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Article

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems conceptual design methodology based on factor analysis

Publicated to:Aerospace Science And Technology. 90 368-387 - 2019-07-01 90(), DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2019.04.041

Authors: Gómez-Rodríguez Á; Sanchez-Carmona A; García-Hernández L; Cuerno-Rejado C

Affiliations

Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS The rapid expansion of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)within the aeronautical industry demands the development of new design methodologies focused on these aircraft. In this paper, a novel rapid-sizing procedure for the initial design phases of H-tail Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)based on the factor analysis technique is proposed. The main concept of this methodology consists in finding the latent design tendencies within the sample of study, that are represented by unobservable factors, which can be employed as specifications in a novel design procedure based on the most prominent design trends of the sample of study. The classical factor analysis procedure has been adapted to the characteristics of the aircraft conceptual design discipline, including a new criterion for the extraction of factors taking into account the desirable accuracy in this phase of design. From the findings of this analysis, a novel conceptual rapid-sizing methodology based on the main design tendencies of H-tail RPA is proposed. This methodology is then tested with a design example case and compared with the results obtained from a conventional approach based purely on regression analysis for the same aircraft in order to validate the procedure. This analysis shows that the results fall within the expected accuracy of the conceptual design phase, with the added novelty of considering the extracted design tendencies as specifications for the initial sizing of the RPA, and constituting a methodology with higher robustness than the contrasting traditional procedure due to the capacity to account simultaneously for the interrelations amongst all the variables and the ability to control a wide range of statistical indicators to augment the confidence in the results.

Keywords

Conceptual designFactor analysisH-tail rpasModelOptimizationPreliminary sizing correlationsRemotely piloted aircraft systems (rpas)Rpas databaseRpas designScree testUav

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Aerospace Science And Technology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 2/31, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Aerospace. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.86, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-01, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 5
  • Scopus: 10
  • OpenCitations: 9

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-01:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 33 (PlumX).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GOMEZ RODRIGUEZ, ALVARO) and Last Author (CUERNO REJADO, CRISTINA).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GOMEZ RODRIGUEZ, ALVARO.