The Hierarchy of my Web-Pages logo
Zur deutschsprachigen Seite!
PreSTo

PreSTo - Aircraft Preliminary Sizing Tool

Aircraft Design Spreadsheet Calculation

Aim of PreSTo is to provide the aircraft design calculation scheme from lecture and short course of Prof. Scholz as spread sheet. The spread sheet will ultimately include these modules:
  1. Preliminary Sizing (PreSTo-Classic and SAS - Simple Aircraft Sizing)
  2. Cabin and Fuselage Layout (PreSTo-Cabin)
  3. Wing Layout
  4. Design for High Lift
  5. Empennage Layout I and II
  6. Mass and CG Estimation
  7. Landing Gear Layout
  8. Drag Estimation
  9. DOC Calculation (PreSTo-DOC)
  10. Results, Visualization: 3D and 3-view (OpenVSP-Connect, OpenVSP-Connect 3D Visualization, OpenVSP-Connect Hangar), Interfaces to other Tools
We are working internally quite a bit with PreSTo, but we are a little slow to put things online, because this requires a much more user-friendly appearance of the tool. But we will get there, it's all a matter of time and/or money.

Excel was selected as spread sheet for programming of PreSTo. PreSTo works with separate modules that are connected via a small project file. The project file contains a control center and a database which stores user input data for one design. The project file links between the modules that are located each in one Excel file. The modules take input data from the project file run the design/analysis and output data back to the project file with its database. PreSTo has grown to a size that a full design is described by about 500 aircraft parameters.

 

Philosophy

Philosophy of PreSTo is to support the aircraft designer to convert mission requirements into aircraft parameters. In order to do this, PreSTo supplies:

 

PreSTo Combined Modules (Historical / Experimental)

This is the last version of PreSTo with all modules combined. It was later taken appart into single modules.

*.xls PreSTo_3.4.2_Do728.xls     Changed on:  17 March 2011,     Size:   11M

This file is set up for the Fairchild Dornier 728.

Download COMFAA 3.0 to calculate ACN (floatation) with PreSTo for landing gear design.

Please make sure ...

Some of the single modules are given below (PreSTo-Cabin, PreSTo-DOC). The single modules have been developed a little further in some way than what you find in a related tab here in the old PreSTo 3.4.2. Instead of using Preliminary Sizing from PreSTo 3.4.2 you can also use PreSTo-Classic (for jets) or PreSTo-Classic (for props).

A German tutorial on landing gear design with PreSTo is:

Alexander Golberg, 2011. Fahrwerksauslegung im Flugzeugentwurf und Berechnung der Bodenbelastung in PreSTo (Projekt, PDF). deutsch

German Tutorial about the calculation of the Aircraft Classification Number (ACN) is:

Messner, Christian, 2006. Beschreibung der Bodenbelastung durch Flugzeuge mit Hilfe der ACN/PCN-Methode (Projekt, PDF). deutsch

 

PreSTo Single Modules (Checked)

Version numbering started again with 1.0.

Module 1: PreSTo-Sizing = PreSTo-Classic

Preliminary sizing of aircraft is supported with a spreadsheet that got started already in 1998. The spreadsheets for jets are in use in each aircraft design lecture and short course at our university. Far beyond 1000 students have worked with this tool already over two decades. It is available as Preliminary Sizing Tool: PreSTo-Classic. For backward compatibility we will for now leave this tool in its old "look and feel". It works fine, we like it and we are used to it.

 

Module 2: PreSTo-Cabin

Cabin and fuselage layout is supported with an interactive step-by-step design of the cabin in some detail. Based on cabin parameters, the fuselage general dimensions are found subsequently. PreSTo-Cabin is available as "PreSTo-Cabin_1.0.xls":
*.xls PreSTo-Cabin_1.0.xls*     Changed on:  18 May 2020,     Size:  2.9M
This file is set up for the Airbus A320.

Please make sure ...

*.pdf PreSTo-Cabin_Documentation_10-11-15.pdf     Changed on:  17 February 2011,     Size:  1.8M

*.html Wie werden Excel-Dateien mit Makros & Solver geöffnet? deutsch

*.xls PreSTo-Cabin_1.0_FairchildDornier728.xls*     Changed on:  18 May 2020,     Size:  2.9M
This file is set up for the Fairchild Dornier 728. Cabin data extracted from:
*.jpg FairchildDornier728_3View_and_Cabin.jpg     Size:  963K

*.xls PreSTo-Cabin_1.0_A330.xls*     Changed on:  18 May 2020,     Size:  2.9M
This file is set up for the Airbus A330. Compare cabin data from Airbus with the PreSTo layout:
*.jpg A330_CabinLayout.jpg     Size:  395K

* PreSTo-Cabin is based on EASA CS-25 / Amendment 8 (2009-12-11) and FAA AC 25.807-1 - Uniform Distribution of Exits (1990-08-13).

 

Module 9: PreSTo-DOC

DOC Calculations are supported with a very simple spreadsheet. PreSTo's spreadsheets are intended to pass the parameters from one module to the next. This has not been fully set up. For this reason enter some parameters that should be known by the time you get to the DOC calculation into the yellow field (top right in the spreadsheet).

*.xls PreSTo-DOC_1.0.xlsm     Changed on:  02 June 2021,     Size:  120K

 

PreSTo Publications

item Further reports related to PreSTo

ILT item Presentation at Symposium "Kollaboration im Flugzeugentwurf" (Collaboration in Aircraft Design)

SCHOLZ, Dieter: Aircraft Preliminary Sizing Tools @ Aero : SAS => OPerA => PreSTo => further Tool Chain, (Kollaboration im Flugzeugentwurf - 1. CPACS/RCE Symposium, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Hamburg, 15. / 16. March 2012). - Download: http://PreSTo.ProfScholz.de

*.pdf PreSTo_PRE_Kollaboration_12-03-15.pdf     Size:  2.2M

DGLR item Paper and Presentation at the German Aerospace Conference:

ABULAWI, Jutta; SEECKT, Kolja; POMMERS, Martins; SCHOLZ, Dieter: Automatic Generation of 3D-CAD Models to Bridge the Gap between Aircraft Preliminary Sizing and Geometric Design. In: DGLR: Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2011 : Tagungsband - Manuskripte (DLRK, Bremen, 27. - 29. September 2011), pp 405-415. - ISBN: 978-3-932182-74-X. DocumentID: 241195. Download: http://PreSTo.ProfScholz.de

*.pdf PreSTo_PUB_DLRK_11-09-27.pdf     Size:  519K

ABULAWI, Jutta: Automatic Generation of 3D-CAD Models to Bridge the Gap between Aircraft Preliminary Sizing and Geometric Design. Presentation. Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2011, Bremen, 27. - 29. September 2011. - Download: http://PreSTo.ProfScholz.de

*.pdf PreSTo_PRE_DLRK_11-09-27.pdf     Size:  2.1M

EWADE item Presentation at the European Workshop on Aircraft Design Education:

SCHOLZ, Dieter: PreSTo-Aircraft Preliminary Sizing Tool - From Requirements to the Three-View-Drawing. In: DE MARCO, Agostino; NICOLOSI, Fabrizio (Ed.): Proceedings of 10th EWADE Conference (10th European Workshop on Aircraft Design Education, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy, 24. - 27. May 2011 ). - ISBN 978-88-906484-1-0. Download: http://PreSTo.ProfScholz.de

*.pdf PreSTo_PRE_EWADE_11-05-25.pdf     Size:  2.7M

DGLR item Paper and Presentation at the German Aerospace Conference:

SEECKT, Kolja; SCHOLZ, Dieter: Application of the Aircraft Preliminary Sizing Tool PreSTo to Kerosene and Liquid Hydrogen Fueled Regional Freighter Aircraft. In: DGLR: Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2010 : Tagungsband - Ausgewählte Manuskripte (DLRK, Hamburg, 31. August - 02. September 2010). - ISBN: 978-3-932182-67-7. DocumentID: 161161. Download: http://PreSTo.ProfScholz.de. Archived at: https://perma.cc/K94E-BW3Z.

*.pdf PreSTo_PUB_DLRK_10-08-31.pdf     Size:  590K

 

Man Power and Finances

PreSTo was started as part of the research project Green Freighter with Kolja Seeckt. Since then it grew mainly based on project work from students supervised by Prof. Scholz. One student at a time was responsible to maintain the code and structure programming among all participating students: Hamburg University of Applied Sciences supports the work as an internal research project.

PreSTo is the basis of OPerA (Design Optimization of Jets) and PrOPerA (Design Optimization of Props).

logoBishop.gif Bishop GmbH has supported the development of PreSTo-Cabin by financing and tutoring Philippe Montarnal during an internship.

 

Other projects related to PreSTo are: OPerA - Optimization in Preliminary Aircraft Design and SAS - Simple Aircraft Sizing and OpenVSP-Connect
LAST MODIFIED:  03 July 2025
AUTHOR:  Prof. Dr. Scholz
IMPRESSUM (PDF)

E-Mail-Address
home  Prof. Dr. Scholz
home  Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO)
home  Aeronautical Engineering
home  Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering
home  Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
home  Hamburg University of Applied Sciences