Cargo Transport Aircraft Conceptual Design

Cargo transport aircraft conceptual design is one of the aircraft engineering designs, which aims at manufacturing or producing one of the world's leading aircraft technologies. The designation of cargo aircrafts aims at creating an aircraft that can take off, travel (fly) and land with lots of technological ease, while carrying as much weight as possible. For such engineering goals to be met, the designers are obliged to apply the principles of aerodynamics, physics, material mechanics and other most appropriate engineering principles (Whitford, 2000). Nevertheless, there are various challenges facing the design process, that is, budget, time management, and team dynamics, which altogether create some unanticipated obstacles to the entire industry. Moreover, there exists particular forms of industrial competition, which may also lead to fall or collapse of a given aircraft company. In order to overcome such challenges and competition for a more successful outcome, the Cargo Transport Aircraft designers have to adopt, enhance and adjust their design according to the contemporary technologies along the way. This paper therefore, will serve to illustrate the design technologies and process for manufacturing a cargo transport aircraft.

The anticipated cargo aircraft type and size will highly and directly affect the type of materials to be transported, as well as the handling procedures adopted for them at the cargo terminals. According to Anderson (1997), various aircraft types have differing requirements for low containers, standard containers, pallets and igloos. Additionally, cargo aircrafts of the same family have patently dissimilar requirements depending on the type of goods transported that is, being used as a mixed-payload or all-freight craft. A more successful cargo terminal design is one which is best adapted to the aircraft mix it receives over its working life. This denotes a level of optimal fit, as well as the degree of flexibility to adapt the world's technological changes, both in short and long terms.

Aerodynamics

For the purposes of practical stability, the center of gravity of the whole plane will be aligned vertically with the pressure center of the main wing or with the aerodynamic center. The nose is to be as far enough to the gravitational center; that is, the weight that would be added in order to recompense for the weight of the tail. The size of the plane will depend on the elements which are to be fixed within the fuselage, such as the battery pack, cargo bay, fuel tank, the receiver from radio controlled (RC) unit, two servos for the elevator and rudder. The dual-part connection of the main wing is done on the rear parts of the fuselage, together with carbon fiber rods. The two part wing will be more practical and appropriate for the cargo transport aircraft. The main wing will be put on the lower part of fuselage, with primarily aim of getting easy access to the cargo bay, as opposed to when it is placed above the upper part. From the top view, the shape of the main wing will appear trapezoidal, with a mega chord near the fuselage, and a mini one farther from it.

Tail design is also one of the most essential sections in cargo aircraft design since it holds the rudder which the aircraft uses to balance out any yaw generated during a rolling maneuver. The tail also helps in stabilizing the plane during flight. Even though the tail produces no lift, it does produce drag hence its design has to eliminate as much drag as possible (Kuchemann, 1978). The tail will be raised above the wing heights in order to minimize the tail drag during take-off and landing. This will also ensure that it stays out of the whirlwinds caused by the wings hence preventing any possible drag, which can result from such interaction. During the manufacturing processes, every wing features from the shape of airfoil, the twist in the wing, ratio of length to the surface area, and even how far the wings are swept back, will have to be taken into consideration. The wing will be placed on the fuselage so that its aerodynamic center longitudinally coincides with the midpoint of the cargo compartment, and with approximately 70% payload compartment point for rear fuselage, mounted on engines. The tail surface will be put as far aft as possible in order to maximize the moment arm.