Conceptual Aircraft Design

16Aircraft Cost Considerations

16.1 Overview

Civil aviation requires a return on investment with cash flowing back to sustain growth in a self‐sustaining manner, with or without some government assistance. Sustainability and growth of civil aviation depend on profitably. In the free market economy, industry and operators face severe competition to survive, forcing them to operate under considerable pressure to manage manufacture and operation in a lean manner. Economic considerations are the main drivers for commercial aircraft operation and to some extent as well as for military aircraft. Military aircraft are driven by defence requirements with the primary objective to meet national defence. Their export potential is a by‐product that is restricted to friendly nations with some risk of disclosure of technical confidentiality. There is some difference between the ground rules for costing of military and civil aircraft manufacture and operation. Because of the nature to stay ahead of adversary capabilities, military aircraft designs need to explore newer technologies that are expensive and laborious to ensure safety and effectiveness. Many military projects have had to be abandoned even after prototypes were flown, for example, the TSR2 (UK), Northrop F20 (USA) and so on; their reasons could be different, but the common factor would always be their cost effectiveness. The product must have the appeal to be the best value for money. The readers are encouraged to look into each ...