INITIAL SIZING

Estimation of Design Gross Weight

Prof. Rajkumar S. Pant

Aerospace Engineering Department
IIT Bombay

What is Initial Sizing ?

Estimation of its design take-off gross weight Wo

Weight at the start of the design mission profile

Mission Profile specified by the user

Additional Requirements by Regulatory Bodies

Objectives
Identify requirements that are likely to drive the design
First estimate of the size of the aircraft, through Wo

Vary with the purpose of the aircraft

MISSION PROFILE

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Mission Profiles
Mission profile purpose of the aircraft
General Aviation Aircraft
Simple Cruise + Hold

Commercial Transport Aircraft

Main Profile + Missed Approach + Diversion + Hold

Mission Profile: Simple Cruise

Cruise
3

4
5

Warm up, Taxi-out,

Take Off

AE-332M / 714 Aircraft Design

Loiter
5
Approach
6

Landing, Taxi-in

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Mission Profile: Air Superiority Aircraft

Cruise 2

7
Cruise 1

3
5
1

Warm up, Taxi-out, Take

Off

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6
Combat

Loiter

Loiter
Weapon Drop

Approach

Landing, Taxi-in

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Mission Profile: Ground Attack Fighter

Cruise 2

Cruise 1

Loiter

Loiter
Combat
Approach

Warm up, Taxi-out,

Take Off

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5
Weapon Drop

Landing,
Taxi-in

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Mission Profile: Strategic Bomber

Cruise 3

Cruise 1

Loiter

4
5

6
Combat

10

Warm up, Taxi-out,

Take Off

Approach

8
Weapon Drop

11

12

Landing,
Taxi-in

* R: Re-Fuelling
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Mission Profile: UAV

Predator (Tier II) Mission Profile

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Issues in Initial Sizing

Very little known about a/c configuration

Most methods are deeply rooted in past

Statistical inference of parameters
Similar aircraft designed earlier

Most procedures empirical / semi-empirical

Various methodologies / approaches, e.g.,
Loftins method
Raymers approach (explained here)

Typical Take-off weight break-up

Empty weight

Payload

Usable Fuel

Trapped Fuel

25

25

50

20
5

Take-off weight build-up

Wo = Wcrew + Wpay + Wfuel + Wempty

Wempty
Weight of structure, engines, landing gear, fixed

equipment, avionics, etc.

Wcrew and Wpay are both known

User-specified requirements

Wfuel & Wempty are unknowns to be determined

Equation for Initial Sizing

Wo = Wcrew + W pay + W fuel + Wempty

Wcrew + W pay
Wo =
Wempty W fuel
+
1

Wo
Wo

Wcrew + W pay
Wo =
1 {w e + w f }
w e & w f

are the two unknowns to be determined

Mostly using historical data !

ESTIMATION OF EMPTY
WEIGHT FRACTION
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Estimation of empty weight fraction e

e = A WoC * Kvs

Where A and C are constants

Their values for various aircraft types are

obtained from statistical curve-fits

Kvs is a factor depending on the a/c sweep

Kvs = 1.00 for conventional, fixed-wing
Kvs = 1.04 for wing with variable sweep

A and C for various a/c types

A/C type

Sailplane (unpowered)
Sailplane (powered)
Homebuilt-metal/wood
Home-built composite
General Aviation-1 Engine
General Aviation-2 Engine
Agricultural a/c
Twin turboprop
Flying Boat
Jet trainer
Jet fighter
Military cargo
Jet transport

0.83
0.88
1.11
1.07
2.05
1.40
0.72
0.92
1.05
1.47
2.11
0.88
0.97

Note: Wo in kg

C
-0.05
-0.05
-0.09
-0.09
-0.18
-0.10
-0.03
-0.05
-0.05
-0.10
-0.13
-0.07
-0.06

UAV Weight Fractions

TYPE
UAV- Recce and UCAV
UAV- High Altitude
UAV- Small

A
1.53
2.48
0.86

C
-0.16
-0.18
-0.06

e = A WoC * Kvs
Source: Table 3.1, pg. 31, Raymer, 5th edition
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Empty Weight Fraction Trends

Empty Weight Fraction Trends

Weight Trend Data - Single Aisle Jet Transport

From The Elements of Airplane Design, Schaufele.
140000

Bae 146-100
DC-9-10

130000

BAC-111

Wempty - Empty Weight (lbs)

120000

BAE 146-200
y = 0.5598x
F100

110000
BAE 146-300
DC-9-30

100000

737-200
90000

DC-9-40
DC-9-50

80000

717-200
70000

737-300
737-400

60000

MD-81
50000
40000
80000

737-600
737-700
100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

200000

220000

240000

WTO - Maximum Takeoff Weight (lbs)

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Estimation of mission fuel fraction f

Wfuel = Wmission fuel + W reserve fuel

Wmission fuel depends on
Type of mission
Aircraft aerodynamics
Engine SFC

Wreserve is required for

Missed Approach, Diversion & Hold
Navigational errors and Route weather effects
Trapped Fuel (nearly 0.5% to 1 % of total fuel)

Assumption
Fuel used in each mission segment is proportional to a/c weight

during mission segment

Hence

f is independent of the aircraft weight

Estimation of Mission Segment Weights

Various segments or legs are numbered, with 0 denoting the

mission start
Mission segment weight fraction for ith segment = Wi/Wi-1
Total fuel weight fraction (W6/W0) obtained by multiplying the
weight fractions of each mission segments

Estimation of Mission Segment Weights

The warm-up, take-off, and landing weight

fraction estimated by historical trends

Fuel consumed (and distance traveled) during

all descent segments ignored

Weight fractions in Climb and Acceleration

Effect of using historical data

Mission Profile

W6 W6 W5 W4 W3 W2 W1
=

W0 W5 W4 W3 W2 W1 W0

W6
W5
W3
= 0.995
1.0
0.985 0.97
W0
W4
W2

W6
W W
= 0.95067 5 3
W0
W4 W2

Using mission profile and historical data for engines !

ESTIMATION OF FUEL
WEIGHT FRACTION
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Breguet Range Equation

Fuel Consumption:

dW = tsfc T dt

Range for dW fuel

V dW
ds = V dt =
(tsfc )T

During Cruise

T = D, W = L

Drag changes due to changing lift: assume L/D is constant,

Hence:

V L dW

ds =
tsfc D W

Assuming L/D, tsfc and V (= aM) are constant:

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Breguet Range Equation

a L Winitial
R=
M ln
tsfc D W final
Engine efficiency
(fuel consumption)

Aerodynamic
efficiency

Structural
efficiency

a is sound speed
Winitial = MTOW (Maximum Takeoff Weight)
Wfinal = OEW + Pax + reserve fuel
OEW = Operational Empty Weight = Empty Weight
+ Crew + trapped fuel & Oil
Source: Jet Sense; The Philosophy and the Art of Aircraft Design, Zarir D. Pastakia
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Fuel Fraction in Cruise segment

Cruise segment mission weight fraction can be

estimated using the Breguet Range Equation

Vcruise
R=
ccruise
R
ccruise
Vcruise
[L/D]cruise

Wi 1
L

ln

D cruise
Wi

= Cruise Range (m)

= Specific Fuel consumption in cruise (per sec)
= Cruise Velocity (m/s)
= Optimum lift to drag ratio during cruise
= [L/D]max
for Propeller driven a/c
= 0.866*[L/D]max for Jet engined a/c

Fuel Fraction in Loiter segment

Loiter segment mission weight fraction can be

estimated using the Breguet Endurance Equation

1
E=
cloiter
E
cloiter
[L/D]loiter

Wi 1
L

ln

D loiter
Wi

= Endurance (sec)
= Specific Fuel consumption in Loiter (per sec)
= Optimum lift to drag ratio during loiter
= 0.866 [L/D]max for Propeller driven a/c
= [L/D]max
for Jet engined a/c

WE WERE HERE ON 26 AUG

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Mostly using historical data !

ESTIMATION OF MAX L/D

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Estimation of [L/D]max
Accurate value is not available since the aircraft

configuration is not yet finalized !!

Thumb Rule
For 7 ARwing 11,
[L/D]max = 2 * ARwing

Approx. values of Cruise L/D max

[L/D]max values for 4-6 seater Piston/Turboprop a/c

Cessna 310
13.0
Beech Bonanza
13.8
Cessna Cardinal
14.2

Drivers of subsonic L/D

Configuration dependent
In level flight, L = W; L/D depends on D
Two main components of subsonic D
Parasite or Zero Lift f(wetted area)
Induced or lift dependent: f(wing span)

Concept of wetted aspect ratio

ARwet = b2/Swet
ARwet is a better indicator of max. L/D

Proof: B-47 v/s Vulcan

Different shapes, same Max. L/D

Source: Raymer,D., Aircraft Design, A Conceptual Approach, 2nd ed., pp 20 , AIAA Education Series, 1989

Wetted area ratios for some configurations

Source: Raymer,D., Aircraft Design, A Conceptual Approach, 2nd ed., pp 21, AIAA Education Series, 1989

Max. L/D v/s ARwet

Source: Raymer,D., Aircraft Design, A Conceptual Approach, 2nd ed., pp 22, AIAA Education Series, 1989

Historical Trends in Max L/D

20

From: The Historical Fuel Efficiency Characteristics of Regional Aircraft from Technological, Operational, and Cost Perspectives,
R. Babikian, S. Lukachko and I. Waitz, http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/people/waitz/publications/Babikian.pdf

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Again using historical data !

ESTIMATION OF ENGINE
PARAMETERS
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SFC trends for various engine types

Jet Engine TSFC = fuel mass flow rate per unit thrust
units = mg/N-s or lb/lb-hr

Propeller engine PSFC = fuel mass flow rate per unit power
units = mg/W-s or lb/SHP-hr

Typical SFC values (SI system)

Historical TSFC Trend for

Turbofan Engines
0.66
y = -0.00428x + 9.099
R = 0.835

Cruise TSFC lb/(lbfh)

0.64
0.62
0.6
0.58

Series1
Linear (Series1)

0.56
0.54
0.52
0.5
1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

Year

For a 2020 Airplane consider TSFC ~ 0.47-0.5

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Trend Data for Cruise sfc:

Jet Aircraft

1.2

Installed sfc (lb/hr/lb)

0.8
Heavier
Bigger Landing Gear

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

12

16

Bypass Ratio
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p and SFC for Propeller Driven a/c

Aircraft Type

c
lb/(SHP-hr)

Personal / Utility

0.80

0.60

Commuter
Regional Turboprop

0.82
0.85

0.55
0.50

Concept of Equivalent Jet SFC

Breguet Range & Endurance equations for

Turbo/Pistonprop a/c are very messy !!

Equivalent jet SFC for Turbo/Pistonprop engines
Cpower
= Fuel Flow rate/Power

= Fuel Flow rate/{TV/p }

= [Fuel Flow rate/T] {p/V}

= [Cjet]. p/V
Thus, Cjet = CpowerV/p
Thus by using Cjet in Brequet Equations, we can use
them also for Turbo/Pistonprop a/c also !

Estimation of mission fuel fraction

Segment Weight fractions estimated using the

Brequet equations for Cruise and Loiter
segments, and historical values for others

Total fuel fraction estimated as

Wf/Wo= f = (1 + RFF)*(1 - Wx/Wo)
o
o

RFF = Reserve Fuel Fraction

= 0.06 to 0.1 for commercial transport aircraft

Design Gross Weight Estimation

Wcrew + W pay
Wo =
1 {w e + w f }
Wo =

Wcrew + W pay

Wx
C
1 A Wo + (1 + RFF )1
W0

Steps in Wo estimation
Assume starting value of Wo (say, 4 times Wpay)
Estimate e = A WoC * Kvs
Estimate segment weight fractions, using
Historical Data
Breguet Range and Endurance formulae

Estimate f = (1 + RFF)*(1 - Wx/Wo)

Calculate Wo = {Wcrew + Wpay}/{1- e f}
Iterate till convergence

Medium Range Jet Transport Aircraft

EXAMPLE OF SIZING

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Requirements

Payload: 150 pax at 175 lb & 30 lb baggage each

Crew: 2 pilots and 3 cabin attendants at 175 lb each
and 30 lb baggage each
Range: 1500 nm, followed by 1 hour loiter, followed
by 100 nm flight to alternate and descent
Altitude: 35,000 ft for design range
Cruise speed: Mach number = 0.82 @ 35,000 ft
Climb: direct climb to 35,000 ft at max WTO
Climb rate of 2500 ft/min at a speed at 275 kt
Take-off & landing: FAR 25 field-length of 5,000 ft
Assume ISA deg oC atmosphere

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Mission Profile

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Assumptions

e = 0.97 Wo-0.06 (W0 in kg)

e = 1.02 Wo-0.06 (W0 in lb)
Max(L/D) = 16
Cruise:
cj = 0.5 lb/hr/lb

Loiter
cj = 0.55 lb/hr/lb

Diversion
Cruise speed of 250 kts (FAR 25)
L/D of 10 and cj = 0.9 lb/hr/lb

Reserve Fuel Fraction = 10%

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S O L V E !!

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