Developments in Aircraft Architecture Design

Author Bio

Thomas Ahn is an aerospace engineer with over 35 years of experience in aircraft development programs, covering regional aircraft, commercial jets, business jets, fighters, cruise missiles, and amphibious aircraft. He currently holds the position of VP of chief engineering and chief engineer for the D328eco^TM program at Deutsche Aircraft in Germany. He received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Augsburg, Germany and has worked for several renowned aerospace companies such as Dornier, DeHavilland, Bombardier, Airbus Defense and Space, and Grob Aircraft. Thomas has been instrumental in the development and launches of several successful aircraft models and is now dedicated to building a regional aircraft for a sustainable future based on the heritage of the Dornier 328.

Methodologies Applied to Integrate Modern Technologies into the Overall Architecture of a New Aircraft

The seamless integration of any new technology at Deutsche Aircraft is governed by the company's technology development roadmap, which combines aspects of our market strategy, the customer satisfaction strategy, the business strategy, and the resulting product portfolio strategy. All new technologies have to prove mainly two things: the value they can generate for customers and business and the readiness for introduction into new product development. When we talk about new technologies, we need to distinguish between aircraft-level technologies, system-level technologies and component-level technologies. As an aircraft OEM, Deutsche Aircraft is mainly concerned with the development of aircraft-level technologies, addressing the overall aerodynamic configuration of an aircraft, the overall systems architecture of an aircraft as a flying system (including the propulsion system) and the overall airframe technology, affecting the structural integrity and represent the biggest weight drivers in aircraft development. To effectively integrate those aircraft-level technologies, we use means such as wind tunnel tests, modern simulation tools and techniques, and system in-the-loop test rigs. We use flying test beds and our flight test vehicles for the aircraft in-the-loop testing.

Share Experiences from One of the Uniquely Designed Projects You Were Recently Involved In

Our company is working on a flying test bed that can be used to understand future propulsion system architectures. With the test flights, we explore the impact of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on the greenhouse effect. However, the introduction of such an aircraft is expensive due to the need for dedicated infrastructure. The results of those tests feed directly into the development of the D328eco^TM, which is a highly flexible product that can operate using conventional jet fuel as available worldwide but is designed from the start to be operated using 100 percent SAF. By offering the flexibility to operate with a wide variety of future SAF types, we will enable our customers to transition from traditional fuels to the SAF types of the future as they penetrate the market.

"To avoid frustration and failure, it is crucial to understand what we really know and where we have our blind spots"

Aspects in Which the Aircraft Architecture Definitions Face Limitations

The optimum solution for aircraft architecture, of course, depends very much on the specifics of the intended use. The classical challenges of aircraft design today, same as in the past, are aerodynamics, weight and fuel consumption. Today, there is a large focus on emissions. Those can be impacted by either one of those three pillars. Since we expect that future regulations will include the type of emissions into the equation, the question of fuel consumption gets a new twist. We know that we can limit the greenhouse gas emissions or eliminate them all together by replacing the energy carrier on board. But if that replacement is an energy carrier and/or powertrain that is massively heavier or requires substantially larger volumes to be housed on board, the resulting weight penalty and aerodynamic deterioration will limit the usability of those vehicles or even make it impossible to find a solution for the intended use.

Significant Trends Shaping the Future of Aircraft Architecture

The most significant trends that will impact the future of aircraft architecture come from the legislative framework given to the aerospace industry for their operations. The technical drivers will be further on weight, aerodynamics and fuel consumption. Some examples: aerodynamic efficiency improvements could be achieved by the introduction of super high aspect ratio wings if material technology enables the building of those without a weight penalty that eats up the aerodynamic gains. Aircraft shapes could change more towards blended wing body shapes or flying wings if new control technologies enable such aircraft concepts. New navigation procedures taking into consideration atmospheric conditions might be introduced. New engines, novel powertrain architectures or alternative fuels might shape future aeroplane architectures. AI will drive significant change in the way we design, build and operate future aeroplanes and, as a consequence, what the aircraft architecture looks like.

Advice to Professionals in the Aerospace Industry Regarding Best Practices

Well, I am not really in a position to tell other experienced colleagues in the industry what actions they should take. For myself, I try to be open to any new idea, pay attention to new proposals and try to understand the pros and cons before I build my opinion. I also learned that it is essential to introduce technologies successfully into a new product application; a thorough technology development process with clearly defined goals and exit criteria is required. An honest evaluation of merits and risks is necessary. To avoid frustration and failure, it is crucial to understand what we really know and where we have our blind spots. But when I look at some of the promises people make regarding technology readiness and product availability, I fear that, often, good intentions overrule the fundamentals of physics. Also, interestingly, not everything that sounds like a super novel idea is, in fact, new. The industry as a whole has tried many things in the past. Some were successful; others were put aside for good reason.