Adaptive Leading Edge Droop Mechanism

Business Plan
Team Xavier Falcons from Xavier High School
Leading the Edge to the Future
1.0 Business Summary
In order to market our design for an adaptive leading edge droop mechanism, we will
mainly license our design to private aircraft manufacturers because our device applies to private
aircraft. Also, our device will not be sold commercially in and of itself because it is simpler and
less expensive to manufacture our device during the manufacture of the aircraft instead of as an
after-market product. We would also pursue government research contracts from the Department
of Transportation, Department of Energy, and Federal Aviation Administration, all of which
relate to topics which our aircraft addresses in that it increases fuel efficiency and travel safety in
flight.
The cost of our design would be approximately $2,600 in and of itself. This cost would
result from factors such as additional materials, including the interior mechanism and stronger
internal support, salaries for researchers and engineers, and minor labor fees. The development
and manufacturing of our design will primarily be funded by government grants and private
investment. Government grants would be offered by the three aforementioned government
agencies because of the relevancy of our design to today's world of energy and transportation.
Similarly, private aircraft companies would invest in our design because of the benefits it would
bring to them, namely increased marketability due to the advantages of our design.
Overall, our design is better than past similar designs, specifically the fixed leading edge
droop and variable slats, because of its higher marketability and lower cost. Besides the technical
merit that our design possesses over its precursors, in particular the ability to increase fuel
efficiency while increasing flight safety, our design is also better in terms of costs because the
labor and material costs are lower than those of prior devices. Also, our device is more
marketable because it is not an after-market product, and therefore provides ease to all customers
who wish to fly their private aircraft without having to install a device separately. In addition, the
increased fuel efficiency will encourage customers to buy our design over others because it will
save them money in fuel expenses over time.
2.0 Market
The plan for marketing this mechanism will focus on pitching the design to private
aircraft manufacturers such as Cessna, since it is designed our mechanism specifically for private
aircraft. Also, instead of the product being sold commercially, it will be licensed to private
aircraft manufacturers. Standard leading edge cuffs, for the most part, are sold commercially
since no modifications have to be made to the wing because it is placed over the original leading
edge. However, in order to add a leading edge droop mechanism, the interior and exterior of the
wing must be modified. One of the main reasons that it would be better to license this product is
that if it was sold commercially, it would be much more expensive, since major renovations
would need to be made to the aircraft to accommodate the new mechanism. Furthermore, there
would also be costs associated with the labor required to add it to the aircraft. Licensing it to
companies would be much more sensible because they could add the mechanism during the
production of the aircraft. This minimizes cost because the wing would not have to be adjusted to
accommodate our design. Also, the extra labor cost associated with the addition to the wings
would be nearly negligible because it would be built into the aircraft while it is being produced.
Furthermore, government contracts would be pursued, specifically from the Department
of Transportation and the Department of Energy. In the Department of Transportation, the focus
would be on the Federal Aviation Administration because this agency primarily deals with the
private aircraft industry. Because of the safety and efficiency benefits of the adjustable cuff,
there is a possibility of the Federal Aviation Administration taking interest in the design. The
Department of Transportation, which is actually gives the second most contract money in total
out of all of the government, may also take interest because of the increase in fuel efficiency that
the mechanism could bring to the private aircraft industry, especially in times such as these
where the price of energy is rising.
3.0 Cost
The Cessna 162 Skycatcher is currently sold at a price of about $149,000. The
modifications recommended in this paper would increase the initial cost of production by about
$2,600. In order to allow the wing cuff to be adaptable, the design calls for two rotary actuators
for each wing. This amounts to four actuators in total in the modified Cessna 162. Based on a
price of about $400 per actuator, the total price of the additional actuators comes to $1,600.
Since the leading edge will need to be able to stand up to the added stresses of changing its angle
of attack as well as holding the various angles of attack, a stronger spar will be necessary. This
will most likely be achieved by replacing the aluminum spars with a stronger material such as
carbon fiber. Based on the assumption that carbon fiber replaces aluminum as the material of the
spar in each wing, the modified Skycatchers spars will cost about $1,000 more than the
baselines. However, over the last decade, the price of carbon fiber has dropped from about $100
per pound to about $10 per pound and is likely to decrease slightly more, thus reducing the cost
of using carbon fiber in the spars. In addition to the cost of the additional materials for
production of the modified Skycatcher, researchers would also have to be paid. This team is
made up of students who conducted research for free. In an actual business, though, three to four
scientists and engineers, each with a salary of about sixty thousand dollars per year, would have
to be paid.
There are, of course, several other modifications to the Skycatcher that have yet to be
accounted for in terms of cost, but these changes make almost no impact on the cost. First of all,
there is the additional labor cost of adding the actuators to the aircraft. However, this is a fairly
simple procedure and, since it occurs during production, will make an extremely minor impact
on the time and cost to build the aircraft. Also, since the leading edge mechanism is built as part
of the manufacturing process, the cost of adding it is minimal. An after-market modification to
an aircraft might require changes to the internal mechanisms of the aircraft and requires extra
materials. Since the leading edge droop mechanism is part of the manufacturing process, though,
the process can simply be changes slightly to account for the adaptive leading edge. This means
that the labor hours required to produce the Cessna 162 would only increase ever so slightly, so
the difference in labor cost is effectively negligible.
4.0 Funding Mechanisms
One of the primary sources of funding for the implementation of this design would come
in the form of government grantsspecifically, grants offered by the Federal Aviation
Administration. The government, acting through the FAA, plays a major role in all aspects of
aviation. Due to the complicated nature of flight, the FAA has strictly enforced regulations for
aircraft production and aircraft flight. However, it is also a driving force in aircraft innovation
and often works with companies to produce aircraft. In particular, the government has been
pushing for all transportation methods to be increasingly fuel efficient and increasingly safe. The
government is interested in aircraft safety for the obvious reason that in a complex instrument
such as an aircraft, there is a great deal that can go wrong. Moreover, an aircraft can easily
become extremely dangerous if something does go wrong. Also, the scarcity of oil resources has
created an interest in more fuel efficient means of transportation. The government has become
more interested in fuel efficiency since it reduces the need for oil dependency. This design both
improves fuel efficiency and safety, therefore making it a prime candidate for a grant from the
FAA.
The major source of funding for this design would most likely come in the form of
private investment in the design. First of all, since the design is meant to be added into the
manufacturing process, the aircraft companies would be most interested in the design. Aircraft
companies, Cessna for example, would provide funding for the design in order to implement it in
their own aircraft. These companies would invest in the design with the hope of receiving a
return in the form of better sales. Implementing this design in an aircraft improves sales of
aircraft for several reasons. First, the design makes aircraft safer and more fuel efficient. A
prospective aircraft buyer would be extremely interested in saving money over the term of
owning the aircraft, especially with the increasing cost of fuel. Also, since the design makes
aircraft safer, this design would be particularly appealing to new pilotsa market which is
currently growing rapidly. In addition, the new design offers the appeal of innovation and sheer
newness. Buyers, especially those with the resources to purchase airplanes, want to be assured
that the products that they purchase are technologically superior to all other competing products.
By investing in this design and implementing it in their aircraft, a company such as Cessna can
claim to have a more advanced aircraft than any of its competitors aircraft. Therefore, an
investment in this design would yield major profits for the investing aircraft company.
5.0 Competitive Reference
There are a number of products in the market that achieve similar effects to the product
outlined in this paper. The most comparable to the leading edge droop mechanism is the leading
edge cuff, largely because the mechanism was based off of the idea of the leading edge cuff. The
leading edge cuff is an addition to the front of a wing that adds a sort of droop to it. This allows
the airflow to attach to the upper portion of the wing better, decreasing the chance of stalling
greatly. Despite its benefits in safety, it has never been a huge success. One would very rarely
see one of these on a private aircraft. There are a number of explanations for this. One is that the
leading edge cuff deceases the fuel efficiency of the aircraft. This is because it increases the drag,
making the engine work harder to combat the force of friction from the air. Furthermore, the fact
that it is an addition that is placed on the wing following the production of the aircraft may deter
some people in investing in one of these devices. Not only would they have to worry about the
cost of the actual cuff, but they also have to worry about the labor costs to put it on and the fact
that they will not be able to fly their aircraft during the time the cuff is being added to the
aircraft. If someone relies on their aircraft frequently, they may not be able to afford the time lost
in adding the leading edge cuff. Another product that has a similar premise to the leading edge
droop mechanism is slats. Like the leading edge cuff, this is an addition to the front of the wing
that has the primary goal of ameliorating the danger of stalling. They are also movable, similar to
the adaptive wing cuff, to allow the pilot to adjust them so that they offer the best effects to the
current condition the aircraft is in. Although they have been used in the commercial aircraft
industry, being featured on commercial aircraft such as in some models of the Airbus A318, they
have not used much in the private aircraft industry. This is probably due to similar reasons to that
of why the leading edge cuff has not been very successful. It would have to be added on
following the production of the aircraft, leading to increased costs. Furthermore, slats also are
associated with higher amounts of drag because of the spaces exposed to air in the mechanism,
decreasing fuel efficiency. Slats probably do not seem accessible to the regular private aircraft
owner. They are most likely used in the commercial aircraft industry because these large
companies have money to spare to spend on safety improvements in their aircraft, which most
private aircraft pilots do not have.
The leading edge droop mechanism discussed in this report provides all of the safety
benefits of the previously mentioned designs, while also reducing their negative effects. One of
the major problems with the previous designs is that they have an adverse effect on fuel
efficiency. However, the leading edge droop mechanism solves this problem. Since it can retract
while cruising, and because it does not have any extra surface area exposed to the air, the drag on
the aircraft is minimized. Furthermore, it actually helps fuel efficiency to have the cuff activated
at certain conditions. It is estimated that if every private aircraft had this mechanism, $751,420
compared to the cuff-less wing or $908,562 compared to the fixed cuff would be saved per year.
The marketing plan to license the product to aircraft manufactures also solves a number of the
problems associated with the previously mentioned designs. One of their main problems was the
fact these products would be added following the production of the aircraft. However, if
licensed, then the mechanism would be added during the production of the aircraft. This
minimizes the cost of having this added, largely because the labor cost is minimized since it is
added during the process of creating the aircraft.