A Mass, Fuel, and Energy Perspective on Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Scaling

Abstract

Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been improving significantly in application and versatility, sharing design similarities with airplanes, particularly at the design stage, when the take-off mass is used to estimate other characteristics. In this work, an internal database of UAVs is built to allow their comparison with airplanes under different parameters and assess key differences in patterns across UAV powertrains. The existing literature on speed vs. take-off mass is updated with 534 UAV entries, and a range vs. take-off mass diagram is created with 503 UAVs and 193 airplanes. Additionally, different transportation efficiency metrics are compared between UAVs and airplanes, highlighting scenarios advantageous for UAVs. A new paradigm focused on useful energy is then used to understand the underlying effectiveness of UAV implementations. Increasing useful energy is more effective in increasing the speed, transport work, and surveying work of internal combustion UAVs and more effective in increasing the range and endurance of battery-electric UAVs. Finally, it is observed that the mass of all fixed-wing aerial vehicles, both UAVs and airplanes, except for battery electric and solar, adheres to a well-defined scaling law based on useful energy. A parallel to this scaling law is suggested to describe future battery-electric UAVs and airplanes.