Conceptual Design of a Transport Aircraft

Sammanfattning: The mission of this project is to conceptually design a transport aircraft. A typical mission for a transport aircraft is to deliver supplies to countries in need of help. The given requirement is that the aircraft should be able to travel from a place within EU to a place along the equator in Africa, deliver the supplies, and return (to the takeoff location) without refueling. The operational mission will be to provide people in need with supplies such as food, water and tents. The aircraft will be able to carry necessities that will be able to provide 5000 persons during a week. Since a landing runway is not available at the destination, the payload will be airdropped in parachutes. First off, the desired requirements are defined, they are either already given or estimated. An analysis of´the mission and the desired performance of the aircraft is made by creating a mission profile. With the help of this a weight estimation is done, most importantly the takeoff weight of the aircraft is estimated. With the takeoff weight known and by the help of the desired performance requirements, a constraint diagram is made. By a constraint analysis the optimal wing loading and thrust-to-weight ratio is found. This makes it possible to choose an appropriate engine and to design the wings so that they are customized for the desired mission. Other parts of the aircraft such as the tail and fuselage are designed, and the center-of gravity of the aircraft is found. Throughout the project, different aerodynamic parameters are changed in order to optimize the aircraft and its performance to make it as adapted as possible to the desired mission.