AircraftDesign.com

Aircraft Design Research LLC -Services

… the Science of the Possible

Aircraft Design Research LLC (ADR) is an aerospace design and research company with a primary focus on the conceptual design of aircraft and spacecraft.

ADR services include:

For further information or to request a quote for services, email to 
Aircraft Design Research LLC 
Or phone: 310 577-3773

Aircraft and Spacecraft Conceptual Design, Analysis, & Optimization

The main business of Aircraft Design Research LLC is the conceptual design, analysis, and optimization of aerospace vehicles. These include jet, prop, and rocket-powered concepts, and of all classes of vehicle including military, commercial, general aviation, lighter-than-air, UAV, VTOL, launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, and others. While innovative design solutions are always considered (we love them – see above!), ADR also believes that sometimes the best engineering answer is a well-designed “normal” configuration. You the customer will make the final decision as to which design approach best meets your needs. 

ADR works with the customer to define system requirements, then develops one or more concepts, conducts analysis, performs optimizations, and presents design reports and briefings. Projects can range from “quick-look” feasibility studies to a substantial effort by a ADR virtual company team including CFD, structural design, FEM, subsystems design, production design, and whatever else it takes to get the design to the desired level of maturity – including flight, if funding is available!

ADR can simply do a design study for you and then “walk away.” Or, it can become intimately involved in your design effort, interacting with your program management and engineering staff at any desired level ranging from consultation, to an active design involvement, to acting as overall program manager and “doing it all”. In this case ADR will bring together and manage an appropriate subcontractor team for the project. 

Technology Studies: Feasibility and Applicability

Often a person or company will invent a new aerospace technology or concept, but not really know how to assess it or determine its benefits – the essential first step towards obtaining funding and support. In the end, any aerospace technology must “earn its way” on to some future flight vehicle or it isn’t worth the time and expense to mature it. 

Aircraft Design Research LLC can help by reviewing the new idea, assessing it versus existing technologies, and identifying likely applications. Then ADR will design one or more notional vehicle concepts and perform trade studies to determine the benefits of the idea. ADR will also prepare a technology maturation plan to bring the idea to an acceptable Technology Readiness Level. For a better idea of ADR’s approach in such studies, see Dr. Raymer’s Advice to Inventors.

“Red Team” Design Reviews

An important part of the aerospace design process is the “Red Team” review, where the entire design is formally presented to a knowledgeable person or team who will ask the hard questions, challenge every assumption, and give the entire project a “good scrubbing.” Even if no problems are uncovered, the preparation for an upcoming Red Team will have motivated the design team to a better effort. In the past, the Red Team review was often done by the company’s Vice President of Engineering who was selected for that position at least partly on a proven ability to do a good Red Team. Today, VP’s need a different skill set to maneuver through the tangled webs of politics and customer relations, so it is sometimes wise to turn to an outsider. 

ADR provides such Red Team design reviews, giving a confidential outside review of your design concept with focus on risk reduction and design optimization. Usually these are performed on-site by ADR President Dr. Daniel P. Raymer. Other subject experts may be brought in if appropriate. Please note that if a Red Team review is desired for an overseas customer on a military or high-technology project, US State Department approval will probably be required which adds to the expense and can cause a delay while waiting for approval.

Design Methodologies Review and Consultation

ADR performs methodology audits to ensure that your design team is using state-of-the art methods and tools in its design activities. Dr. Daniel P. Raymer, President of ADR, has extensive experience in the development and use of advanced design tools including CAD, computational design analysis (CFD, FEM), simulation, and design optimization. Dr. Raymer will review your tools, discuss methods with key employees, and construct process flow charts; as-is, and recommended. Following the audit, ADR can help implement any recommendations and can train your staff as well.

Aircraft Modification Design & Analysis

As described here, the first project by Dr. Raymer’s company was a preliminary design study of a aircraft modification, namely the use of an L-1011 to carry and launch the OSC Pegasus booster. Similarly, ADR can perform modification studies, preparing conceptual layouts and doing the “before” and “after” analysis to determine the benefits of the proposed change. Typical examples include re-engining, addition of winglets, and aerodynamic cleanup. When appropriate, ADR will bring subcontract companies into the project, and has an excellent ongoing relationship with a number of world-class firms capable of providing CFD, structural design and analysis, production lofting, and other needed skills.

Aviation Expert Witness Services

Aircraft Design Research LLC can provide expert witness and consultant services for legal actions involving aircraft, aviation, and spacecraft. President Dr. Daniel P. Raymer offers a unique combination of broad technical expertise plus presentation skills honed in over 30 years of aviation-related speeches and short course presentations.

Dr. Raymer served as expert witness/consultant in support of an aircraft design company in a lawsuit against a previous project teammate over an issue of intellectual property. Raymer reviewed all the technical data and wrote position papers which were provided to the Judge and his technical Special Master. Raymer sat next to the lead lawyer during testimony and cross-examination, passing notes with technical questions to ask of the other side’s engineers and expert witness (a well-known retired Vice President of a major aerospace firm). At one point the lead lawyer told Raymer, “Thank goodness you’ve arrived – we knew we had the facts on our side but you’ve been able to pull the team together by bridging the gap between us lawyers and the engineers with all their technical talk.” In the end, the technical judgment validated the positions that Dr. Raymer supported.