Designing the plane
To begin the design process for our plane, my team and I started at the most essential feature. The wings. We spent a week or so deciding the airfoil shape, and then another 3 weeks calculating out the optimal wingspan, chord length, dihedral angle, and much more. Once the wings were settled we began work on the fuselage frame. We had to determine the size and position of each mission system's compartment within the fuselage. After that, the wings had to be attached to the fuselage. This was achieved by means of the central "spine" aluminum spar. The fuselage and wing both clamped on to this spar allowing fine adjustments to the balance of the plane. Lastly, the tail sections and mount were designed.
Some of the main challenges we faced when designing the plane were deciding which factors were the most important to consider when optimizing the design. Did we want to reduce drag or reduce weight and material costs? Did we want to increase stability or simplicity? Did we want high speed capabilities or slow stall characteristics? Determining the correct answer to these questions took more work and research than doing the optimizing itself. We learned that in almost every case the answer was somewhere in the middle, but finding the best balance was never easy.
QUICK ID
Phone
​