Marketability
The manufacturer must be able to sell enough airplanes to stay in business and make some money.
Manufacturing Considerations
The designer must consider all three factors: Mission, Manufacturing and Marketing.
Choosing the Configuration
Most of our recent discussions on the process of designing an airplane were based on the assumption that the airplane has a generally conventional...
Design Innovation
A designer must make a large number of decisions in the process of designing an airplane. These range from top-level decisions, like the overall...
Variable Geometry Cooling System
The way to reduce or eliminate excess cooling drag in cruise is to use a variable-geometry cooling system that can change shape to control the amount of air flowing through the cowling.
Cooling Outlet Design
The design must focus on sufficiently cooling the engine while minimizing drag.
Cooling: Internal Flow
Cooling the engine and its accessories requires a continuous flow of air to come in from outside the airplane to absorb heat from the...
Cooling Inlets, Part 2
As we saw last month, an ideal cooling air inlet system should ingest air from the free stream and bring it to rest or...
Cooling Inlets
The cooling air inlet serves two functions: First, and most important, the inlet must ingest enough air to properly cool the engine and accessories...
In Case You Missed It
Get Grounded
It’s almost cliche. You’re having intermittent noise or performance issues in your avionics suite,...
Make Your Aircraft Look Fantastic!
Who doesn't want their homebuilt aircraft to look like a million bucks?
So Long, Lead
As the prospect of leaded aviation fuels fades into the sunset, the search is on for a replacement, and you may not like where things are headed. By Marc Cook.
Firewall Forward: Installing the Firewall
Author Dave Prizio describes construction of the firewall itself, including the penetrations and the tools required.