Aircraft Design –Task -1

Table of Contents

Sr. Name
No.

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Specifications

3.0 Market study

Conclusion
4.0

1.0 Introduction
Fighter aircraft are high-performance military aircraft primarily designed for air-to-air
combat. They play a crucial role in securing airspace dominance and protecting friendly
forces from enemy aerial threats. These agile and powerful machines are the "knights of the
sky," engaging in dogfights to achieve air superiority during conflicts. Fighter aircraft have
played pivotal roles in conflicts throughout history and remain essential components of
modern military forces. They represent the pinnacle of engineering and serve as symbols of
national defence and air power projection.
 aircraft design process there is a compromise between challenges and limitation. The effect
of all these challenges and constrains on each configuration of the aircraft need to be
studied. This process of aircraft design can be divided in to three categories.
1. Conceptual design
2. Preliminary design
3. Detailed design

Fig. 1 Design Cycle [1]

As shown in fig.1 aircraft design is an iterative process which starts with the conceptual
design of the aircraft. Conceptual design of an aircraft starts with the mission requirements
along with the requirements of aviation regulation authority. The mission requirements are
usually provided either by client or it is considered by group of experts based on futuristic
requirements. Design requirements include parameters such as cruise velocity, range, and
passenger or cargo capacity, take off distance and landing distance, manoeuvrability etc.
These design requirements are initially fuzzy which needs to be studied and finetuned based
on available technologies, requirements after 15-20 years and by considering other
parameters. Based on the requirements the design concept is prepared with the help sizing
and trade study. Sizing includes weight estimations, sizing of the wing, tail and fuselage and
other essential parts of the aircraft. Once conceptual design is obtained there will be design
analysis phase where the conceptual aircraft is analysed for the performance and design
requirements of the aircraft. This analysis includes aerodynamics, structural and
performance analysis along with the stability analysis of the aircraft. Based on the analysis
results the conceptual design may be revised to meet the criteria. This way it is an iterative
process. The conceptual phase ends by finalising or freezing one design suitable for mission
requirements. There can be more than one suitable concept for given requirements.

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This assignment is part of conceptual design of an aircraft. The mission requirement given
for the passenger aircraft includes type of the engine, passenger carrying capacity, range,
cruise altitude, cruise speed, takeoff and landing distance etc.

2.0 Design Specifications

pilot 2
Range (miles) 1250
Max.speed(ma) 1.5
Altitude (ft) 42000
Take off Distance (ft) 1700
Landing Distance (ft) 2400
Service ceiling (ft) 48000

Table-1 Design specifications

Table-1 shows the design requirements for the aircraft. For conceptual design process the first
task is to carryout weight estimation based on mission requirements and trade study as the
weight is an important constraint in the aircraft. Initial sizing gives clear idea about maximum
takeoff weight, fuel weight, and structural weight of the aircraft.
Conceptual aircraft of this assignment is having range of 1250Miles and carries 2 pilots. This
aircraft flies at cruise altitude of 42000ft with the Maximum speed of 1.5Mach and service
ceiling of 48000 ft. The takeoff and landing distance requirements are 1700 ft and 2400 ft
respectively.

3.0 Market Study

The trade analysis and market survey is carried out to understand the mission requirements in
details and understand the available technology and future requirements. The market study is
carried out by considering the important Design requirements for the conceptual aircraft
which is to be designed. These design requirements are range, cruise altitude, max speed,
takeoff and landing distance. There are several aircraft available in this category with
different range and the cruise speed, max speed. In this study JF 17 thunder, Gripen NG, FA
50, MIG-29 aircraft are studied for their performance and design parameters. The summery
of design and performance parameters [3] are given in Table-2.

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 Conceptual FA-50
Aircraft JF-17 Gripen
Golden MIG-29
Thunder NG
eagle
Takeoff
1700 1640 1970 1970 1310
distance (ft)
Landing
2400 NA 1970 1970 2460
Distance (ft)
Max. Takeoff
Weight (kg) 13000 12383 16500 12300 18000
(MTOW)
Range (miles)
1250 2165 2485 1800 1305
Maximum
1.5 1.6 2 1.5 2.25
speed (Ma)
Service
ceiling(ft) 48000 55000 55000 48000 59055

Table-2 performance parameters comparison [3]

4.0 Conclusion

According to the market study done it is fonubd out that the design
specifications of the conceptual aircraft match very similarly to that of HAL
Tejas. The specificatins of Hal Tejas are specified below:

Maximum takeoff weight 13500 kg

Take-off distance 1640 ft
Landing-distance 2600 ft
pilot Weight 160 kg
Maximum speed 1.5 Mach
Service Ceiling 50000 ft
Range 1150 miles

3.0 Initial Weight estimation

Market study gives understanding of the mission profile and a rough idea about the
size and shape of the aircraft to meet the given design specifications based on available
technology. The weight estimation is carried out based on the mission profile of the
conceptual aircraft. A mission profile is the path through which an aircraft travels. A common
mission profile consists of an airplane taking off and then a climb. Cruising takes place and
as the destination is near it starts descending. Sometimes during descending there is traffic in
the runway, so the aircraft has to loiter. And finally it lands on the runway. Mission

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profiledepends on the basic mission of the aircraft of the conceptual aircraft is given bellow
in figure-2.

Fig.2 Mission Profile [2]

The mission profile includes following phases.

1. Take off and climb
2. Cruise and Loiter
3. Ingress
4. Strike/mission/combat
5. Egress
6. Cruise and Loiter
7. Descent and Landing

Below is a description of the mission phases for the aircraft:

 Preparation and Takeoff: The mission begins with the pilot conducting pre-flight
checks and ensuring all systems are operational. The fighter aircraft then accelerates
down the runway during takeoff, rapidly achieving the required takeoff speed to get
airborne.
 Climb to Combat Altitude: After takeoff, the fighter rapidly climbs to an optimal
combat altitude, which allows it to gain advantageous energy and situational
awareness. This phase involves a steep climb to quickly reach the desired altitude.
 Combat Operations - Air Dominance: The primary mission for a fighter aircraft is air-
to-air combat. In this phase, the fighter engages in air dominance, attempting to
establish control of the airspace by engaging and neutralizing enemy aircraft.
Advanced maneuvering and tactical decision-making play a crucial role in achieving
air superiority.
 Air-to-Ground Operations (Optional): Depending on the fighter's multirole
capabilities, it may transition to air-to-ground operations. This involves employing
precision-guided munitions to strike enemy targets on the ground, such as enemy
installations, vehicles, or critical infrastructure.
 Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD - Optional): In missions where enemy
surface-to-air threats are present, the fighter may be tasked with SEAD operations.

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 The objective is to neutralize or suppress these threats, making way for friendly
aircraft or ground forces to operate effectively.
 Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR - Optional): In certain situations, fighters may
participate in CSAR missions to locate and extract downed pilots from behind enemy
lines.
 Loiter and Mission Support: Fighters often have limited loiter time, but they may
reserve a small fraction of fuel for maintaining station or providing aerial support
during critical phases of the mission. Loiter time can be critical for making tactical
decisions or responding to dynamic situations.
 Return and Landing: After completing their mission objectives or when low on fuel,
the fighter aircraft returns to base. Depending on the situation, it may require landing
on an aircraft carrier or a land-based airfield.

3.1 Maximum takeoff weight:

Maximum takeoff weight or the gross weight is the total weight of the aircraft at the time of
takeoff. The maximum takeoff weight includes the weight of crew members, weight of
payload (passengers and cargo), weight of fuel and the empty weight of the aircraft.
Thus,
W 0 =W crew +W payload + W f + W e (1)
W f We
W 0 =W crew +W payload + W 0 + W (2)
W 0 W0 0

W crew + W payload
W 0=
W f We (3)
1− −
W0 W0

Where,
W 0 =maximum takeoff weig ht

W crew =weig h t of crew members

W payload = payload weig ht (h ere weig h t of passengers)

W f =fuel weig h t

W e=empty weig h t

As given in equation (1) we need to estimate the fuel weight and the empty weight to find out
the maximum takeoff weight. As fuel weight and the empty weight depend of the maximum
takeoff weight it is appropriate to obtain the fuel weight fraction corresponding to takeoff

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weight and the empty weight fraction corresponding to takeoff weight of the aircraft. The
crew member weight is constant and depends on the requirement personal onboard to manage
the flight operation. For passenger aircraft the weight of payload can also be considered as
constant. Both the crew and passenger weight can be taken 75 kg per person [1] approximately
in the initial weight estimation. For this mission the strength of passengers is 320
approximately and the required crews are 2 pilots plus 6 to 8 flight attendants as per the
regulation authority. The total person onboard 330 and the approximate weight of crew and
passengers is approximately 24750 kg.

3.2 Mission segment weight fraction estimation:

The weight fraction is the ratio of the weight at the end of the mission segment to the weight
Wi
at the beginning of the mission phase . As mission progress from warm-up and takeoff
W i−1
the fuel get consumed and due to that weight of the aircraft keep decreasing during each
phase. This decrement in weight is the weight of the fuel consumed during each mission
phase. Fuel fraction is the ratio of the fuel required to the takeoff weight of the aircraft. As
the aircraft flies the fuel get consumed and due to that the weight of the fuel and hence the
weight of the aircraft keeps on reducing. We know that fuel requirements are different during
the different phases of the mission therefore it has to be estimated separately for each phase.
The weight fraction during the warm-up and takeoff phase is approximately same for all the
aircrafts. This weight fraction is 0.97 to 0.975 [1]. For passenger aircraft the weight fraction is
taken as 0.97. Similarly the climb segment is also small segment. The aircraft accelerate
quickly to climb at desired altitude. Thought fuel rate consumption is comparatively high
during this phase; due to its short time period approximately 2 % fuel gets consumed during
this phase. We can safely consider weight fraction during climb phase as 0.98 to 0.985. The
cruise is the mission segment where maximum amount of fuel get consumed. Similarly the
aircraft burn considerable amount of fuel in loiter phase. Weight fraction of both of these
phase are largely depends the aerodynamics of the aircraft and the nature of power plant it is
using. Thus it needs to be approximated separately. During the descent phase aircraft hardy
consumes any fuels and thus we can assume weight is constant in this phase. Again the
landing is very important segment of the aircraft mission. By the time of landing aircraft must
have consumed most of its fuel. The fuel consumed during the landing is approximately
0.5%. Table- 3 shows the approximated weight fractions considered based on historical data
[1].

Sr. No. Mission segment Weight fraction

Warm-up & W1
1 0.97
takeoff W0
W2
2 Climb 0.985
W1

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 W6
5 Landing 0.995
W5
Table-3 Historical mission segment weight fraction [1]
To approximate the weight fraction during the cruise segment and the loiter segment
aerodynamics parameters of the aircraft needs to be consider along with the range and
endurance and speed of the aircraft. Range, endurance and the cruise speed are the design or
mission specification and directly taken from the design specification provided for the
aircraft. As wing sizing is not done at the time of initial weight estimation, the wing
parameters such as aspect ratio, the drag coefficient etc need to be assumed as the L/D ratio
depends on wing parameters. From market study it is found that B-777 and A-343 are the
aircrafts with similar mission requirements thus wing parameters can be taken from these
aircraft data.
The aerodynamics characteristic of the Boeing 777 aircraft is considered to select the Aspect
ratio, and k to estimate the drag and lift to drag ratio. [2]

Aspect ratio (A) 10

Cd_0 0.026
k 0.043
L 0.5
max ¿
D √ k × CD 0 14.95
L L
( for max range )=0.866 × max
D D 12.96
Table-4 L/D approximation and wing parameters
As mentioned in table-4 the maximum L/D can be calculated from known values of k and
CD0. Here the maximum L/D estimated is 14.95.
The fuel consumption depends on the power plant selection. As the power plant or engine
sizing is not done at the time of initial sizing. The fuel consumption also needs to be assumed
for expected power plant. Here the aircraft is twin engine turbofan. The literature suggest the
fuel consumption in jet transport category aircraft during cruise flight is approximately
0.000139 l/s where as the fuel consumption is 0.000111 l/s during loiter[1].
Weight fraction in cruise phase is estimated using Breguet range equation.

V L W i−1
R= ln (4)
C D Wi

As per the design specifications the range (R) is 7500 NM, cruise velocity (V) is 500 knots.
W3
The weight fraction in cruise phase is estimated using equation (4) is =0 .5604
W2

Similarly weight fraction for loiter is estimated using endurance equation

1 L W4
E= ln (5)
C D W5

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Taking E= 1500 sec, L/D = L/D max = 14.95 and c = 0.0001 l/s, we get the weight fraction
W4
=0.9867
W5

The total weight fraction (W5/W0) is the multiplication mission segment weight fractions
i.e.
W5/W0 = (W1/W0)( W2/W1)( W3/W2)( W4/W3)( W5/W4) = 0.525709
This total weight fraction is the ratio of weight of the aircraft at the end of the mission to the
weight of the aircraft at the beginning of the mission. This reduction is the fuel consumption.
Thus fuel weight fraction can by 1- W 5/W0 by a multiplication factor or 1.06 for the safety
margin. Thus fuel weight fraction is 0.502749. it means approximately 50.275% of the
aircraft weight is the weight of fuel required for this mission. The mission segment weight
fractions along with total weight fraction and the fuel weight fraction is given in the table-5.

Sr. No. Mission segment Weight fraction

0.9856
1 Take-off and Climb W1/W0
0.7176
2 Cruise and Loiter W2/W1
0.5604
3 Ingress W3/W2
0.9867
4 Strike W4/W3
0.995
5 Egress W5/W4
0.7290
6 Cruise and Loiter W6/W5
0.9899
7 Descent and landing W7/W6
0.5095
Total weight Fraction W7/W0
Fuel weight fraction Wf/W0 0.53464
Table-5 weight fractions and fuel weight fraction

3.3 Empty weight fraction estimation:

Again there is no exact method to obtain the empty weight fraction. It has to be approximated
using empirical formulas obtained by the literature survey. Empty weight fraction is
estimated using empirical relation and the historical data table given in the literature [1] for
different category of the aircrafts. According to that the empty weight fraction of general
aviation twin engine aircraft the can be estimated using following equation.
We ❑
=a W 0 +b (a= -1.1*10^-5 and b = 0.97 for a fighter aircraft)
W0

And,

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 W crew +W payload
W 0=
W fuel W empty
1− −
W0 W0
(3)
As the empty weight fraction depends on takeoff weight of the aircraft equation (3) and (6)
must be iterated to get the empty weight fraction and the takeoff weight approximation for
given mission. For this iteration approximate value of maximum takeoff weight is assumed
and the empty weight fraction is calculated using equation (6). For this conceptual aircraft the
initial takeoff weight is assumed 600000 kg and for that the empty weight fraction estimated i
0.399. We know that 600000 kg is not the actual weight of this aircraft it is the initial
assumption. Now as empty weight fraction is approximated for this assumed takeoff weight
value and fuel weight fraction is also know along with weight of crew and passengers. Thus
using equation (3) the takeoff weight can be calculated. Again this takeoff weight is not the
final value. The iteration method has to be followed in order to get the maximum takeoff
weight and empty weight fraction. The iteration of equation (3) and (6) is carried out using
spreadsheet.
After iteration the takeoff weight of the aircraft is obtained as 334304.3 kg and the empty
weight fraction is obtained as 0.423 (appendix-1)

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 4.0 Conclusion
The spreadsheet approach is successfully utilised to carried out the iteration and approximate
the initial weight estimation of the conceptual twin turbofan aircraft with the capacity of
approximately 320 passengers and the range of 7500 NM at cruise altitude of 35000 ft with
cruise speed of 500 knots. The available technology and the aircraft performance data is
effectively used to make the design choices. It is clear from the analysis that the maximum
takeoff weight of this category of the aircraft is approximately 334304.3 kg. During the
weight estimation it is also observed that approximately 50.25 % of the maximum takeoff
weight is the weight of the fuel itself.

Maximum takeoff weight 334304.3 kg

Fuel Weight 168071 kg
Empty weight 141483 kg
Crew Weight 750 kg
Passenger weight 24000 kg

Above table shows the distribution of takeoff weight in to fuel weight, empty weight, crew
weight and the payload weight. It is clear that useful payload weight is less than 10 % of the
maximum takeoff weight.
When comparing the results obtained during this analysis with existing aircraft it is observed
that the initial estimation is in the range of the takeoff weight of the existing aircraft of
similar mission requirements. That justifies the selection of the design parameters and weight
fractions.

The comparison is given bellow.

Conceptual
Aircraft B-777-
A-343 A-346 B-74S B-773 B-742
300ER
Takeoff
2438.4 2765 3140 2300 3000 3000 3200
distance (m)
Landing
1828.8 1830 2000 2200 1800 1800 1900
Distance (m)
Max. Takeoff
Weight (kg) 334304.3 275000 368000 317520 299370 351500 374850
(MTOW)
Range (NM)
7500 7200 7750 6000 5955 7930 6857
Cruise speed
500 490 480 490 490 490 495
(kts)
PAX
320 295-335 380-419 336 368-550 Up to 365 366

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5.0 References

1. D. P. Raymer, “Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach”, No. 6. Reston, VA:

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 2018.

2. Barroso, Alexander; Klee, Austin; and Palmer, Chandler, "Design of the Skybus SB-
400 High Capcity Short Range Transport Aircraft" (2019). Senior Design Project For
Engineers. 30

3. Https://contentzone.eurocontrol.int/aircraftperformance/details.

4 Lloyd R. Jenkinson, “Aircraft Design Projects for engineering students”, Butterworth-

Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Science

5 Lloyd R. Jenkinson, “Civil Jet Aircraft Design”, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Inc.

6 Ajoy Kumar Kundu, “Aircraft Design”, Cambridge university press, 2010

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Appandix-1
Takeoff weight iterations
W0 Assumed (kg) We/W0 W0 calculated (kg)
600000.0 0.399 252351.7
252351.7 0.435 399429.5
399429.5 0.416 303679.7
303679.7 0.427 353831.5
353831.5 0.421 323825.3
323825.3 0.425 340513.4
340513.4 0.422 330827.2
330827.2 0.424 336315.5
336315.5 0.423 333162.3
333162.3 0.423 334959.6
334959.6 0.423 333930.5
333930.5 0.423 334518.2
334518.2 0.423 334182.1
334182.1 0.423 334374.2
334374.2 0.423 334264.4
334264.4 0.423 334327.1
334327.1 0.423 334291.2
334291.2 0.423 334311.8
334311.8 0.423 334300.0
334300.0 0.423 334306.7
334306.7 0.423 334302.9
334302.9 0.423 334305.1
334305.1 0.423 334303.8
334303.8 0.423 334304.6
334304.6 0.423 334304.2
334304.2 0.423 334304.4
334304.4 0.423 334304.3
334304.3 0.423 334304.3
334304.3 0.423 334304.3

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334304.3 0.423 334304.3
334304.3 0.423 334304.3
334304.3 0.423 334304.3
334304.3 0.423 334304.3

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