The Fan-In-Wing (FIW) aircraft concept is one of the most compelling solutions for missions demanding jet-like cruise speeds and Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) capability. However, despite years of interest and documented improvements in lift-fan technology, there exists little in the way of an adequate theory for conceptual design of a fan-in-wing aircraft. To address this issue, a general conceptual design methodology has been developed as a source of guidance for the FIW designer. Through this work, the top-level requirements ranking the fan-in-wing concept above other VTOL aircraft have been defined, while a cross-comparison between the FIW concept and conventional aircraft reveals major discrepancies in their design philosophies, constituting the need for a separate design algorithm. The final conceptual design methodology emerges from an elaborate technique of relating the FIW concept’s major cruise and hover performance metrics to a physical disk area constraint imposed by the size of its wing reference area. Out of this process, a theoretical and practical design space for sizing the FIW concept has been defined, and as a result, the FIW aircraft designer is given an effective means of iterating on the initial size of their wings and lift fans to meet a set of cruise and hover performance requirements. A final demonstration of how the conceptual FIW design methodology is implemented in practice has been included using an example case study.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Fan-In-Wing (FIW) aircraft concept is one of the most compelling solutions for missions demanding jet-like cruise speeds and Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) capability. However, despite years of interest and documented improvements in lift-fan technology, there exists little in the way of an adequate theory for conceptual design of a fan-in-wing aircraft. To address this issue, a general conceptual design methodology has been developed as a source of guidance for the FIW designer. Through this work, the top-level requirements ranking the fan-in-wing concept above other VTOL aircraft have been defined, while a cross-comparison between the FIW concept and conventional aircraft reveals major discrepancies in their design philosophies, constituting the need for a separate design algorithm. The final conceptual design methodology emerges from an elaborate technique of relating the FIW concept’s major cruise and hover performance metrics to a physical disk area constraint imposed by the size of its wing reference area. Out of this process, a theoretical and practical design space for sizing the FIW concept has been defined, and as a result, the FIW aircraft designer is given an effective means of iterating on the initial size of their wings and lift fans to meet a set of cruise and hover performance requirements. A final demonstration of how the conceptual FIW design methodology is implemented in practice has been included using an example case study.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Steinfeldt, Brock"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z","subjects":["Fan-in-Wing","Lift-Fan","HSVTOL","XV-5","F-35B","Airplane","Jet","Helicopter","Rotorcraft","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering","Aviation"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/818","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Steinfeldt, Brock"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fan-in-Wing","Lift-Fan","HSVTOL","XV-5","F-35B","Airplane","Jet","Helicopter","Rotorcraft","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering","Aviation"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/818"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Fan-In-Wing (FIW) aircraft concept is one of the most compelling solutions for missions demanding jet-like cruise speeds and Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) capability. However, despite years of interest and documented improvements in lift-fan technology, there exists little in the way of an adequate theory for conceptual design of a fan-in-wing aircraft. To address this issue, a general conceptual design methodology has been developed as a source of guidance for the FIW designer. Through this work, the top-level requirements ranking the fan-in-wing concept above other VTOL aircraft have been defined, while a cross-comparison between the FIW concept and conventional aircraft reveals major discrepancies in their design philosophies, constituting the need for a separate design algorithm. The final conceptual design methodology emerges from an elaborate technique of relating the FIW concept’s major cruise and hover performance metrics to a physical disk area constraint imposed by the size of its wing reference area. Out of this process, a theoretical and practical design space for sizing the FIW concept has been defined, and as a result, the FIW aircraft designer is given an effective means of iterating on the initial size of their wings and lift fans to meet a set of cruise and hover performance requirements. A final demonstration of how the conceptual FIW design methodology is implemented in practice has been included using an example case study.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Conceptual Design Methodology for the Fan-in-Wing VTOL Aircraft"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Steinfeldt, Brock"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Fan-In-Wing (FIW) aircraft concept is one of the most compelling solutions for missions demanding jet-like cruise speeds and Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) capability. However, despite years of interest and documented improvements in lift-fan technology, there exists little in the way of an adequate theory for conceptual design of a fan-in-wing aircraft. To address this issue, a general conceptual design methodology has been developed as a source of guidance for the FIW designer. Through this work, the top-level requirements ranking the fan-in-wing concept above other VTOL aircraft have been defined, while a cross-comparison between the FIW concept and conventional aircraft reveals major discrepancies in their design philosophies, constituting the need for a separate design algorithm. The final conceptual design methodology emerges from an elaborate technique of relating the FIW concept’s major cruise and hover performance metrics to a physical disk area constraint imposed by the size of its wing reference area. Out of this process, a theoretical and practical design space for sizing the FIW concept has been defined, and as a result, the FIW aircraft designer is given an effective means of iterating on the initial size of their wings and lift fans to meet a set of cruise and hover performance requirements. A final demonstration of how the conceptual FIW design methodology is implemented in practice has been included using an example case study.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/818"],"dc:subject":["Fan-in-Wing","Lift-Fan","HSVTOL","XV-5","F-35B","Airplane","Jet","Helicopter","Rotorcraft","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering","Aviation"],"dc:title":["Conceptual Design Methodology for the Fan-in-Wing VTOL Aircraft"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z"}