VLCT-13: A commercial transport for the 21st Century

The growth of the Pacific Rim market has spurred airframers to begin feasibility studies of a large commercial transport. By the year 2001, 30 million travelers are expected to travel the Transpacific. A transport capable of hauling 800 PAX and 30,000 pounds of cargo, 7,000 nm is of specific interest. Special problems associated with this design are configuration, landing gear, passenger safety, airport compatibility, and engine thrust. A group of students at the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo developed a very large commercial transport, VLCT-13, conventional looking design which is both comfortable and economical. Passenger comfort includes seat pitches of 34 in and 40 in, width's of 23 in and 25 in, respectfully, and a 27 ft diameter cross section. A direct operating cost of 2.3 cents per passenger per seat-mile is estimated for this airplane design. The airplane market price is estimated to be $195 million 1993 dollars based on an aircraft take off weight of 1.4 million pounds. The problems associated with the VLCT-13 are discussed and possible solutions are presented.