Systems Engineering QFD on an Aerial Fire Fighting Aircraft

[jpl99]

Hi everyone, I am currently taking an aerospace systems engineering course and we are discussing a variety of SE topics applicable to aerospace engineering. Right now, the focus is on Quality Function Deployment (QFD), which is basically a method driven by customer requirements, which can capture customer requirements and systematically convert them into engineering characteristics, and convert qualitative requirements into relevant quantitative design parameters. I'm looking to come up with as many customer needs (reqts) and engineering characteristics as possible based on the topic of designing an aerial fire-fighting aircraft for wildfire response. The majority of the aircraft currently in service for firefighting purposes are modified commercial or military airframes, which creates inefficiencies and affects payload delivery. As for needs, I would say maximizing fire retardant capacity, payload drop, savings lives, etc, but really struggling with the engineering aspects of the QFD table.

I wanted to brainstorm with this forum to see how I should approach this problem from a systems perspective. Appreciate any input!

 

[Sparweb]

You'll encounter a certain reluctance among the members of this forum to help you with your course assignments.

I'm not a systems engineer but I've done a number of projects to "missionize" an aircraft. Generally your starting point aircraft isn't going to have what your mission needs, since your mission is unique. Proposing an airframe design with only one possible niche mission will doom the airframe to failure, unless that primary mission is the "mission" that 95% of aircraft owners/operators choose: passengers.

"Dumping water on a fire" is too vague to be a mission specification, so as soon as you refine it in any way, such as "dumping 10,000L of water on a fire" you have suddenly tied the hands of the designer, even as you're more likely to get what you need. A complete mission specification is very long and puts a lot of constraints on the designers. There is usually no way to approach this WITHOUT selecting a suitable baseline civilian or military aircraft to then be adapted to your purpose.

One exception to this may be the Erikson Aircrane but even that one has multiple roles that it can support (firefighting is just one of them).

 

[IRstuff]

What have you accomplished so far? No one is going to do your work for you, so show what work you done to date.

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[rb1957]

"maximise retardant capacity" is not a system requirement. "carry 1000 lt of fire retardant" is.

"savings" is not a system requirement. "cost/hr < $10" is (even if it is unachievable).

STOL performance would be a useful operational requirement, capable of operating from 1000' prepared (2000' unprepared) runways.

communications is very important.

accuracy in payload delivery.

minimum crew ?

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?