Unit 1 : Overview of Design Process, Preliminary Weight Estimation

  • Phases of aircraft design, Aircraft conceptual design process, Project brief / request for proposal, Problem definition, Aircraft requirements, configuration options, The initial conceptual sketches

  • Initial takeoff weight build-up, Empty weight estimation, Historical trends, Fuel fraction estimation, Mission profiles, Mission segment weight fraction

Lecture 1: Introduction to Aircraft Design

(24 Jan 2023 - Tuesday)

Contents:

  • Introduction to aircraft design

  • Phases of aircraft design

  • Aircraft conceptual design process

Lecture 2: Design Requirements

(25 Jan 2023 - Wednesday)

Contents:

  • Project brief/request for proposal

  • Overall design requirements

  • Regulatory body requirements and airworthiness certification

Lecture 3: House of Quality

(31 Jan 2023 - Tuesday)

Contents:

  • Quality functional deployment as a conceptual aircraft design tool

  • House of quality

Lecture 4: Tutorial on House of Quality

(01 Feb 2023 - Wednesday)

Contents:

  • Problem statement, and Mission requirements

  • Tutorial on House of Quality

Lecture 5: Introduction to Weight Estimation

(02 Feb 2023 - Thursday)

Contents:

  • Introduction to weight estimation

  • Significance of weight estimation, and

  • Procedure of weight estimation

Lecture 6: Empty and Fuel Weight Estimation

(07 Feb 2023 - Tuesday)

Contents:

  • Empty weight estimation using statistical approach

  • Fuel weight estimation using fuel-fraction method

Lecture 7: Tutorial on Preliminary Weight Estimation

(08 Feb 2023 - Wednesday)

Contents:

  • Mission profile, Calculation of payload and crew weight

  • Empty and Fuel weight estimation

  • Gross Takeoff weight estimation

Lecture 8: Tutorial on OpenVSP

(09 Feb 2023 - Thursday)