MAE4410 · Flight vehicle design

Overview

On completion of this unit, you will have an understanding of the key elements of aircraft performance analysis as used in aerospace vehicle design. A student project, involving the initial design stages of a flight vehicle, will integrate these studies. Various characteristics of aircraft performance and their design implications will be examined including whole-aircraft drag polar, power plant characterisation, thrust required in level flight, maximum speed estimation, minimum speed and high-lift devices, rate of climb, gliding, range, endurance, accelerated flight, structural limitations on performance, and design for longitudinal and lateral stability. Mission analysis and preliminary weight estimation based on a design concept will be examined together with the aerodynamic synthesis to satisfy performance requirements, power plant selection, overall vehicle layout and balance. Trade-offs as a necessary part of the design will be apparent to you on completion of this unit.

Areas of study: E3001 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Specialisation: Aerospace engineering

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Continuous assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Justify preliminary aircraft sizing based on mission requirements and weight correlations.
2. Draw upon constraint analysis to size aircraft propulsion and lifting surfaces to meet specified performance requirements.
3. Generate aircraft layouts to appropriate Joint Aviation Requirements (JARs).
4. Predict aircraft drag polars by a variety of methods.
5. Construct an appropriately dimensioned and labelled 3-view drawing of final aircraft design.
6. Manage the distribution of aircraft components to appropriately locate the aircraft centre of gravity.

Workload

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours of independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.