Conceptual Design of a Box Wing Firefighting Aircraft

Climate change, deforestation, and urbanization are contributing to a significant increase in the risk of wildfires, which are particularly critical in areas close to urban centers, where the potential damage to people and infrastructure is unacceptable. The use of aircraft in aerial firefighting is a well-established practice, involving both adapted aeronautical platforms and purpose-built aircraft. Among these, scoopers stand out for their ability to rapidly refill water from natural or artificial reservoirs. The box wing represents a disruptive innovation in the aeronautical field, capable of providing greater efficiency and load capacity thanks to its multiplane configuration. This work presents the conceptual design of a firefighting aircraft of the scooper category equipped with a box wing. The aerodynamic analysis has been carried out through numerical optimization software, while the weight estimation relies on a model specifically conceived for conceptual design but still physics-based. To this end, both models available in the literature and newly developed original models have been employed, with the aim of evaluating the performance of the proposed concept and comparing it with that of the main scooper aircraft currently in operation. The results highlight the potential of the box wing in the context of aerial firefighting and lay the groundwork for further design developments aimed at addressing the aspects not covered in this preliminary phase.