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FOLLOWING THE RULES....
AIAA RULES DOCUMENT
 
THE OPPORTUNITY

Since the 1950’s, the idea of commuting by air from center city to center city has been pervasive amongst aerospace designers and transportation planners. The promise is always just over the horizon. The fact that it has yet to materialize testifies to the complex and interrelated nature of the technical and economic issues. Initially, travel from outlying areas into the center city was seen as the sole domain of the helicopter and rooftop heliports with commercial service were established in some cities. But the expense of operating this service and the potential disasters of even the slightest failure quickly ended the experiment. Advances in reliability and safety in the helicopter arena have improved the utility of the helicopter in an urban environment, but commercial service is still not economically viable. The advances in convertiplane technology, particularly with the introduction of the V-22 tilt rotor and the announcement of the Bell 609 commercial tilt rotor program, again raises the expectations that center city to center city travel is not far off. The arguments continue, however, as to the economics of such a service, despite the huge productivity increase of the tilt rotor over the helicopter on such a route. It is clear that the cost of vertical flight and the liabilities associated with it are great. If these could be mitigated while still providing the center city to center city capability, the promise might be realized.

Since most large cities formed around rivers, the availability of safe approaches and space for a short landing "barge" is available without requiring major construction projects within the city. It is envisioned that a "super" short takeoff/landing (SSTOL) aircraft could provide cost effective center city to center city service with out the penalty incurred for the ability to hover and take off vertically.

At the same time, a requirement for a carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft exists for the Navy. This mission is currently satisfied by the C-2 Greyhound that has been in service for nearly thirty years. This mission requires an aircraft of nearly the same payload and volume as the civil commuter and the ability to operate from very short runways without the need for arresting hooks, catapults or heavy duty landing gear would likely benefit the design and the life cycle costs.
  
PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The objective of the project is to design a dual-use SSTOL transport aircraft capable of carrying cargo and/or passengers for commercial center city to center city service and for carrier on-board delivery for the Navy. Of key importance to the design study is the comparison of the cost of SSTOL and VTOL for the same mission and a study identifying the inherent safety issues of one approach over the other operating from the same landing platform. An approach to this comparison might be an assessment what would be required to add a hover/vertical takeoff ability to the design. Emerging technology should be considered, but technology maturity, risk and practicality must be assessed in the design process. Finally, a comparison of likely user/passenger desires between SSTOL and VTOL should be included.
 
REQUIREMENTS & CONSTRAINTS

The design shall be a commercial transport aircraft for use on domestic routes with dual use capability. It shall conform to all applicable FAR for this type of aircraft.

All performance requirements shall be standard day atmosphere unless otherwise noted.

Tsl=58.69oF
Psl=2,116 lb/ft2
Technology availability date is 2005.
 
Design Mission Profile
  1. Warm up and taxi for 10 min., SL, SA+27oF day.
  2. Take off within a ground roll of 300 ft, SL, SA+27oF day with full passenger and baggage load.
  3. Climb at best rate of climb to best cruising altitude.
  4. Cruise at best cruise speed (at least 350 kts) for 1500 nmi.
  5. Descend to SL (no credit for range).
  6. Land with domestic fuel reserves within ground roll of 400 ft.
  7. Taxi to gate for 5 min.
     
Special Commercial Design Requirements
  1. Passenger capacity - 24 passengers (commercial) and baggage at a minimum 32 inch seat pitch.
  2. Overhead stowage space shall be provided.
  3. Weight of passenger and baggage - 200 lbs.
     
Special Military Design Requirements
  1. Can accommodate priority cargo, passengers or both.
  2. Must be capable of carrying two GE F110 engines (for F-14D).
  3. Wing folding allowed to meet spot factor requirements of 60 ft by 29 ft.
  4. Max payload is 10000 lbs.
  5. Arresting hooks for landing or catapult devices for launch not allowed.

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