Conceptual Design of a Hydrofoil Seaplane: A Study on the Feasibility of Hydrofoil-Assisted Takeoff

Abstract

This thesis studies the possibility of using a fixed hydrofoil to reduce the takeoff distance for an electric seaplane. A conceptual design of what this type of aircraft could look like is done, based on the requirements from Hydroaerospace. The conceptual design mostly follows Raymers methods and includes weight estimation, size calculations and modeling in OpenVSP. Then the aircrafts takeoff performance is estimated through one of Raymers methods but modified for the hydrofoil case. The results based on the calculations show that the takeoff distance is not shorter when using the Hydrofoil. However, this comes from the fact that the hydrofoil is not controllable and in reality the takeoff distance should be shorter. It is also shown that the idea of using the aerodynamic surfaces of the aircraft to control the hydrofoil is not an option, since the force difference is too large. Overall, the study shows that a fixed or uncontrollable hydrofoil is not a viable option.