Refine
Year of publication
Institute
- Fachbereich Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik (798) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (380)
- Conference Proceeding (208)
- Book (107)
- Part of a Book (43)
- Patent (19)
- Report (14)
- Doctoral Thesis (10)
- Conference: Meeting Abstract (6)
- Other (3)
- Conference Poster (2)
Keywords
- Karosseriebau (6)
- Strömungsmaschine (6)
- Turbine (6)
- avalanche (6)
- solar sail (5)
- car body construction (4)
- hydrogen (4)
- snow (4)
- Eisschicht (3)
- GOSSAMER-1 (3)
The results of a statistical investigation of 42 fixed-wing, small to medium sized (20 kg−1000 kg) reconnaissance unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) are presented. Regression analyses are used to identify correlations of the most relevant geometry dimensions with the UAV’s maximum take-off mass. The findings allow an empirical based geometry-build up for a complete unmanned aircraft by referring to its take-off mass only. This provides a bridge between very early design stages (initial sizing) and the later determination of shapes and dimensions. The correlations might be integrated into a UAV sizing environment and allow designers to implement more sophisticated drag and weight estimation methods in this process. Additional information on correlation factors for a rough drag estimation methodology indicate how this technique can significantly enhance the accuracy of early design iterations.