Aerospace Engineering - Aircraft Design Project Guide [2026]

Define the aircraft mission type, focusing on civil flights for the business jet under design. Outline the civil mission stages: takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, and landing for the project.

Estimate the take-off mass by determining fuel, crew, and empty-aircraft weights, then assess wing parameters like wingspan and engine thrust for takeoff, using statistics as a starting point.

Estimate aircraft mass components—crew, loading mass, fuel, and empty mass—to derive total mass M0, using the Excel project one business jet with tables for masses and wing loading.

Estimate the empty aircraft mass from take off mass using an experimental data-based equation with coefficients a and c, plus the relative empty mass concept for jet-engined aircraft.

Estimate cabin crew and passenger masses for a small aircraft, with two pilots and one flight attendant, and 12 passengers with 30 kg baggage each, for loading and takeoff mass.

Estimate fuel mass for each flight segment—from takeoff to landing—by updating aircraft weight after each segment, applying segment-specific burn coefficients, and including the ion navigational reserve to determine final mass.

Estimate wing loading for landing, cruise, and maneuvering scenarios using lift coefficients, densities, and speeds; select the minimum loading coefficient to ensure wing strength in worst-case conditions.

Evaluate aircraft quality and thrust to ensure safe one-engine failure, cruise performance, and takeoff distance by estimating coefficients from the workbook.

Explore wing basics, control surfaces, and their roles in lift and flight control. Compare standard, flying wing, and foreplane schemes, noting how rudder, elevator, and stabilizers influence aircraft design.

Choose the aircraft scheme by evaluating crew and load positioning, takeoff and landing mechanization, and engine placement, illustrated with a business jet example.

Design a wing by estimating wing area, wingspan, trapezoidal chord distribution, aspect ratio, taper ratio, median aerodynamic chord, and setting sweep, crank sweep, and dihedral for optimal performance.

Develop the horizontal surface geometry and horizontal stabilizer concepts. Estimate area, span, inner/outer/median chords, taper ratio, and sweep angle to satisfy the static moment range 0.8–1.1.

Estimate the vertical surface geometry, including the vertical stabilizer and rudder, their distance from the center of gravity, and related dimensions using workbook equations identical to the horizontal surface.

Design and size the aircraft's control surfaces—elevator, rudder, and ailerons—using wing and stabilizer dimensions to determine area, span, and aerodynamic chord for precise pitch, yaw, and roll control.

Estimate fuselage width by combining seat block widths, corridor widths, and wall clearances per single row; use provided first-class dimensions to compute a 2070 mm cabin width.

Compute cabin length from the estimation equation using L1, L2, and I, with L1=630 mm and L2=1000 mm, six rows at 990 mm spacing, yielding 6580 mm.

Estimate the cabin height and body length by selecting a height within range and applying the height-length ratio, then compute the fuselage length using extensions and diameter, about 15 m.

Re-estimate aircraft masses by calculating the wing mass with a coefficient-driven equation, incorporating construction, mechanization, material, unloading, overloading, and wing geometry to yield the relative wing mass.

Estimate the aircraft construction mass by calculating fuselage mass with cabin pressure and engine coefficients, assess control surfaces and landing gear, and sum to the total aircraft mass.

Estimate the power plant, equipment, and fuel mass as fractions of takeoff mass, showing power plant about 7.7%, equipment near 9–10%, and fuel about 30%, leading to aircraft balance analysis.

Estimate aircraft static horizontal moments to determine center of gravity and balance characteristics across four cases, with the origin at the nose and a balance coefficient between 0.2 and 0.3.

Estimate the real mass of each aircraft component by applying the relative mass table to the total aircraft mass, fix references with dollar signs in Excel, and sum to confirm.

Position wing, fuel, power plant, and control surfaces to balance the aircraft, then estimate forces and moments for each mass to locate the center of masses.

Balance the remaining aircraft components by estimating forces from the power plant, cabin crew, fuel, and passengers, compute total forces and moments, and prepare for the center of gravity analysis.

Estimate the final center of gravity for no load, no fuel, and empty configurations using total moments over total forces, and adjust mass placement to meet balancing 0.2 to 0.3.