Due Diligence for Investors
The business plan looks sound, the pitch presentation was flashy and professional and the design looks good on paper,
but is my money really being invested in a team that knows what they are doing?
There are a few very obvious warning signs that the product that's being pitched may not be all that it seems to be.
Some questions that you might ask :
Some questions that you might ask :
- Does the aircraft "look right" - is it engineered, or is it simply the outcome of slick product design? If there's not obvious space for fuel, batteries or cargo,
or if the configuration is exotic in some way, it could be a sign that proper aerospace design practice has not been followed. Exotic features add expense and
complication to the design process and determining their effect on the aircraft's flight characteristics often lies outside the scope of existing
modelling capability. Good aerospace engineers tend to have an eye for a successful design and tend to "design for what they know".
- Is a full set of figures given for the basic aircraft weights and dimensions? If not, is an optimistic weight for fuel or batteries being assumed
on the basis that "technology will have improved" by the time that the aircraft reaches service? If technology improvements are being relied upon,
whose estimates of the likely rate of advance of the state of the art are being relied upon in generating the figures?
- Are the basic performance figures for the aircraft given, such as its expected range and endurance? Performance models rely on a number of
parameters that need to be estimated - are these estimates realistic and in agreement with sensible design practice, or optimistic so that the aircraft looks
great on paper? As an aircraft goes from a paper design to a real system, weight inevitably increases, drag goes up, and range and endurance come down.
- Under what conditions are the performance figures quoted? If "International Standard Atmosphere" performance is quoted and you're looking to operate in
a country where the temperatures are consistently greater than twenty degrees Celsius and the terrain is well above sea level, the aircraft may not
achieve the quoted performance under real-world conditions.
- If the aircraft is designed to convert from rotor-borne hover for landings and takeoffs to wing-borne forward flight, has the stability and dynamics of the
transition process actually been modelled, or is it just part of the realistic-looking CGI? Proper design for safe transition from hover to forward flight should
be baked in from the start, but the process is difficult, time-consuming, and even beyond the capabilities of many companies that would like to enter the
commercial space.
- Does the promotional video have a catchy rock sound-track, or can you hear the noise that the aircraft makes? It can be very difficult to live up
to promises of "quiet, efficient transport" if the noise that is produced by the propellers, fans and motors is not considered, and properly controlled,
at design stage.
If answers to any of the questions above are not forthcoming, or something else with the design seems a little too optimistic to be true, it may be a sign to take a step back and think.
At Sophrodyne we have the skills and experience to guide you through to a sensible decision. We can do a quick "sanity check" to make sure the numbers stack up, or a more extensive analysis to determine the likely characteristics of the aircraft based on the data that you have. Through our work with certain clients, where this sort of study is done all the time to estimate competitors' capabilities relative to the strengths and weaknesses of one's own technologies, we have models that work from very limited data to give reliable estimates of the most salient performance characteristics of a wide range of flight vehicles - from subsonic drones, through mid-sized commuter aircraft, through to supersonic jets and even hypersonic re-entry vehicles!
Do give us a call if you feel we might be able to help. We may be able to save you from wasting a lot of time and money - or point you in the direction of a really sound and profitable investment.
© Sophrodyne Ltd 2015 - 2025
