Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aircraft:
Aerodynamic Design and Flight Testing
August 29, 2026
Welcome, guys!
On this page, you will find materials supporting our course, where we explore and hopefully enjoy the art and science of creating fixed‑wing UAVs — from the first sketch to the final flight test. But we don’t stop there: we also explore tiltrotors and multirotors, because real‑world design rarely fits into one box.
On this page, you will find materials supporting our course, where we explore and hopefully enjoy the art and science of creating fixed‑wing UAVs — from the first sketch to the final flight test. But we don’t stop there: we also explore tiltrotors and multirotors, because real‑world design rarely fits into one box.
Course Content
1) General UAV Design – Life cycle and design stages, project management (Gantt chart), technical requirements and quality function deployment (House of Quality), UAV types, calculation algorithms, design parameters (weight equation, wing loading, power-to-weight ratio, disk loading, constraint diagram, Breguet equation), propulsion and energy source selection, landing gear, flight performance calculation, parametric studies.
2) Aerodynamic Design of Fixed-wing UAVs – Flow parameters, flow models, streamlines, aerodynamic forces and moments, coefficients and their ranges, Reynolds number, boundary layer. Aerodynamic configuration. Wing: airfoils, wing planform, geometric parameters and aerodynamic characteristics, takeoff/landing devices. Tail and placement. Aerodynamic characteristics calculation: analytical methods, numerical methods (circulation, elementary flows, Kutta-Joukowski theorem, thin airfoil theory, lifting line theory, vortex lattice method), CFD. Effect of turbulent atmosphere.
3) Propeller Design and Optimization for Airplane UAVs, Propeller‑Airframe Interaction – Propeller geometry, types, required parameters and selection, thrust estimation, numerical methods for propeller calculation and optimization, propeller effect on airframe aerodynamics, distributed propulsion.
4) Tiltrotor UAV Design Features
5) Multirotor UAV Design
6) Flight Testing of UAVs – Goals and objectives, flight test planning.
7) UAV as a Scaled Model for Special Flight Tests – Similarity parameters and scaling principles, testing features.
1) General UAV Design – Life cycle and design stages, project management (Gantt chart), technical requirements and quality function deployment (House of Quality), UAV types, calculation algorithms, design parameters (weight equation, wing loading, power-to-weight ratio, disk loading, constraint diagram, Breguet equation), propulsion and energy source selection, landing gear, flight performance calculation, parametric studies.
2) Aerodynamic Design of Fixed-wing UAVs – Flow parameters, flow models, streamlines, aerodynamic forces and moments, coefficients and their ranges, Reynolds number, boundary layer. Aerodynamic configuration. Wing: airfoils, wing planform, geometric parameters and aerodynamic characteristics, takeoff/landing devices. Tail and placement. Aerodynamic characteristics calculation: analytical methods, numerical methods (circulation, elementary flows, Kutta-Joukowski theorem, thin airfoil theory, lifting line theory, vortex lattice method), CFD. Effect of turbulent atmosphere.
3) Propeller Design and Optimization for Airplane UAVs, Propeller‑Airframe Interaction – Propeller geometry, types, required parameters and selection, thrust estimation, numerical methods for propeller calculation and optimization, propeller effect on airframe aerodynamics, distributed propulsion.
4) Tiltrotor UAV Design Features
5) Multirotor UAV Design
6) Flight Testing of UAVs – Goals and objectives, flight test planning.
7) UAV as a Scaled Model for Special Flight Tests – Similarity parameters and scaling principles, testing features.
August 29, 2026
This Excel workbook is a practical, hands-on companion for the course “Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aircraft: Aerodynamic Design and Flight Testing.” It implements classical conceptual design methods (Raymer, Gudmundsson, Tyan, Hepperle, and others), as well as my historical sizing models in a structured, easy‑to‑follow spreadsheet format. You can use it to size, evaluate, and refine your own electric UAV – from initial requirements to performance maps and cost estimates.
The books in Russian and in English are slightly different, because I worked on them at different times. Still, both help size and evaluate a small electric UAV.
References and Methods
In each sheet, you’ll find citations to:
- Raymer (Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach)
- Gudmundsson (General Aviation Aircraft Design)
- Tyan et al. (Comprehensive preliminary sizing/resizing method for fixed‑wing VTOL UAV)
- Hepperle (Electric Flight – Potential and Limitations)
- Arepyev (Design of Light Passenger Aircraft)
- And many other sources.
Happy designing – and don’t forget to validate your results with real flight tests!
How to use this tool (based on the Russian version of the book; in the English version, the algorithm is identical, but the layout of the material is slightly different):
- Start with your mission requirements – enter payload, cruise speed, and endurance on the “ТЗ и данные прототипа” sheet.
- Run the mass iteration – the “Расчет взлетной массы_It_1 и 2” sheet will converge on a realistic take‑off mass.
- Define key parameters – the “Определение параметров завязки” sheet calculates wing area, wing loading, thrust‑to‑weight ratio, and battery weight.
- Check feasibility – use the “Диаграмма ограничений” to ensure your design meets climb, turn, take‑off, and ceiling constraints.
- Design the wing and tail – use the NACA airfoil generator, wing geometry, and tail sizing sheets.
- Evaluate performance – the range, speed, and climb sheets give you a full performance picture.
- Refine and explore – the parametric studies sheet lets you see how changing aspect ratio affects your design.
Excel-Based Design Tool for Electric UAVs
