Case 09 / Conceptual aircraft design
FireBolt conceptual aircraft design
A joint conceptual aircraft-design project connecting requirements, mission sizing, CAD and Raymer Design Software (RDS) aerodynamic and propulsion studies.
Configuration development · CAD · design reportConceptual design and analysis with Mariyam Abid
How do requirements and engineering assumptions become a documented conceptual aircraft?
Mariyam Abid and I developed the FireBolt aircraft concept, documenting requirements, sizing calculations and configuration decisions. We used MATLAB, Raymer Design Software (RDS) and CAD to connect the analytical work with the geometric design and produce a coordinated design report. The RDS figures show a drag polar and an engine-thrust input grid; the spreadsheet figure shows a separate CAD geometry workflow.
Method and workflow
- 01
State the brief
Define mission requirements and the assumptions driving the initial aircraft sizing.
- 02
Develop the configuration
Document the chosen architecture, airfoil and geometric decisions with their assumptions.
- 03
Connect the tools
Connect MATLAB calculations, RDS aerodynamic and propulsion inputs, and CAD geometry.
- 04
Document the design
Record the assumptions, configuration choices and analytical results in the joint design report.
Project figures
Model assumptions and scope
- The results cover conceptual sizing, analysis and CAD. Detailed design and experimental validation are outside the project scope.
Potential extensions
Bring the sizing assumptions, geometry definitions and analysis inputs into a single consistent design record.
Let’s work through it.
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