What is it about?
This paper describes a method for performing trades between aircraft performance, schedule, and numbers for a specified cost target. It is shown that accelerating product development in order to deliver an eighty percent solution provides the best value to the user and the greatest return to the manufacturer.
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Why is it important?
During the first century of flight, the focus of aircraft design has been on increasing performance, with cost and schedule dependent on the performance. However, performance has a price. Changing economic, energy, environmental and security demands during this next century of flight will require changing the way aircraft are designed: technical innovation must be achieved with cost and schedule as independent variables and real constraints.
Perspectives
Norm Augustine famously predicted that before the end of this century, "the entire defense budget will purchase just one tactical aircraft." It has been difficult for aircraft designers to calculate when an aircraft is good enough, and therefore when to stop improving it. According to the Law of Diminishing Returns, at some point further improvements provide little benefit but are very expensive. I believe that the key to preventing the cost of aircraft from escalating as Augustine predicted is to deliver an eighty percent solution that is on the ramp, performing its mission.
Dr Paul M Bevilaqua
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Design of Aircraft for Best Value, Journal of Aircraft, March 2021, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/1.c036012.
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