\label{cha:strat}
Before major design decisions can be made, a project strategy should be decided upon. The project strategy contains the focus of the project, adding direction and targets to come to a successful final product. It is derived from the overall design objective and mission need statement and outlines the possibilities of the product as well as its target group and the consequent requirements to meet the needs of this future clientele.
The project objective statement is stated as follows:
Make aerobatic racing innovative and eco-friendly for the future.
Based on the overall project objective, the mission need statement is defined as follows:
To design an electric propelled aerobatic racing aircraft with a group of 10 Aerospace Engineering students of the TU Delft and have its first flight in 2025 costing no more than 300,000 Euro, in order to test and show the feasibility of electrically propelled, high performance, sustainable aircraft.
There are various possible usages for an electric aerobatic racing aircraft. In addition to racing and aerobatic competitions, possibilities such as private flight and flight training are to be considered. Each of these possible usages implies a different design strategy. These strategies determine which market to target and will influence, amongst other design decisions, the need to certify the aircraft or the possibility to convert it to a two-seater aircraft.
Design for race: specifically targeting the air race market. When designing for air racing, no certification is required and a one seat version would be sufficient.
Design for aerobatics: targeting the aerobatic competition market. The aircraft will have to perform a wide variety of maneuvers, depending on the aerobatic category it participates in. As with the air races, certification is not necessity for aerobatic aircraft. However, the aircraft could be designed either as a one or two-seater.
Design for aerobatic training/ aerobatic inaugural flights: targeting the flight school market. The aircraft should be a two-seater and should be competitive in endurance and operational costs. In most countries certification is a requirement for performing these tasks commercially \cite{FAAexp} \cite{UKexp} \cite{FRexp}.
Design for private flights: target the private market. The aircraft could be either a one or two-seater. Certification is not a necessity.
The strategy is also influenced by how the aircraft is to be produced and sold. Depending on the feasibility either solely the first aircraft, prototype, is produced at the Delft Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, outsourcing subsequent productions, or all aircraft are produced at the faculty. Furthermore, it has to be decided to either design the aircraft solely as a prototype showing a proof of concept, or to design for series production.
It has been decided to design the aircraft tuned for air racing and aerobatics up to the initial training level. The race market is targeted, thus making it a one-seater, experimental category aircraft. It will be a prototype to showcase the electric propulsion technology with a performance comparable or better than current race aircraft.