Browsing by Author "Fielding, J. P."
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Item Open Access Descriptions of Cranfield Aircraft Group design projects (1979-96)(1996) Fielding, J. P.This report is a compilation of reprints of papers and articles describing the aircraft design group projects for the period between 1979 to 1996. In Crdeld projects, each student takes responsibility for part of the design of a project aircraft, which is used as a design case study for the whole group of students of the course. This teamwork exercise, with specified individual tasks, is organised on the lines of a project as carried out in industry. It is undertaken over eight months, in parallel with the lectures and individual research studies. It is assisted by displays of aircraft components and manufacturing processes, and field visits are made to aircraft manufacturers and operators. The nature of the course and the future occupations of the students, give guidance to the choice of subject aircraft. The aim is to ensure industrial relevance, but also to include a significant research element in each project. The size of the course usually precludes the design of light aircraft. It is usual to alternate between civil and military aircraft, and each project has a unique configuration.Item Open Access The dissemination of information relating to the reliability of aircraft and their equipment(Cranfield University, 1979-06) Fielding, J. P.; Keith-Lucas, C. B. E.This thesis describes the investigations that have been carried out to examine the feedback of safety and reliability information from civil transport aircraft in the United Kingdom . Many organisations were visited during the course of the study , including several civil transport aircraft operators, airframe and component manufacturer?, and airworthiness authorities . These visits showed the way in which individuals and companies contribute to the information system. The quality of the feedback produced by the information system was assessed by means of a selective survey of development, reliability, and design engineers, etc . who had previously been interviewed during visits to industry . The response of the information system was also gauged by determining the average times required for rectification action to be taken. Parallel studies were conducted, in a limited fashion , to see how the safety and reliability information system of the United States of America ' s civil air transport industry and that of the Royal Air Force, and its suppliers, compared with the British civil air transport industry ' s system . A series of case studies was also performed to investigate , in some detail , what happened to faulty components that were removed from aircraft . The transmission of information from these components to everyone else in the information system , and the rectification action taken , were examined . These studies confirmed that the procedures determined in the previous investigations were, in general , carried out and also highlighted some problems. All of the above investigations showed that the reliability information system was not always adequate, and that a considerable amount of work may have had to be done m achieve adequate reliability control . There were some areas where there was insufficient information for reliability control, and improvements were necessary. The most important recommendation was that a more detailed investigation should be carried out into the feasability of a National Aerospace Reliability Data Bank . A further suggestion was that the Maintenance Review Board consultation system, and its associated reliability and maintainability analyses, should be encouraged . Some work was done to produce design aids such as reliability prediction formulae , etc . These should go some way towards overcoming the problem of design experience retention.Item Open Access FLAVIIR, An innovative university/industry research program for collaborative research and demonstration of UAV technologies(ICAS, 2006-09-08) Fielding, J. P.; Smith, HowardA major research programme into advanced technologies for Uninhabited Airborne Vehicles (UAVs) in June 2004. The £6.5M, five-year project represents a major investment in aerospace technology for BAE SYSTEMS and their partner, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The focus of “FLAVIIR” is to develop technologies which support low cost (to acquire and operate) UAVs, together with the broader goal of improving the exploitation and hence impact of the research work completed through closer management of the research team. The project involves ten universities working together at two levels: inter-university collaboration within disciplines and interdisciplinary collaboration both within and across university boundaries. This aspect makes the project particularly challenging for Cranfield, as it is managing the complete project (with BAE Systems) and is to deliver the benefits of these joint activities. This work leads to the integration of the technologies into a sophisticated flying demonstrator UAV which is scheduled to fly in 2009. A particularly challenging requirement is that the vehicle should demonstrate an entire flight cycle, without the use of conventional flap-type control surfaces. The project now has more than 35 researchers working in subject areas ranging from novel aerodynamic techniques to develop control forces, novel flight control systems, to hybrid laser techniques to ‘write’ sensors and actuators directly onto carbon composite structures. The paper gives a description of the new technologies being developed, their integration into a number of demonstrations and the plans for their culmination in the Demon flying demonstrator vehicle, which will be based on the Eclipse Vehicle. The paper will also discuss the equally important issues of integrating, a multi-university/Industry research team.Item Open Access A large advanced freight aircraft: F-81(Cranfield Institute of Technology, 1981-11) Fielding, J. P.Commercial air freight operations have grown in importance in recent years, due mainly to cost reductions caused by increasing aircraft and freight-terminal efficiencies. The bulk of this traffic is carried in the underfloor holds of wide-body passenger aircraft, but there is a significant sector of the market served by 'dedicated' freighters such as the 747F and DC8-63F. These aircraft are often equipped with standard containers and pallets which are loaded at factories or freight depots. The largest and most efficient container is the 8 ft x 8 ft x 20 ft size NASA felt the need to study the air-freight market and commissioned the extensive C.L.A.S.S. study (Ref.1). This report suggested that significant operating cost savings would be required, together with improved ground interfaces, to make more inroads into the surface transport market. It studied the economics of aircraft derived from current types, together with new designs. The former was more immediately attractive, but a market existed for new aircraft from the mid 1990's. The most attractive new type would be a long range aircraft with payload in the 75 to 165 ton range. The lower size aircraft was slightly more economic, but would pose grave airport frequency saturation problems and therefore a larger aircraft was preferable. Aircraft much above the 165 ton class however, would lead to development costs higher than the market could stand. An aircraft of about 165 tons payload seemed to be a good solution which could be made more attractive if it were designed to satisfy both civil and military requirements, thus spreading development costs. This philosophy was aimed at during the design of the Lockheed C-141 but too much emphasis was placed on military properties and no civil versions were sold. This should be avoided on a new design which should be capable of augmenting and partially replacing current fleets of 747F, DC10 CF and Lockheed C-5A aircraft … [cont.].Item Open Access Report of the project design of the Cranfield A-90 short haul 500-seat airliner project(1991-07) Fielding, J. P.This report describes the conceptual and detail design of the A-90 Short-haul 500 seat airliner project. It started with a market investigation which then lead to the specification of the aircraft. The author performed a conceptual design process, to derive the configuration - a twin-engine jet transport with a swept wing, shoulder mounted to a large double-bubble fuselage. Aerodynamic, mass and geometric work was then performed prior to the start of the main design programme in October 1990. The main programme involved 23 MSc students and 5 members of staff and lasted for 8 months. Each student was given responsibility for the detail design of a major component such as outer wing, fuel system, etc. This work is described together with the final design that emerged. This description is aided by the reproduction of numerous engineering drawings. The work was complemented by extra studies, performed by 15 Flight Dynamics students. The report then discusses the final configuration of the A-90. The project showed the potential of meeting mass, cost and airport requirements. It should exceed the range requirements and carry 620 passengers for 1700 n miles, 500 for 2260 n miles or 345 for 3500 n miles. The design showed considerable flexibility and could be relatively easily developed to carry some 1000 passengers. Investigations were performed of several applications of new technology, including variable camber flaps, fibre optic flight controls, "all electric" systems and modern materials. They all looked feasible, and should be investigated further. The main concern was the provision of bleed air and secondary power following the loss of one engine, on such a large aircraft. Careful system design overcame this problem. The A-90 project proved again the validity of Cranfield's group design project as a powerful means of educating design students.