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Project Overview
Project Overview
This project was completed through the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) at the University of Arizona. Groups were given the same missions to complete, and we worked through scoring, airfoil design, component selection, and more to produce a RC plane to complete with.
January 2019 - April 2019
Mission Objectives
Mission Objectives
The groups competing in the project were given two missions that they would need to complete. These missions were taken directly from a previous years Aircraft Design Competition, run by the AIAA. Read more about these national competitions here.
Mission 1 - Speed and Endurance
Mission 1 - Speed and Endurance
Mission 1 was scored based on the time taken to complete three laps of a designated course. The faster the time, the better your score. In addition to speed, the score was affected by the weight of your team's plane; a lighter plane was given a better score.
Mission 2 - Bombing
Mission 2 - Bombing
Mission 2 was scored according to the number of bombs your aircraft could carry and properly drop. Due to a time conflict with the current AIAA Plane Design Competition, this mission was committed from our competition.
Initial Designs
Initial Designs
Design Matrices
Design Matrices
To make a decision based on the mission requirements and scoring, our team created design matrices to choose airfoil type, fuselage design, control surfaces, etc.
XFLR
XFLR
To confirm our decisions, and make initial calculations, we modeled our airfoil and plane in XFLR5. After we made a sufficient model, we completed a batch analysis on the system.
Prop Selection
Prop Selection
We decided on the prop design that would best suit our needs and maximize our scores on the missions. Our decisions were based on calculations, which would later be confirmed by testing.
Testing
Testing
Prop Testing
Prop Testing
After selecting props that met the requirements previously set, we mounted and tested each model. We looked for thrust, power consumption, and proper vibration levels.
Control Surfaces
Control Surfaces
After assembling the frame of the aircraft using foam board, we mounted and programmed the servos that moved the control surfaces.
Fly Day
Fly Day
Takeoff Mute 1.mp4Example Takeoff
Example Takeoff
Here is an example of a takeoff. The plane if buffeted by the wind, but is properly sized and powered to overcome the outside forces and fly.
Example Flight
Example Flight
During flight, the plane proved to have a well balanced center of gravity (CG) and center of lift (CL). This combination allowed the plane to be stable and nimble in the air.
Flight Mute 1.mp4Landing Mute 1.mp4Example Landing
Example Landing
On landing, the plane had a sufficient chord length, meaning the stall speed of the aircraft was low enough that allows for a smooth touch down.
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