Aerodynamics and longitudinal static stability of a blended wing body aircraft with canard and twin tail boom configuration at low Reynolds numbers via Vortex Lattice computations

This study investigates the aerodynamic characteristics and longitudinal static stability of a novel unmanned blended wing body aircraft featuring a canard and twin tail boom configuration. Conducting aerodynamic analysis at relatively low Reynolds numbers is essential for small unmanned aerial vehicles to determine optimal elevator deflection angles during the preliminary design phase. The study employs a vortex lattice method (VLM), a low-fidelity approach known for its computational efficiency and reliability, within the VSPAero suite. Study cases include wing-body configuration only, combination with canard, combinations with canard and tails and combination with all components with various canard and tail deflection angles. The results show that this wing-body, canard, and twin tail configuration can exhibit a favourable lift-to-drag ratios of 15.0 at trim lift coefficient 0.5 with +5- degree canard elevator deflection and -5-degree horizontal tail elevator deflection. This strikes a good balance between performance efficiency and flight stability crucial for sustained flights. In terms of longitudinal stability, the aircraft demonstrates inherent stability at around 25 percent static margin, primarily due to the strategic placement and sizing of the centre of gravity, canard and twin tail surfaces.