Abstract

This paper describes a comprehensive study of wing sizing and configuration for subsonic cruise air-vehicles spanning several orders of magnitude in size (from approximately 1000-lb to 1,000,000-lb maximum flight weight). The concept of effective aircraft density (MTOW normalized by nominal fuselage volume) is introduced as a design parameter. Its effect upon the optimal airframe is of particular interest to the designer of cruise missiles and other unmanned aerial systems (UAS) where human factors no longer dictate minimum fuselage dimensions. Correlations of historical data will be shown that demonstrate the influence of key constraints (maximum ceiling, desired cruise speed, structure, Mach buffet limits) upon wing loading (W/S), wing aspect ratio (AR), wing sweep (Λ), wing technology (k) and allowable excrescence drag (%CRUD). A simplified, coupled MDO-type sizing model will be developed and interrogated to demonstrate key observations concerning the relative impact of the mission constraints upon the wing geometry and crud -drag allocation as a function of air vehicle size.

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