Empirical Modeling of Structural Weight Fraction in Small Aircraft: A Power-Law Approach for Ultralight, LSA, VLA, and Part 23 Categories
Abstract In aircraft design, the structural skeleton weight fraction—defined as the ratio of the primary airframe weight (including wings, fuselage, empennage, and landing gear) to the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW)—plays a critical role in preliminary sizing and performance estimation. This article derives and analyzes an empirical equation, f(M)=1.47×M^(−0.35)+0.20, where M is MTOW in kilograms, fitted […]