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The aircraft performance requirements outlined in the following sections detail expectations that the
aircraft must meet. The expectations are developed from the objectives of the design requirements
specification. The main objectives highlight need for high speed fight, stability and maneuverability.
Functional Requirements
These requirements provides a basis of ideas for designing and manufacturing a new model aircraft for
the competition. The ideas are derived from the competition rules as stipulated in the competition
description document. The functional requirements include the aircraft type, tasks fulfilled by the
aircraft and how the aircraft must take off. The requirements are detailed as follows;
• Aircraft type
As described in the competition description document, the aircraft must be a fixed wing aircraft
and it must fly largely due to the aerodynamic effects of it’s wings.
• Tasks fulfilled by the aircraft
The main task of the aircraft is to fly as fast as possible and successfully complete a race.
• Runway Requirement
The aircraft must be able to take from a runway. The runway may be paved.
It can be seen from the table that requirement number 1, and number 5 both obtained a total score of 9.
However, when the two requirements were compared, requirement 1 was given a higher importance
preference because requirement 5 only specifies the minimum span size and thus it is a flexible
requirement. As depicted by the total ranking score, the following list of the requirements shows a
decreasing order of importance.
1. High Aircraft efficiency
2. High cruise speed
3. Size
4. Good taking-off and landing performance
5. Weight
6. Set-up time between flights
7. Maintenance and repair
The following figure shows the race track and some aircraft operational requirements mapped onto it.