Appendix B Estimation of Aircraft Weight (version of January 2003) The expressions given here have been specially developed

to give a sensible estimation of aircraft empty weight using only those parameters that might reasonably be expected to be known in the early stages of assessing a project. They are intended for use by students undertaking a design study task and are NOT put forward as a definitive method for general application. However, they do give reasonable (+/- 5 % ) estimates over a wide range of aircraft types. The expressions were developed statistically using a set of data given in customary US units. ALL PARAMETERS ARE US UNITS (LBS, FT, etc) Note that being based on past aircraft data the formulae give weights for aircraft constructed primarily from conventional aluminum alloys. Where actual weights are known the formulae may be used to scale for changes in geometry and suitable factors applied for new materials, including higher strength aluminum alloys.. Wing Weight The wing weight may be estimated using a modified version of the correlation presented in Shevells Fundamentals of Flight Fig. 18.19. This has been used successfully on a range of aircraft up to and including the A380. Wing weight/Gross wing Area (lb/ft 2) = 7.21 + 4.35 ln P where

P = Nult b 3 (TOWZFW) 0.5 (1 + 2) 10 -6 (t/c) root cos 2 EA S2wing (1 + ) and Nult = Ultimate load factor (3.75 for large civil aircraft) b = wing span (ft) TOW = maximum takeoff weight (lbs) ZFW = Maximum zero fuel weight (lbs) = Wing taper ratio (t/c) root = Wing average thickness/chord ratio at root EA= Sweep of wing elastic axis this may be taken as the sweep of a line midway between front and rear spars S wing = Gross wing area ( ft 2): S wing includes all inboard chord extensions, extended into aircraft centreline
Estim ated vs Actual Wing Weight Estimated Wing Weight lbs

R 2 = 0.9842 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 1E+0 5
Actual Wing Weight lbs

Fuselage Weight The fuselage weight may be estimated from Narrow bodied civil transports including Bizjets (D< 15 ft) W fus = DL[18.8 + 3.1 ln (MTOW/10^6)] lbs Wide bodied civil transports (D> 15 ft) lbs D = fuselage diameter (ft) L = fuselage length (ft)

W fus = DL[10.27 + 7.61 (MTOW/10^6)]

Estimated vs Actual Fuselage Weight 2

R = 0.9922 Estimated Weight lbs 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 1E+05 1E+05 Actual Weight lbs

Empennage (Tail Group) Weight The weight of the combined vertical and horizontal tails (empennage) may be estimated from Wempennage = 25.75 (MTOW/1000) 0.0343 (MTOW/1000) + 0.0000247(MTOW/1000) [For individual horizontal/vertical surfaces scale as area]
Estimated vs Actual Tail Weights
Estimated Empennage Weight lbs R2 = 0.9509 15000 10000 5000 0 0 5000 10000 15000

Actual Em pennage Weight lbs

Undercarriage Weight The weight of the undercarriage may be estimated from WU/C = KU/C MTOW where K U/C is a function of Log10 MTOW KU/C = 0.293 0.1067 Log10 MTOW + 0.011 (Log10 MTOW)
Estimated vs Actual Landing Gear Weights
R = 0.9386 Estimated Weight lbs 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 Actual Gear We ight lbs
2

Nacelle Weight The weight of engine nacelles may be estimated using the correlation suggested by Jenkinson p.137. With additional data the correlation becomes linear. Wnacelles = 0.0505 Total Installed Static Thrust - 190
Estimated vs Actual Nacelle Weights
R2 = 0.9098 Estiamated Nacelle Weight lbs 15000 10000 5000 0 0 5000 10000 15000 Actual Nacelle Weight lbs

Structure Group Weight is the sum of the above items Installed Engine Weight In the absence of better information,use Jenkinson p.140 converted to US units Winstalled = 805 + 1.567 Dry engine mass 6.91E-6 (Dry engine mass) Fuel System Weight The fuel system weight may be estimated as W fuel system = 0.09.Neng.Wbare,dry engine [R 0.977]

Propulsion Group Weight is the sum of these two items Surface Control Weights The weight of the flight controls systems may be estimated as W Flight Controls = K fc P xfc + constant where P fc = [MTOW (b + 2 LOA) V2cruise/106] b = wingspan LOA = aircraft length overall (ft); V cruise = max cruising speed ( = Vc) kts EAS For Propellor driven aircraft, x = 1 and Kfc may be taken as 34.5 for regional turboprops, 27.5 for twin engine piston types and 15 for single engine piston types, constant = 0 For bizjets x = 0.5, Kfc = 0.978 and constant = -100 For turbojets/turbofans x = 0.5, Kfc = 0.816 and constant = +350 Electrical System Weight The combined weight of electrical generation and distribution systems may be estimated from Welectrics = 3.495 (MTOW/1000) + 14.12 (b + LOA) 1147

Estimated vs Actual Electrical System Weights

Actual System Weight lbs 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 Estimated System Weight lbs R = 0.8819
2

Hydraulic System Weight The combined weight of hydraulic generation and distribution systems may be estimated from Whydraulics = 13.22 (MTOW/1000) 0.01143 (MTOW/1000) + 0.000003092 (MTOW/1000) or turbofan and turbojet aircraft
Estimated vs Actual Hydraulic System Weights
R = 0.9577 Estimated System Weight lbs 6000 4000 2000 0 0 2000 4000 6000 Actual System Weight lbs
2

Whydraulics = 20.3.[(Wing area)0.5 - 12] for propeller driven aircraft [Below about150 ft wing area no hydraulics are needed] Air System Weight The combined weight of air systems (air conditioning, anti-icing, Oxygen etc) may be estimated from Wair systems = 33.[Npax + Ncrew] for Regional Turboprops and Bizjets = 16.5[Npax + Ncrew] for Twin engine piston types = 10 lbs for single engine piston types = 16.5 [Npax + Ncrew] for Jet transports with Npax + Ncrew <200 = 2540 + 3.8 (Npax + N crew) for Jet Transports with N pax+crew >200
Estimated vs Actual Air System Weights
Estimated Air System Weights lbs R = 0.8935 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 Actual Air System Weights lbs
2

Avionic System Weight The combined weight of the avionic systems (AFCS, NAV, COMM etc) may be estimated Wavionics = 0.01.MTOW for General Aviation and Regional Turboprops Wavionics = MTOW [0.1328 0.0319 Log10 MTOW + 0.0017 (Log 10 MTOW)] 250 for Bizjets and Civil Jet Transports
Estimated vs Actual Avionics Weights
R2 = 0.9291 4000 Estimated System Weight lbs 3000 2000 1000 0 0 10 20 30 40

Actual System Weight lbs

System Group Weight is the sum of the above items Furnishing Group Weight Furnishing weights taken from available statistics show a wide variation. This seems to correlate with the manufacturer and probably relates more to the internal weight convention at the manufacturers rather that any wide variation in technology - most will purchase the furnishing items from other sources with broadly similar technology standards. The summed items in the Furnishing Group are taken from the family best known to the author (AI) and may be estimated from W furnishing = 55.29 (Npax + N crew) -2927
Estimated vs Actual Furnishing Weights Estimated Furnishing Weight lbs R = 0.9537 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 Actual Furnishing Weight lbs
2

Wfurnishing = function of P furnishing for General Aviation and Regional Turboprops as given below P furnishing 2 6 10 50 100 150 200 300 Wt furnishing. G/A aircraft lbs 300 650 800 Wt furnishing Turboprops lbs 2,150 3,250 4,200 5,150 7,000 Wfurnishing = 0.064.MTOW for Bizjets

Manufacturer's Weight Empty MWE MWE is the sum of Structures Group + Powerplant Group + Systems Group + Furnishing Group weights. Note that if we have used an 'Airbus' definition for furnishings we need to add operators items to get the Operating Weight Empty (OWE). These include unusable fuel and oil, water and fluids for galleys and toilets, passenger seats, galleys and catering equipment etc. As an approximation these may be estimated using the following: Short Range Medium Range Long Range 500 n.mls 1000 n.mls 3000 n.mls Fixed weight (lbs) 300 500 500 Weight/PAX (lbs) Tourist 50 65 70 Business 105 115 First 70 150 160 More detailed data can be found in GUIDELINES FOR OPERATOR ITEMS (copy attached) Operating Weight Empty OWE OWE is the sum of Structures Group + Powerplant Group + Systems Group + Furnishing Group weights + Operators Items . The overall correlation is based on alternative expressions for Boeing and MDC weight recording conventions which include Operators Items in the manufacturers furnishing weights, so that for Boeing aircraft MDC aircraft W furnishing = 4810 + 8.54P W furnishing = 4039 + 17P

Where P = (Npax + Ncrew) MTOW 0.67 /1000 Using these expressions the estimated weight is OWE without further additions

Overall Correlation The overall correlation of actual vs estimated OWE obtained from these equations is quite satisfactory for initial project studies see chart Estimated vs Actual OWE
450000 400000 350000 300000 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000 0 0 100000 R2 = 0.9868

Actual OWE lbs

200000

300000

400000

Estimated OWE lbs

Centre of Gravity As a guide to establishing the aircraft empty centre of gravity, the following values are reasonable ranges based on current large civil transports:Wing, tailplane, fin Fuselage Landing gear Engines/pylons Fuel system Surface controls Electrical systems Hydraulic systems Air systems Avionic systems Furnishings 36 ~ 42% MAC (depends on sweep) 45 ~ 50 % fuselage length As located - nose gear 10 ~ 14% total landing gear weight As located 46 ~ 48% fuselage length 57% fuselage length 26 ~ 32 % fuselage length 42 ~ 50% fuselage length 36 ~ 42% fuselage length 10 ~ 20 % fuselage length 43 ~ 48% fuselage length [i.e. about 2% ahead of fuselage CG]

GUIDELINES FOR OPERATOR ITEMS WEIGHTS

All weights in kg

Operator Items

Unit

SR

MR
2.5 10 26 46 14 22 28

LR
3.0 10 26 46 14 25 28 33

Water for galleys and lavatories kg/pax 1.3 Fluids for std. toilets kg/toilet 10 In case of vacuum toilet kg/ AC 13 A/C documents and tool kits kg/A/C 19 PASSENGER SEATS inc. life jackets (0.7 kg) YC kg/YC-Seat 14 BC kg/BC-Seat FC kg/FC-Seat 23 FC Sleeper kg /FCS-Seat
GALLEYS

Galley structure Galley (fixed equipment) (oven, coffee maker, water heater YC kg/pax BC kg/pax FC kg/pax
___________

35 kg per equivalent trolley space 25 kg per equivalent half-size trolley space 0.4 1.5 1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0

Galley movable equipment plus Catering (Trolleys, trays, duty free, cups, jugs,food and baverages) YC kg/pax BC kg/pax FC kg/pax BAGGAGE CONTAINER & FREIGHT PALLETS kg per cont./pal. LD-1 LD-3 88 125 pallet 96 125 pallet 95 85 120 130 6.0 15.0 12.0 20.0 32.0 14.0 23.0 36.0

EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT Door devices (per door)

-

Escape slides (for SR):

Slide rafts (for MR,LR):

12 kg/m for type A exits 10 kg/m for type B exits 8 kg/m for type I exits 6 kg/m for type Ill exits 1 .5 times the weight of escape slides life jackets:already included in passenger seat weights

CREW (flight and cabin crew)

90 kg (inc. 10 kg luggage)