Theory and Practice of Aircraft Performance

CHAPTER 2Aerodynamic and Aircraft Design Considerations

2.1 Overview

Aircraft configuration as shaped through design considerations is mission‐specific. To estimate aircraft performance, a good understanding of aircraft configuration is essential in estimating aircraft drag. Experience engineers can guess, to an extent, the aircraft capability by merely observing the configuration. Only broad descriptive discussions are given here on aerodynamics and aircraft design aspects, to appreciate how these affect aircraft performance. For detailed work, readers may refer to related textbooks. There are many excellent textbooks on aircraft design [1–19] and aerodynamics [20–31] available in the public domain. Because the subject matter is mature, some older introductory books still serve the purpose of this course; however, more recent books relate better to current examples. The design book by the author [15] complements this book, with aircraft performance information for worked examples. The next chapter deals with systems design considerations that affect aircraft performance.

In this book, a preliminary aircraft configured at the conceptual stage is given to performance engineers for sizing and engine matching to finalize the external geometry. It is then followed by complete aircraft performance estimation for the production version.

The information in this chapter is essential for aircraft performance engineers. A set of problems related to this chapter is given in Appendix ...