Project Description:
Our team was required to create a conceptual and preliminary design for a short-haul same day delivery cargo aircraft using a single engine. The conceptual design phase consisted of using historical data and correlations to generate an initial estimate for the size and configuration of two separate aircraft designs. The first design was a single engine propeller aircraft, and the second was a light jet powered by a single turbofan. At the conclusion of the conceptual design phase, our team decided to select the light jet as the configuration we moved forward with into the preliminary design phase. In the preliminary design phase, we improved our estimates of our aircraft's performance by using more detailed analytical techniques. Additionally, we constructed the General Arrangement Drawing for the aircraft, which specifies the high-level arrangement of the major components. At the end of the preliminary design phase, we have made improved estimates of aircraft parameters and have a starting point to move into the detailed design of the aircraft.
