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On the wing density and the inflation factor of aircraft

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

R. J. Huyssen ,
E. H. Mathews ,
L. Liebenberg  and
G. R. Spedding
R. J. Huyssen*
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Continued Engineering Development, North-West University, PretoriaSouth Africa
E. H. Mathews*
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Continued Engineering Development, North-West University, PretoriaSouth Africa
L. Liebenberg*
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Continued Engineering Development, North-West University, PretoriaSouth Africa
G. R. Spedding
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, [email protected]
*
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Abstract

The aviation industry is dominated by the domain of heavier-than-air, fixed-wing, subsonic flight, and central to any design in this domain is the wing itself. One of the earliest debates in aviation still centres around the usefulness of the wing volume. On the one hand it is held that the wing, as an inevitable necessity, should provide the volume also for the payload. On the other, it is argued that more efficient wings do not even have sufficient volume for the entire wing structure. This work proposes precise definitions of the Wing Density and the Inflation Factor, two parameters that can quantitatively reflect the economic and technological trends in aviation. The wing volume of a hypothetical Ideal Wing is derived from the Operational Parameters of any given Flight Objective and compared to the volume requirement of that flight objective. We conclude that the dominant aircraft configuration of the future is likely to remain within the same family of the current dominant configuration, in conflict with some older predictions.

Keywords

Aircraft ConfigurationFlight ObjectiveIdeal WingFlying WingWing DensityInflation FactorAircraft Design
Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 120 , Issue 1224 , February 2016 , pp. 291 - 312
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2016 

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