Design, Build and Fly
As part of the 3rd year of my studies in Aviation, i did my minor in “Design, Build and Fly”. This is a program that guides you, as a team, to designing, building and flying your own airplane (UAV to be specific). Looking back it at, this was one of the most amazing exeriences i’ve had during my studies, which was mainly due to the incredible team I conducted the project with.
Design
The design of the aircraft had to comply with a few restrictions, most notably:
- Maximum weight of 4 kg,
- Maximum wingspan of 2 m,
- The aircraft must be able to drop a package in-flight.
With this in mind, the following design was ultimately decided upon:
The aircraft features a wooden fusulage, coated with glassfibre, wings of styrofoam, with a skin of glassfibre and a rear-placed engine. The design is 1500x1500mm featuring a weight of around 3 kg. The aircaft has a servo-operated hatch on the underside, allowing it to drop a package in-flight.
My main responsibility in the design-phase was working out the aerodynamics of the aircraft, thus making sure it doesn’t all come crashing down after launching. These efforts don’t directly translate to visuals, but it merely prevents the undesirable visuals during the test flight later on.
Build
Fly
Video:
