A VSAERO Analysis of Several Canard Configured Aircraft - Part 2

This paper reports on the analysis of several further canard configured aircraft using the VSAERO low-order panel method. Aircraft analyzed within include the Rutan VariEze, Defiant, Predator, Catbird and Triumph. In all cases VSAERO models of the complete aircraft have been used to calculate the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. Comparisons of these results with flight test and wind tunnel data are included where data are available.

Results presented herein show VSAERO to be reasonably accurate in predicting aircraft neutral point. Induced drag predictions tend to be inconsistent and future incorporation of a Trefftz Plane in VSAERO will probably rectify these problems. Overall, VSAERO is shown to be a useful tool for the aircraft design process.