General Sizing Spreadsheet Equation Sheet

Sam Weiss
November 2015

Symbol Units Description

CD − Drag coefficient
C D0 − Zero lift drag coefficient
CD f − Drag coefficient of the fuselage nondi-
mensionalized by the wing area
CL − Lift coefficient
C Lmax − Aircraft max lift coefficient
Cm − Moment coefficient
D N Drag
DC N Drag at cruise
e − Oswald efficiency factor
g m/s2 Gravity
Ia A Current draw by avionics
Ip A Current draw by payload
I prop A Current draw by propulsion
L N Lift
L/D − Lift to drag ratio
Nbatt − Number of battery packs
P W Propulsive power after efficiency
Q batt Ahr Battery pack capacity
R m Range (flight distance)
RA − Aspect ratio of main wing
Sw m2 Wing area
T N Thrust
t f l i ght s Flight time
Ubatt % Percent of battery used
V m/s Airspeed
Vbatt V Battery voltage
Vcruise m/s Cruise airspeed
VMD m/s Minimum drag airspeed
Vmin m/s Minimum (stall) airspeed
VMP m/s Minimum power airspeed
WT kg Total weight of aircraft
η overall % Overall propulsive efficiency
ρ k g/m3 Air density

1
 The calculations in the General Sizing Spreadsheet make a number of
assumptions that facilitate simplified calculations of aircraft performance.
It should be used for initial design only. The assumptions are as follows

1. The aircraft is trimmed in steady level flight (L = WT , D C = T, C m = 0)

2. Thrust is aligned with the freestream

3. Thrust is incline with free stream

4. Parasitic drag is constant

The following equations are use to calculate the values in the spread-
sheet and are found in their corresponding cells. It is important to note that
in some cases the values shown in the spreadsheet have scaled units for
user convenience. For example, kilometers are used instead of meters for
the range.

Cell = V ariabl e = Equation

gWT
K13 = C L = 1
2 ρV Sw
2

C 2L
K14 = C D = (C D 0 + C D f ) +
π eR A
1
O13 = L = C L ρ V 2 S w
2
1
O14 = D = C D ρ V 2 S w
2
p √
2 W/S w
K7 = VMD = √
4
π eR A (C D 0 + C D f ) ρ
√
2 W/S w
K8 = VMP = √
4
12π eR A (C D 0 + C D f ) ρ
√ √
2 W/S w
K9 = Vmin =
C Lmax ρ

CL
K15 = L/D =
CD

2
K16 = StallMar gin = Vcruise − Vmin

DVcruise
C32 = P =
η overall

P
C33 = I prop =
Vbatt
Q batt N battUbatt
K17 = t f l i ght =
I p I a I prop

K18 = R = t f l i ght Vcruise