A VSAERO Analysis of Several Canard Configured Aircraft

This paper reports the results of an analysis of several canard configured aircraft using the VSAERO low-order panel method. Aircraft analyzed within include the Rutan Long EZ, Solitaire, VariViggen, VariViggen SP and Quickie homebuilt aircraft. The use of VSAERO in the development of the Rutan Voyager is also discussed. 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 data are included where data are available.

Aerodynamic panelling programs such as VSAERO allow the determination of an aircraft's induced drag. To substantiate this methodology comparisons of results with the classical Prandtl-Munk theory and wind tunnel test results are also included. These comparisons validate the use of VSAERO in the prediction of induced drag. Further comparisons with flight test results for several aircraft are included.