Lecture02 AENG490

Flight Vehicle Design
AENG 490
Dr. James Scire
September 12, 2023
Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Outline
Background Information from Aerodynamics and Propulsion

Performance Metrics
Breguet Range Equation

Experimentally Measured Section Lift Coefficient
Aerodynamic Force and Moment Coefficients

The experimental section lift coefficient is independent of

Reynolds number and is a linear function of the angle of
attack from approximately −10◦ to 10◦ .
The slope of the linear portion of the curve is called the
two-dimensional lift-curve slope.
We have
dCl
= Clα = a0 = 0.104/◦
dα
Since the airfoil of interest here (a NACA 23012 airfoil
section) is cambered, there is lift generated at zero angle of
attack.
Zero lift is obtained at −1.2◦ , which is the section zero-lift
angle of attack, α0l .
The section lift coefficient is given by
Cl = Clα (α − α0l )
As the angle of attack is increased above 10◦ , the section lift

coefficient continues to increase (but not at the same slope)
until a maximum value Clmax is reached.
The maximum occurs at an angle of attack of 18◦ , the stall
angle of attack.
For this airfoil Clmax = 1.79.
Above an angle of attack of 10◦ the section lift coefficient
exhibits a Reynolds number dependence.
This dependence is associated with flow separation.
Depending on the Reynolds number, we may have separation
near the leading edge of the airfoil or near the trailing edge of
the airfoil.
Highly cambered, thick airfoils tend to separate near the
trailing edge as the boundary layer becomes turbulent before it
experiences a strong pressure rise.

Types of Drag
Induced (or vortex) drag – drag due to the trailing vortex
system.
Skin-friction drag – due to viscous stress acting on the surface
of the body.
Form (or pressure) drag – due to the integrated pressure
acting on the body, caused by flow separation.
Interference drag – due to the proximity of two or more bodies
(e.g. wing and fuselage).
Trim drag – due to aerodynamic forces required to trim the
airplane about the center of gravity.
Profile drag – the sum of skin-friction and pressure drag for an
airfoil section.
Parasite drag – the sum of skin-friction and pressure drag for
an aircraft.
Base drag – the pressure drag due to a blunt base or
afterbody.
Wave drag – due to shock wave energy losses.
Flaps and Leading-Edge Devices
Since stall occurs at relatively low angles of attack (between

10 and 20 degrees), it would be convenient if there was a way
to increase lift without increasing angle of attack.
The most common approach is to use multi-element airfoil
sections to produce higher levels of lift.
For a large twin-engine transport:
A 0.10 increase in lift coefficient at constant angle of attack is
equivalent to reducing the approach attitude by about one
degree – shorter landing gear saves 1400 lb in weight.
A 1.5% increase in the maximum lift coefficient is equivalent
to a 6600 lb increase in payload at a fixed approach speed.
A 1% increase in take-off L/D is equivalent to a 2800 lb
increase in payload or a 150-nautical-mile increase in range.

Multielement Airfoil Sections for Generating High Lift
Slats.
Multielement flaps.


The aerodynamics of multi-element airfoils:

Compressibility effects including shock/boundary-layer
interaction on the slat.
Laminar separation-induced transition along the upper surfaces.
Confluent turbulent boundary layers.
Cove separation and reattachment.
Massive flow separation on the wing/flap upper surfaces.
Note that the cove is the region vacated by the flap system
when it deploys.


High-Lift Military Airfoils
Military airfoils differ from commercial configurations:

Sharp leading-edge shape for stealth.
Thin airfoils for transonic and supersonic efficiency.
Airfoils utilize a plain leading-edge flap and a slotted
trailing-edge flap.
Aircraft utilize leading-edge extensions called strakes.



The Standard Atmosphere
In order to correlate flight-test data with wind-tunnel data or

to compute flow fields it is important to have agreed-upon
standards for atmospheric properties as a function of altitude.
The 1976 U.S. Standard Atmosphere is given in various
references and can be found on the NOAA website.
It is found by integrating the hydrostatic equation using
measured temperature variations that have been suitably
averaged.
For the 1976 U.S. Standard Atmosphere, the average is
intended to represent mid-latitude values for an average day.

Reynolds Number Variation with Altitude and Velocity
Characteristic Length 1 Meter

Flight Conditions
Mission specifications may specify Mach number and altitude
for various phases of the mission.
Standard atmosphere data can be used to determine the
velocity by calculating the speed of sound a using the
expression p
a = γRT
where
γ is the ratio of specific heats, cp /cv
R is the gas-specific gas constant (i.e. for air)
T is the absolute temperature
This expression is valid for an ideal gas with constant specific
heats (a calorically perfect gas).
The velocity may then be found using
M = V /a

Performance Parameters – Specific Thrust
Since engines can be scaled to increase thrust by increasing
the mass flow rate, it makes sense to compare engines by
dividing the thrust by the air mass flow rate (ṁ0 ) to form the
specific thrust:
F
Specific thrust ≡
ṁ0
with units of N-s/kg or lbf-s/lbm.
Here we use F for thrust (though Roskam’s text uses T ).
Optimizing for maximum specific thrust reduces the frontal
area of engines.
For commercial transports this optimization is usually
superseded by optimization for fuel consumption.
A nondimensional specific thrust can be formed by dividing by
the ambient speed of sound (note that N-s/kg is equivalent to
m/s)
F
Nondimensional Specific thrust ≡
ṁ0 a0
Specific Fuel Consumption and Specific Impulse
The thrust specific fuel consumption, TSFC, is the mass flow
rate of fuel per unit thrust:
ṁf
TSFC ≡
F
Optimizing for minimum thrust specific fuel consumption
reduces fuel use for a given thrust.
It is dimensional.
For rockets, both oxidizer and fuel are consumed so we refer
to the combination as “propellant” and use the propellant
mass flow ṁp = ṁox + ṁf .
We also divide by propellant weight on earth, forming the
specific impulse, Is :
F
Is ≡
ṁp g0
Specific impulse has dimensions of time.
Thermal Efficiency
The ability to convert the thermal energy (chemical energy) in

fuel to a net kinetic energy gain of the propellant is called the
engine thermal efficiency, ηth :
V V 2 2
KE˙out − KE˙ in ṁ9 29 − ṁ0 20
ηth = =
Q̇f ṁf QR
where QR is the fuel heating value (here we are using station

numbering, with 0 as the upstream and 9 as the nozzle exit).
The heat input that does not lead to a kinetic energy increase
goes to increase the temperature of the exhaust stream.
Hot exhaust represents not only a waste of fuel, but also
requires added weight for cooling and thermal protection of
the exhaust nozzle and nearby structures.

Thermal Efficiency
Thermal efficiency can be increased by adding turbine stages

that provide shaft power and lower the temperature of the
exhaust stream.
This concept led to the development of two- and three-spool
turbofan engines.
The mechanical output may therefore include additional shaft
power,
Pshaft + ∆KE˙
ηth =
ṁf QR
For propulsion engines, changes that increase the thermal
efficiency usually also increase weight and complexity, so such
changes must be carefully weighed against mission
requirements and other performance metrics.

Propulsive Efficiency
The fraction of the net mechanical output of the engine which
is converted into thrust power (F V0 ) is called the propulsive
efficiency, ηp :
F V0
ηp ≡
∆KE˙
If we
ignore installed losses for the time being and use the
uninstalled thrust in this equation
assume the nozzle is perfectly expanded so p9 = p0
we find
[(ṁ0 + ṁf )V9 − ṁ0 V0 ] V0
ηp ≈ V92 V02
(ṁ0 + ṁf ) 2 − ṁ0 2
If we neglect the fuel flow rate, this simplifies to
(V9 − V0 )V0 2(V9 − V0 )V0 2
ηp ≈ V92 V02
= =
− (V9 − V0 )(V9 + V0 ) 1 + VV90
2 2

Propulsive Efficiency
If we have V9 = V0 , the expression that we just developed says

the propulsive efficiency will by 100%.
However, with V9 = V0 the engine produces no thrust.
We have shown, however, that keeping the ratio of V9 /V0 low
and raising the mass flow rate to recover our thrust will
increase the propulsive efficiency of our engine.
This approach yields large-bypass-ratio turbofans and
turboprops.

Propulsive Efficiency of Turboprops
For turboprops, we look at the shaft power to the propeller

and consider the total thrust (propeller and jet thrust)
F V0 F V0
ηp ≡ ≈
Ps + ∆KE˙ Ps
The fraction of the power delivered to the propeller that yields

thrust power is the propeller efficiency:
Fprop V0
ηprop ≡
Ps,prop

Engine Overall Efficiency
and Its Impact on Aircraft Range and Endurance
The product of the engine thermal and propulsive efficiency is
called the engine overall efficiency,
∆KE˙ F V0 F V0
ηo ≡ ηth ηp = =
˙
ṁf QR ∆KE ṁf QR
The overall efficiency is therefore the fraction of the fuel
thermal input that is converted into thrust power.
Now we relate the overall efficiency to aircraft range and
endurance.
For an aircraft in level flight at speed V0 , the thrust just
balances the drag:
Fengine = Daircraft
The lift L just balances the weight, maintaining level flight,
L=W
Aircraft Range and Endurance
Multiplying the thrust-drag equation by the flight speed and
replacing F V0 with ηo ṁf QR yields
F V0 = ηo ṁf QR = DV0
Dividing by the lift-weight equation then yields
ηo ṁf QR D
= V0
W L
The fuel flow rate can be used to calculate the rate at which
the aircraft is losing weight, ṁf = − g10 dW
dt , so
ηo QR dW D dR
− = V0 dt =
g0 W L L/D
where R is the range.
If we assume constant lift-to-drag ratio and constant overall
efficiency, we can integrate to find the Breguet range equation,
QR L Winitial
R = ηo ln
g0 D Wfinal
The Breguet range equation shows that the aircraft range is
proportional to the overall efficiency.
Next, we replace the total efficiency in the range equation
with the ratio of thrust power to thermal input:
F V0 QR L Winitial
R= ln
ṁf QR g0 D Wfinal
Also incorporating the flight Mach number M0 and the thrust

specific fuel consumption, we have

L a0 /g0 Winitial
R = M0 ln
D TSFC Wfinal
We see that the range is proportional to the grouping
M0 L/D, which we refer to as the range factor.
The range is inversely proportional to the thrust specific fuel
consumption.
The endurance, which we will take to be the ratio of the

range to the flight speed (i.e. the total cruise time), can be
written as
R ηo QR L Winitial
Endurance = = ln
V0 V 0 g0 D Wfinal
or
1 L Winitial
Endurance = ln
g0 TSFC D Wfinal
The endurance is also proportional to the overall efficiency and
inversely proportional to the thrust specific fuel consumption.
For endurance, the figure of merit is L/D rather than
M0 L/D.

Finally, we reconcile the expressions given above with those
used in Roskam.
We begin with the expression developed above for the range

L a0 /g0 Winitial
R = M0 ln
D TSFC Wfinal
We can revert back to velocity by recognizing that
M0 a 0 = V 0 :

V0 L Winitial
R= ln
g0 T SF C D Wfinal
Note that the thrust specific fuel consumption TSFC is the
mass flow rate of fuel divided by the thrust.
Forming the product g0 TSFC converts that quantity to a
“weight flow”, since g0 ṁf is the rate of fuel consumption in
terms of the weight of fuel at ground level.
Roskam denotes that version of the specific fuel consumption
by cj for a jet.
cj has English units of (lbf/h)/lbf, or 1/h.

Substituting cj , we find Roskam’s equation (2.10) for range
during cruise
V L Winitial
R= ln
cj D Wfinal
where V = V0 is just the flight speed.
Note that if V is in knots (nautical miles per hour), the range
will have units of nautical miles.
A nautical mile is 1.1508 statute miles.
Statute miles are “regular” miles of 5280 feet.
The endurance equation, Roskam’s (2.12), is obtained by
dividing the range equation by V .

Note that Roskam gives separate expressions for

propeller-driven aircraft (e.g. equation 2.9).
Here we rederive the range expression using the propeller
efficiency expression we saw earlier
Fprop V0
ηprop ≡
Ps,prop
Roskam uses a power specific fuel consumption for propeller

aircraft,
ṁf g0
cp =
Ps,prop
which is the rate of fuel weight consumption divided by the
engine shaft power.
In the text, the units of cp are (lbf/h)/hp.

Combining the cp definition with the propeller efficiency, we
can write
ηprop ṁf g0
Fprop V0 =
cp
We set this equal to DV0 as before,
ηprop ṁf g0
= DV0
cp
Dividing by the lift-weight equation then yields
ηprop ṁf g0 D
= V0
cp W L
We then use g0 ṁf = − dW

dt , so
ηprop dW D dR
− = V0 dt =
cp W L L/D

If we assume constant lift-to-drag ratio, propeller efficiency,
and specific fuel consumption, we can integrate to find

ηprop L Winitial
R= ln
cp D Wfinal
Note that the lift-to-drag ratio and propeller efficiency are
dimensionless.
As written, the range will have units of hp/(lbf/h), which is a
unit of distance.
To yield statue miles, Roskam builds a unit conversion factor
into the formula

550 ft lbf/s 3600 s 1 sm
= 375 lbf sm/(hp h)
1 hp 1h 5280 ft
or
ηprop L Winitial
R = 375 lbf sm/(hp h) ln
cp D Wfinal
Aircraft Design
This course covers the preliminary sizing of aircraft, followed

by a portion of their preliminary design.
The starting point for an airplane design is a mission
specification.
The flowchart below traces the origin of the mission
specification and its relation to preliminary sizing and
preliminary design.

Developing Mission Specifications

Aircraft Design
Roskam notes that, after the preliminary sizing and design

steps, the design can
“if all is well” move on to full scale design and development.
Problem areas identified in the preliminary work can point to a
need for further research and development.
The R&D program, if successful, can then lead to full scale
design and development.
R&D may also reveal the need to modify the requirements or
drop the program.
The following flowchart illustrates the full preliminary design
process.

Preliminary Design Process

Preliminary Sizing of Aircraft
Preliminary sizing results in the determination of the following

design parameters:
Gross Take-off Weight WTO
Empty Weight WE
Mission Fuel Weight WF
Maximum Required Take-off Thrust TTO or Take-off Power
PTO
Wing Area S and Wing Aspect Ratio A
Maximum Required Lift Coefficient (Clean) CL,max
Maximum Required Lift Coefficient for Take-off CL,max,TO
Maximum Required Lift Coefficient for Landing CL,max,L or
CL,max,PA

The required data in the mission specification are

Payload and type of payload
Range and/or loiter requirements
Cruise speed and altitude
Field length for take-off and for landing
Fuel reserves
Climb requirements
Maneuvering requirements
Certification base (e.g. Experimental, FAR 23, FAR 25, or
Military)

Note that “FAR” is Federal Aviation Regulations – aircraft

design is regulated under FAR.
Because the government also uses the abbreviation FAR for
Federal Acquisition Regulations, the aviation regulations are
referred to as “14 CFR part XX”.
Here, “14 CFR” refers to Title 14 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, which covers Aeronautics and Space.
The regulations can be found at https://www.ecfr.gov
FAR 23 (14 CFR Chapter I Subchapter C Part 23) is entitled
“Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes”
FAR 25 (14 CFR Chapter I Subchapter C Part 25) is entitled
“Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Airplanes”

Example Mission Specification

Roskam gives a procedure for preliminary sizing, in which the
take-off gross weight, empty weight, and mission fuel weight
are estimated.
The technique utilizes correlations between the empty weight
and gross take-off weight for twelve different aircraft
categories:
1 Homebuilt propeller-driven airplanes
2 Single-engine propeller-driven airplanes
3 Twin-engine propeller-driven airplanes
4 Agricultural airplanes
5 Business jets
6 Regional turboprop-driven airplanes
7 Transport jets
8 Military trainers
9 Fighters
10 Military patrol, bomb, and transport airplanes
11 Flying boats, amphibious, and float airplanes
12 Supersonic cruise airplanes
Preliminary Sizing Method
We break down the gross take-off weight as
WTO = WOE + WF + WPL
where
WOE is the airplane operating weight empty
WF is the mission fuel weight
WPL is the payload weight
We can further break down the operating weight empty as
WOE = WE + Wtfo + Wcrew
where
WE is the empty weight
Wtfo is the weight of trapped fuel and oil
Wcrew is the weight of the crew and their baggage

Note that the empty weight may include fixed equipment such
as
avionics equipment
air-conditioning equipment
special radar equipment
the auxiliary power unit (APU)
furnishing and interiors
other mission-specific equipment

The preliminary sizing estimates incorporate two types of data

Estimates of the fuel used during each phase of the mission,
including
fixed factors based on the current weight of the aircraft
calculated factors based on mission range or endurance
The correlations between empty weight and gross take-off
weight for the type of airplane being considered.
Roskam shows that the logarithm of the empty weight is
linearly related to the logarithm of the gross weight in each
aircraft category for a wide range of production aircraft.

Procedure
1 Determine the mission payload weight WPL .
2 Guess a likely take-off weight WTO .
3 Determine the mission fuel weight WF .
4 Calculate a tentative value for the operating weight empty
WOE,tent = WTO,guess − WF − WPL
5 Calculate a tentative value of WE from
WE,tent = WOE,tent − Wtfo − Wcrew
6 Calculate the “allowable” value of WE from the correlation or

the corresponding plot.
7 Compare WE from the correlation to the tentative value –
adjust the gross weight guess and repeat if WE and WE,tent
disagree by more than 0.5%.
1. Mission Payload and Crew Weight
Payload is given in the mission specification

Passengers and baggage
Cargo
Military loads: ammunition, bombs, missiles, external stores
Passengers: average weight 175 lbf, 30 lbf baggage (40 lbf for
long-distance flights)
Commercial Crew:
Minimum number of crew is given by the Federal Regulations
Assume average weight 175 lbf, 30 lbf baggage
Military Crew:
Assume average weight 200 lbf to account for gear

2. Guessing a Gross Take-Off Weight
Initial guesses can be guided by comparison of the mission

specifications to those of existing airplanes.
Roskam makes reference to Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft in
the examples.
The tables used for the correlations (in Chapter 2) also give
guidance about the range of weights for a class of aircraft.
Finally, one can use a direct approach by retaining a symbolic
take-off weight – more on this approach later.

3. Determine the Mission Fuel Weight
The mission fuel weight includes the fuel used in the mission
and any reserves
WF = WF,used + WF,res
Reserves are given in the mission specification

They are also specified in the applicable FARs.
Sometimes the specification includes built-in reserve steps (e.g.
additional range or loiter) rather than a particular amount of
fuel.
The fuel used is calculated for each phase of the mission by
the fuel-fraction method.
The fuel fraction is the ratio of the end weight to the begin
weight for a given phase.

Phase Description Calculation

1 Engine Start and Warmup Table 2.1
2 Taxi Table 2.1
3 Take-off Table 2.1
4 Climb and Accelerate Fig. 2.2 or Table 2.1
or Endurance eqn.
5 Cruise Range eqn.
6 Loiter Endurance eqn.
7 Descent Table 2.1
8 Landing Table 2.1



With each of the fuel fractions determined, we can determine

the total fuel used from the gross take-off weight.
Define the mission fuel fraction Mff by
W1 W2 W3 W8
Mff = ...
WTO W1 W2 W7
Then
Wf,used = (1 − Mff ) WTO
Note: For some missions, part of the payload is dropped (e.g.
bombs) at some point. In that case, you can calculate an
intermediate weight and continue from that point, or you can
correct the individual fuel fractions so you can retain the
expressions above.

6. Find the Allowable Value of the Empty Weight
Figures 2.3 to 2.14 show that there is a linear relationship

between the logarithm of the empty weight and the logarithm
of the gross take-off weight.
Note that the figures use base 10 logarithms.
The trend lines in the figures are taken to be state-of-the-art
values in the design process.
Since manufacturers strive to minimize empty weight, the
trend line values are considered “minimum allowable.”
The data points in the figures are available in Tables 2.3 to
2.14.
The trend line data are given in Table 2.15.

Figure 2.9

Table 2.9

Table 2.15

6. Find the Allowable Value of the Empty Weight
The data in the figures are for aircraft with structural

components that are primarily metals (with exceptions
indicated).
Table 2.16 can be used to estimate weight reductions
associated with a switch to composite materials or advanced,
lightweight alloys.
Note that non-primary structures, such as floors, fairings,
flaps, control surfaces, and interior surfaces have been made
from composites or advanced materials for several years, so
weight reductions versus the airplanes in the figures may not
be as impressive as expected.

Design Example 1 – Twin-Engine Propeller Airplane

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Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire

September 12, 2023

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Background Information from Aerodynamics and Propulsion

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

The experimental section lift coefficient is independent of

As the angle of attack is increased above 10◦ , the section lift

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Since stall occurs at relatively low angles of attack (between

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

The aerodynamics of multi-element airfoils:

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Military airfoils differ from commercial configurations:

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

In order to correlate flight-test data with wind-tunnel data or

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

The ability to convert the thermal energy (chemical energy) in

where QR is the fuel heating value (here we are using station

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Thermal efficiency can be increased by adding turbine stages

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

If we have V9 = V0 , the expression that we just developed says

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

For turboprops, we look at the shaft power to the propeller

The fraction of the power delivered to the propeller that yields

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Also incorporating the flight Mach number M0 and the thrust

The endurance, which we will take to be the ratio of the

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

cj has English units of (lbf/h)/lbf, or 1/h.

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Note that Roskam gives separate expressions for

Roskam uses a power specific fuel consumption for propeller

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

We then use g0 ṁf = − dW

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

This course covers the preliminary sizing of aircraft, followed

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Roskam notes that, after the preliminary sizing and design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Preliminary sizing results in the determination of the following

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

The required data in the mission specification are

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Note that “FAR” is Federal Aviation Regulations – aircraft

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design

We break down the gross take-off weight as

WTO = WOE + WF + WPL

WOE = WE + Wtfo + Wcrew

Dr. James Scire Flight Vehicle Design