addition for his proofreading effort and insight-
ful comments.
Snorri Gudmundsson
DISCLAIMER
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge
copyright. The author would welcome any information
from people who believe their photos have been used
without due credit.
 Helpful Notes

HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR THE LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND

AIRCRAFT DESIGNER COMMON TERMS

FAA regulations: http://www.faa.gov/ Units

NACA/NASA http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp Abbreviation Description (UK and SI)
Report Server
AC Standard Airworthiness
Aircraft three- http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/ Certificate (context
view drawing 3vues/3vues.html dependent)
database:
AC Advisory Circular
Aircraft picture http://www.airliners.net/search/ (context dependent)
database: index.main
AD Airworthiness
Airfoil databases: http://www.worldofkrauss.com/ Directives
http://www.ae.illinois.edu/ AF Activity Factor
m-selig/ads/coord_database.html
AIAA American Institute of
Aeronautics and
Astronautics
AISI American Iron and Steel
Institute
ALF Artificial Laminar Flow
AMM Aircraft Maintenance
Manual
AOA Angle of Attack Degrees or
THE GREEK ALPHABET radians
AOD Angle of Descent Degrees or
radians
AOG Angle of Glide Degrees or
Aa Alpha Nn Nu
radians
Bb Beta Xx Xi
AOI Angle of Incidence Degrees or
Gg Gamma Oo Omicron radians
Dd Delta Pp Pi AOL Aircraft Operating
E3 Epsilon Pr Rho Limitations
Zz Zeta Ss2 Sigma AOY Angle of Yaw Degrees or
Hh Eta Ts Tau radians
Qq Theta Yy Upsilon AR Aspect Ratio
Ii Iota Ff Phi ARHT Horizontal Tail Aspect
Kk Kappa Xc Chi Ratio
Ll Lambda Jj Psi ARVT Vertical Tail Aspect
Mm Mu Uu Omega Ratio
ARW Wing Aspect Ratio

xvi
 HELPFUL NOTES xvii

Units Units
Abbreviation Description (UK and SI) Abbreviation Description (UK and SI)
ASTM American Society for FAA Federal Aviation
Testing and Materials Administration
BET Blade Element Theory FAR Federal Aviation
BFL Balanced Field Length ft or m Regulations
BHP Brake Horse Power HP FF Form Factor
BL Boundary Layer FOD Foreign Object Damage
CAA Civil Aviation Authority FRP Fiberglass Reinforced
CAD Computer Aided Plastics
Design GA General Aviation
CAR Civil Aviation GAMA General Aviation
Regulation Manufacturers
CAT Clear Air Turbulence Association
Cbhp SFC of a piston engine in GDT Geometric
terms of BHP Dimensioning and
Tolerancing
CDBM Component Drag
Build-up Method GRP Graphite Reinforced
Plastic
CER Cost Estimating
Relationship HLFC Hybrid Laminar Flow
Control
CFD Computational Fluid
Dynamics HT Horizontal Tail
CFR Code of Federal IF Interference Factor
Regulations IFR Instrument Flight Rules
CG Center of Gravity IGE In Ground Effects
Cjet SFC of a turbojet, IPT Integrated Product
turbofan, or a pulsejet Teams
engine ISA International Standard
CPI Consumer Price Index Atmosphere
Cr Wing root chord JAA Joint Aviation
CRP Carbon Reinforced Authorities
Plastics JAR Joint Aviation
CRUD Cumulative Result of Regulations
Undesirable Drag KCAS Knots, Calibrated Knots
CS Certification Airspeed
Specification KEAS Equivalent airspeed Knots
Ct Wing tip chord KGS Ground speed Knots
Cws SFC of a piston engine in KIAS Knots indicated Knots
terms of WattSeconds airspeed
DAPCA Development and KTAS Knots, True Airspeed Knots
Procurement Cost of LCO Life Cycle Oscillations
Aircraft LE Leading Edge
EASA European Aviation LFC Laminar Flow Control
Safety Agency LIFTOFF The event when an
ELOS Equivalent Level of airplane’s landing gear
Safety is no longer in contact
ESDU Engineering Sciences with the ground
Data Unit (formerly)
(Continued)
(Continued)
xviii HELPFUL NOTES

Units Units
Abbreviation Description (UK and SI) Abbreviation Description (UK and SI)
LSA Light sport aircraft RTM Resin Transfer Molding
MAC Mean Aerodynamic S-AC Special Airworthiness
Chord Certificate
MAP Manifold Pressure SAE Society of Automotive
MAV Micro Air Vehicle Engineers
MCP Maximum Continuous SAS Stability Augmentation
Power System
MFTS Master Flight Test SB Service Bulletin
Schedule SCS Stability Coordinate
MGC Mean Geometric Chord ft or m System
MLG Main Landing Gear SFC Specific Fuel
MMPDS Metallic Materials Consumption
Properties Development SHP Shaft Horse Power HP
and Standardization S-L Sea Level
NACA National Advisory Stall The minimum airspeed
Committee for at which an airplane can
Aeronautics fly level
NASA National Aeronautics STC Supplemental Type
and Space Certificate
Administration TC Type Certificate
NBAA National Business TCDS Type Certificate Data
Aviation Association Sheet
NLF Natural Laminar Flow TE Trailing Edge
NLG Nose Landing Gear TED Trailing Edge Down
NSCFD Navier-Stokes TEL Trailing Edge Left
Computation Fluid TER Trailing Edge Right
Dynamics
TEU Trailing Edge Up
OAT Outside Air
T-O Take-off
Temperature
TR Taper Ratio
OEI One Engine Inoperative
TRA Tire and Rim
OGE Out of Ground Effects
Association
OML Outside Mold Line
TSFC Thrust specific fuel
PFM Pilots Flight Manual consumption
PFT Potential Flow Theory TSO Technical Standard
PIO Pilot Induced Order
Oscillation TSOA Technical Standard
PMA Parts Manufacturer Order Authorization
Approval UAV Unmanned Aerial
POC Proof-of-Concept Vehicle
POH Pilot’s Operating USAF United States Air Force
Handbook VBA Visual Basic for
QFD Quality Function Applications
Deployment VG Vortex Generator
RFP Request for Proposal VLM Vortex lattice method
ROC Rate of Climb VT Vertical Tail
ROD Rate of Descent
RPM Revolutions per Minute
 HELPFUL NOTES xix

HANDY CONVERSION FACTORS A NOTE ABOUT MASS AND FORCE

Often several forms of units of force are presented in
1 ft ¼ 0.3048 m the UK-system. Examples include lbs, lbf, lbst (engine
1m ¼ 3.28084 ft thrust), lbt (engine thrust), and so on. Usually this is
1 mi (statute mile) ¼ 5280 ft done to distinguish between mechanical and other kinds
of forces. In this book, though, the intention is to keep
1 nm (nautical mile) ¼ 6076 ft
everything simple and straight-forward and for that
1 BHP ¼ 0.746 kW reason, the same unit will be used at all times:
1 BHP ¼ 746 W
1 BHP ¼ 33000 ftlbf/min If we are talking about a pound mass we will use: lbm
If we are talking about a pound force we will use: lbf
1 BHP ¼ 550 ftlbf/sec
1 kW ¼ 1.340483 BHP This will be done regardless of the source of the
1W ¼ 0.001340483 BHP force.
1 ft/s ¼ 0.59242 knots
1 ft/s ¼ 0.3048 m/s
1 mph ¼ 1.467 ft/s
1 knot ¼ 1.688 ft/s
1 US gallon of Avgas ¼ 6.0 lbf (2.718 kg)
1 US gallon of Jet A ¼ 6.7 lbf (3.035 kg)
1 US gallon ¼ 3.785412 liters
Fuel tank volume: 1 in3 ¼ 0.004328704 US gal
Fuel tank volume: 1 US Gal ¼ 231.02 in3
1 GPa (giga-pascal) ¼ 145037.73773 psi
1 MPa (mega-pascal) ¼ 145.03773773 psi
xx HELPFUL NOTES

A NOTE ABOUT FORMAT

This book has been designed in a fashion intended to
be particularly useful to the reader (Note that QED is
Latin for Quod Erat Demonstrandum means “Now it has
been demonstrated”):

Article’s title bar

ANALYSIS 7: AIRSPEED FOR MAXIMUM L/D RATIO

Knowing the airspeed at which the maximum L/D Section 17). It is also known as the Airspeed for Minimum
ratio is achieved is imperative, not only from a stand- Thrust Required. Main article (white background)
point of safety but also as the airspeed of minimum
thrust required (also see Equation (15-21). Pilots of
single aircraft are trained to establish this airspeed as (15-24)
soon as possible in case of engine failure as it will result
in a maximum glide distance (see ANALYSIS 8 in

Derivation (gray background)

We showed that CL for LDmax was given by:

Insert this into the lift equation and solve for V: QED

Example (boxed text)

EXAMPLE 15-5
Determine the airspeed the pilot should maintain in Determine the airspeed at 30000 ft and 15000 lb:
order to achieve maximum lift-to-drag ratio for the sample
aircraft at 30000 ft and 20000 lb:
 HELPFUL NOTES xxi

AIRCRAFT DESIGN DOS AND DON’TS DO DESIGN FOR SAFETY!

You are responsible for other people’s lives.
DO DEFINE THE MISSION! Do you really know whether or not your
Airplanes are designed for specific suggested “feature” of fancy is detrimental
missions. to safety? What have other people done?
Define your mission clearly. How did they do it? Was it abandoned?
Was it safe?
DO DESIGN FOR MINIMUM DRAG!
DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR Drag is easy to increase, hard to reduce.
DESIGN! Apply conservatism to your drag estimates.
Care for it. Nature is never as optimistic as you!
There are two kinds of designers; Slow on paper, but fast in reality is good.
Designers who love their design like Fast on paper, but slow in reality is BAD!
a 5 year old kid loves his mother: “My DO SELF-REFLECT
mother is perfect and how dare you say anything Are you sure your invention is greatest
bad about her!” thing since sliced bread?
Designers who love their design like If so, why hasn’t it already been invented?
a mother loves her 5 year old kid. “My child Is it possible it was already invented, but
has flaws and I have to nurture it to help it rejected1?
become the best it can be.”
DO WELCOME CRITICISM OF YOUR
DESIGN!
Don’t take it personally. Use it to improve PROFESSOR GUDMUNDSSON’S CAKE
your design or to articulate why a certain PHILOSOPHY
feature is not needed or is a bad idea.
There are four kinds of criticism: Criticism All events are analogous to a cake recipe:
stemming from malicious intent - IGNORE IT!
Criticism stemming from ignorance e IGNORE IT, To make a cake requires a multitude of ingredients. Each
but educate! must be added to the mix in the proper amount and order.
Attempt at constructive criticism, but poorly Attributing the texture and taste of an entire cake to a single
delivered e CONSIDER IT! ingredient is misleading at best and dishonest at worst.
Genuinely constructive criticism e USE IT TO
IMPROVE YOUR DESIGN!
DON’T CRITICIZE YOUR PEER’S
DESIGN TACTLESSLY!
Do you want your design to be judged
unfairly? If not, don’t judge others unfairly.
Realize there may be reasons for the
inclusion of a feature e ask for its purpose.
If you’re not sure, ask before dishing out
criticism.
If your criticism is tactful, it will be well
received.
(Continued)

.because it was terrible! Is it possible the inventor can’t see it because he is infatuated with it?
1