Design of high-speed fixed wing unmmanned aerial vehicle

Since the mid-19th century, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), initially employed as a military tactic, have witnessed a significant surge in their usage, diversity, frequency, and importance from the recent past to the present, in proportion to technological advancements. UAVs are currently utilized not only for recreational and civilian professional purposes but also as military equipment. UAVs possess less weight and volume, making them not only economically viable in terms of production and operation costs but also posing no threat to pilots in undesirable circumstances or outcomes. Owing to their design, UAVs can take off without the need for a runway, being launched either from a stationary position or from another flying vehicle, and due to their compact size, they can operate in confined spaces. Within the scope of this thesis, high-speed and fixed-wing UAVs from the literature have been examined, their applications discussed, and the preliminary design of the UAV has been conducted. Based on the specified aircraft requirements, important parameters have been determined for aircraft design and the selection of the UAV's engine and initial sizing have been estimated. For the analysis of aerodynamic performance, the drag coefficient values obtained from the initial dimensionalization of the body geometry were examined at different angles of attack for both low subsonic and high subsonic speeds. Additionally, the drag coefficient values were investigated under the same conditions for longitudinal elongation and radius expansion to achieve volume increase in the body.