Aerodynamics Engineer – Conceptual Sizing & Performance

Responsibilities

• Conceptually size the primary aerodynamic surfaces (wing, tail/empennage) for a tiltrotor/eVTOL configuration against mission requirements across different use cases.
• Use low-fidelity aerodynamic tools such as AVL, OpenVSP, or similar, together with handbook methods (e.g., Hoerner, Roskam), to build up the vehicle's drag polar across the flight envelope.
• Trim the vehicle across representative flight conditions — hover, transition, and cruise — and generate trim lines/schedules.
• Estimate vehicle performance (range, endurance, speed, climb) from integrated aerodynamic and propulsion data.
• Conduct mission-level performance analysis across representative use cases (e.g., payload-range trades, hover ceiling, best-range/best-endurance speeds) to inform vehicle-level sizing and configuration trades.
• Provide aerodynamic feedback into vehicle-level configuration trades (surface sizing, control effectiveness, stability margins).
• Collaborate with the vehicle and powertrain architects to close overall vehicle performance against mission requirements.

Requirements

• Conceptual aerodynamic design experience using low-fidelity aerodynamic tools such as AVL, OpenVSP/VSPAERO, XFOIL, or similar is required.
• Strong grounding in handbook-based aerodynamic sizing methods (e.g., Hoerner, Roskam) is required.
• Trim and flight mechanics analysis across flight regimes, including hover, transition, and cruise.
• Experience with vehicle performance estimation methodologies (range/endurance/speed).
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar for aero data reduction and analysis.

Nice to have

• Tiltrotor and rotorcraft aerodynamics/performance experience is desired.
• Experience with CFD solvers such as NASA codes (e.g., OVERFLOW, FUN3D), StarCCM+, Fluent, OpenFOAM), or similar is desired.
• Experience with rotorcraft comprehensive analysis tools such as RCAS, CAMRAD II, or similar is desired.