Special

Considerations in
Configuration
Layout

Aerodynamics
Structures
Detectability
Vulnerability
Producibility
Maintainability

AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS
Minimization of wetted area
Wetted area is the area which is in contact
with the external airflow
Wetted area affects the friction drag
Most powerful aerodynamic consideration for
virtually all aircraft

Fuselage Layout:
Wetted Area
Minimized by tight internal packaging and a low
fineness ratio (i.e., a short, fat fuselage)

Questair Venture

Excessive tight packaging should be avoided for

maintainability considerations
A short, fat fuselage will have a short tail moment
which increase the required tail areas
It has high supersonic wave drag
AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

Fuselage Layout:
Maintenance of smooth longitudinal
contours
Use of smooth longitudinal control lines
Longitudinal breaks in contour should follow a
radius at least equal to the fuselage diameter at
that point.

AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

Fuselage Layout:
Aft-Fuselage
The aft-fuselage deviation should not exceed
10-12 degrees
Air inflow induced by a pusher-propeller will
prevent separation despite contour angles of up
to 30 degrees or more.
A lower-surface upsweep of about 25 degrees
can be tolerated provided that the fuselage
lower corners are fairly sharp.

AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

Base Area
Unfaired, rearward-facing blunt surface
Causes high drag due to the low pressure
experienced by the rear-ward facing surface
A base area between or very near to the jet
exhausts may be filled-in by the pressure field
of the exhaust, partially alleviating the drag
penalty.
T-38

AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

Interactions between different components

A canard should not be located such that its
wake might enter the engine inlets at any
possible angle of attack.
It can stall or even destroy a jet engine

A separated vortex can be expected at high

AERODYNAMIC
angle of attack if an aircrafts forebody has
a
CONSIDERATIONS

Supersonic Aircrafts
The greatest aerodynamic impact upon the
configuration layout results from the desire to
minimize supersonic wave draga pressure
drag due to the formation of shocks.
The Sears-Haack body has the lowest wavedrag.

AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

Usually impossible to exactly or even

approximately match the Sears-Haack shape
Major drag reductions can be obtained by
smoothing the volume distribution shape.

This design technique is referred to as arearuling or coke bottling and can reduce the
wave drag by as much as 50%
AERODYNAMIC
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
The primary concern in the development
of a good structural arrangement is the
provision of efficient "load paths"-the
structural elements by which opposing
forces are connected.
The primary forces to be resolved are the
lift of the wing and the opposing weight of
the major parts of the aircraft, such as the
engines and payload.
Locating these opposing forces near to each
other will minimize the size and weight of the

Spanloading
Weight would be distributed along the span of
the wing exactly as the lift is distributed
Eliminates the need for a heavy wing structure
to carry the weight of the fuselage to the
opposing lift force exerted by the wing

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

LONGERONS
If the opposing lift and weight forces cannot be
located at the same place, then some structural
path will be required to carry the load. The
weight of structural members can be reduced by
providing the shortest, straightest load path
possible.
Prevents fuselage bending

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

LONGERONS
The lightest longeron structure occurs when the
upper and lower longerons are vertically far
apart from each other
In some designs similar to Fig. 8.5 the lower
longerons are placed near the bottom of the
aircraft. A kink over the wing box is avoided by
passing the longeron under or through the wing
box.
This minimizes weight but complicates both
fabrication and repair of the aircraft.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRINGERS
For aircraft such as transports, which have
fewer cutouts and concentrated loads than a
fighter
Distributed around the circumference of the
fuselage
Weight is minimized when the stringers are all
straight and uninterrupted.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

KEELSON
A large beam placed at the bottom of the
fuselage
frequently used to carry the fuselage bending
loads through the portion of the lower fuselage
which is cut up by the wheel wells.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL CUTOUTS
Required structural cutouts include the cockpit
area and a variety of doors(passenger, weapons
bay, landing gear, engine access, etc.)
Weight can be reduced by locating structural
cutouts away from the wing
The wing provides the lift force, load-path distances
can be reduced by locating the heavy weight items
as near to the wing as possible

Structural cutouts should be avoided altogether

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

FUSELAGE BULKHEADS
Carries large concentrated loads such as the
wing and landing gear attachments
Bulkheads can be minimized by arranging the
aircraft so that the bulkheads each carry a
number of concentrated loads, rather than
requiring a separate bulkhead for each
concentrated load.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING CARRYTHROUGH STRUCTURE

The lift force on the wing produces a
tremendous bending moment where the wing
attaches to the fuselage
this bending moment is carried across the fuselage is
a key parameter in the structural arrangement
Will greatly influence both the structural weight and
the aerodynamic drag of the aircraft

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING CARRYTHROUGH STRUCTURE:

Wing Box Carrythrough
Virtually standard for high-speed transports and
general-aviation aircraft
The fuselage itself is not subjected to any of the
bending moment of the wing, which minimizes
fuselage weight
However, it occupies a substantial amount of
fuselage volume, tends to add cross-sectional
area at the worst possible place for wave drag,
and interferes the longeron load paths
STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING CARRYTHROUGH STRUCTURE:

Ring Frames
Relies upon heavy bulkheads to carry the
bending moment through the fuselage
The wing panels are attached to the fittings on
the side of the fuselage bulkheads
Mostly used for most modern fighters
Though usually heavier from a structural viewpoint,
the resulting drag reduction at high speeds has led to
its use

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING CARRYTHROUGH STRUCTURE:

Bending Beam
Can be viewed as a compromise between the
wing box carrythrough and ring frames
The wing panels are attached to the side of the
fuselage to carry the lift forces.
The bending moment is carried through the
fuselage by one or several beams that connect
the two wing panels.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING CARRYTHROUGH STRUCTURE:

Strut-Braced
Mostly used by light aircrafts and slower
transport aircrafts
Has a substantial drag penalty at higher speeds

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING STRUCTURE:
Spar
Front spar is located at about 20-30% of the
chord
Rear spar is located at about 60-75% of the
chord
Additional spars may be located between the
front and rear spars forming a multispar
structure
Typical for large or high-speed aircraft

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING STRUCTURE:
Wingbox
Formed if the wing skin over the spars is an
integral part of the wing structure
Provides the minimum weight
Landing gears in the wing will usually have the
gear located aft of the wing box
With a single trailing-edge spar behind the gear to
carry the flap loads

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING STRUCTURE:
Ribs
Carry the loads from the control surfaces, store
stations, and landing gear to the spars and skins
A multispar wing box will usually have few ribs
there major load occurs

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

WING STRUCTURE:
Multirib or Stringer panel box
Has only two spars, plus a large number of
stringers attached to the wing skins
Numerous ribs are used to maintain the shape
of the box under bending

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

STRUCTURAL CLEARANCE
Amount of clearance between structural
components
Typical airliners require 4 in. of clearance from the
inner wall of the passenger compartment to the outer
skin, a conventional fighter require about 2 in. while
small general aviation aircraft require 1 in. or less
may be acceptable

Type of internal component will affect the

required clearance
There is no easy formula for the estimation of
structural clearance.

STRUCTURAL
CONSIDERATIONS

RADAR DETECTABILITY
Radar (acronym for Radio Detection and
Ranging), the primary sensor used against
aircraft today, consists of a transmitter antenna
that broadcasts a directed beam of
electromagnetic radio waves and a receiver
antenna which picks up the faint radio waves that
bounce off objects illuminated by the radio beam.
During World War I, the only sensor in use was
the human eye ball.
Radar was first used during World War II, Chaff
was the first stealth technology.
Chaff drops bits of metal foil or metallized fibers to create many
radar echos

Radar Cross Section (RCS)

The extent to which an object returns
electromagnetic energy
The largest contributions to airframe RCS occurs
any time a relatively flat surface of the aircraft
perpendicular to the incoming radar beam

RADAR DETECTABILITY

RADAR DETECTABILITY

RADAR DETECTABILITY

Stealth Designs
First-generation stealth designs relied upon
faceted shaping in which the aircraft shape is
constructed of interlocking flat triangles and
trapezoids.
This has advantage in ease of construction and
signature analysis, but offers large number of sharp
edges to create diffraction returns

Lockheed
F-117

RADAR DETECTABILITY

aircraft such that all big returns are aimed in just

few directions

B-2

F-23
RADAR DETECTABILITY

RCS can also be reduced simply by eliminating

parts of the aircraft
A horizontal tail that isnt there cannot contribute to
the radar return
Nacelles can be eliminated through the use of buried
engines
Eliminating the entire fuselage through he use of the
flying-wing concept

Northrop
B-2

RADAR DETECTABILITY

Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM)

Skin materials that absorb radar energy
Are typically composites such as fiberglass embedded with carbon or ferrite
particles
These particles are heated by the radar
electromagnetic waves absorbing some of the energy

Reduces the radar return due to perpendicular

bounce and also reduce the surface currents

RADAR DETECTABILITY

Other RCS Contributors

Radome
A radome is a structural, weatherproof
enclosure that protects a microwave (e.g.
radar) antenna
Covers the aircrafts own radar
Transparent to radar
Therefore, the aircrafts radar can magnify the threat
radar. This can be reduced with a bandpass radome
which is transparent only to the aircrafts radar.

RADAR DETECTABILITY

Inlet and Exhaust Cavities

Radar energy gets into these cavities,
bounces off the engine parts, and sprays
back out the cavity towards the threat
radar
Cockpits
Provides a radar return
Radar enters the cockpit, bounces around
off the equipment inside and reradiates
outside
Solution: thinly coat the canopy with conductive
metal such as gold to reflect the radar away

RADAR DETECTABILITY

Aircrafts Weapons
These have natural corner reflectors,
cavities and surface discontinuity
Solution: place the weapons behind closed doors

Electronic Countermeasures (ECM)

Devices to trick the threat radar
Sends a deceiving signal back to the
threat radar
RADAR DETECTABILITY

INFRARED DETECTABILITY
Many short-range air-to-air and groundto-air missiles rely upon infrared (IR)
seekers.
Modern IR sensors are sensitive enough
to detect radiation emitted by the engine
exhaust and hot parts, aerodynamic
heating by the whole aircraft skin at
transonic and supersonic speeds, and IR
radiation that reflects off the skin and
cockpit transparencies (windows)

Continuation..

Special
Consideratio
ns

Special
Considerations

VISUAL
DETECTABILITY
Depends

upon the size

of the aircraft, its color
and intensity of
contrast with the
surroundings.

Special
Considerations

VISUAL
DETECTABILITY

Fake Canopy

Swept forward
wings

Camouflage
paints

Special
Considerations

AURAL SIGNATURES
(NOISE)
Caused

by airflow
shear layers, primarily
due to the engine
exhaust.

Special
Considerations

AURAL SIGNATURES
(NOISE)

Chevron

Special
Considerations

VULNERABILITY
CONSIDERATIONS
Ability

of the aircraft
to sustain battle
damage, continue
flying, and return to
base.

Special
Considerations

Vulnerable Area
Projected

area of
aircraft components
(sq. ft or sq. m) times
probability of aircraft
to be lost if component
was strucked.

Special
Considerations
VULNERABILITY

CONSIDERATIONS

Special
Considerations

FIRE is the GREATEST

DANGER to a
battle-damaged aircraft.

Special
Considerations

CRASHWORTHINESS
CONSIDERATIONS
Airplanes

crash; BUT
careful design can
reduce the probability
of injury in a moderate
crash.

Special
Considerations

CRASHWORTHINESS
CONSIDERATIONS

de Havilland Comet

Special
Considerations
CRASHWORTHINESS

CONSIDERATIONS

Special
Considerations

PRODUCIBILITY
CONSIDERATIONS
It

is often said that

aircrafts are bought
by the pound -that
aircraft cost is most
directly related to
weight.

Special
Considerations

PRODUCIBILITY
CONSIDERATIONS

Forgings

Special
PRODUCIBILITY
Considerations

CONSIDERATIONS

Routing of Electrical Wirings, Cooling Ducts and

Hydraulic Lines

Special
Considerations

PRODUCIBILITY
CONSIDERATIONS

Bolting

Welding
Bonding
Riveting

Joining of
Parts

Special
PRODUCIBILITY
Considerations

CONSIDERATIONS

CAD/CAM

Structural
Assembly

Stereolithograp
hy

Special
Considerations

MAINTAINABILITY
CONSIDERATIONS
The

ease by which the

aircraft can be fixed.
Accessibility to
components must
always be considered
for ease in fixing.

Special
Considerations
MAINTAINABILITY

CONSIDERATIONS
V/STOL
AV-8B
Harrier

F-4
Phanto
m

Special
Considerations

The use of common sense can

help avoid problems but
careful design is mandatory.
Dont wish to learn the hard
way!