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aww look at the little freshmen! (Read 537 times)

Mar 20^th, 2012 at 10:35pm

wahubna Offline
Colonel
WMU Bronco
Michigan

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Posts: 1064

So the Intro to Aeronautical Engineering class here at WMU just received their guid-lines for the glider Design-Build-Fly class competition. It is a pretty basic exercise in aircraft design but it is a freshmen level class.

So funny watching watching the kiddies try understanding aircraft design!

They are scored on time aloft, distance traveled, score deductions for drifting away from a flight path (stability), and finally they have to do a detailed report with some simple test data.

So much fun watching them try figuring their designs out! Most dont even understand Aspect Ratio! Just little kids!

‎"At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation."- Igor Sikorsky

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Reply #1 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 12:38am

machineman9 Offline
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Nantwich, England

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Hey... I'm trying to do mechanical engineering next year at university - This is one of the many first-year projects that we get given Grin

Fortunately I will be taking inspiration from the Gimli Glider Wink

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Reply #2 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 4:00am

expat Offline
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Deep behind enemy lines!

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machineman9 wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 12:38am:

Fortunately I will be taking inspiration from the Gimli Glider Wink

What inspiration is that, mixing up pounds and Kilograms, not reading the gauges and then landing your glider at a different airport to everyone else. If the scale works, then maybe you could set up a Scalextric set at your "diversion" airport for extra points.................. Grin

Sorry could not resist Cheesy

Matt

PETA People Eating Tasty Animals.

B1 Boeing 737-800 and Dash8 Q-400

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Reply #3 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 8:51am

wahubna Offline
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WMU Bronco
Michigan

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Posts: 1064

machineman9 wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 12:38am:

Hey... I'm trying to do mechanical engineering next year at university - This is one of the many first-year projects that we get given Grin

Fortunately I will be taking inspiration from the Gimli Glider Wink

Gimli Glider Grin

In our program for this competition they are also given a list of materials they can build their glider out of. Basically balsa wood, paper, masking tap, clay (CG adjustment), and of course CA glue. They only get enough to build one glider with 3ft of span (roughly). When I was in the class I went over-kill and put a forward sweep on the wing (~5degrees was optimal), ~40degree dihedral in the outer 1/5 of each wing, and a v-tail. She was extremely stable, pretty fast, and thrown right it could go a ways. I could aim for my partner's fore-head at 120ft and nail it!! Grin

‎"At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation."- Igor Sikorsky

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Reply #4 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 10:26am

Flying Trucker Offline
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An Old Retired Rocking
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Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

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Reply #5 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 8:42pm

Mictheslik Offline
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Me in G-LFSM :D
Bristol, England

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Our first year design project was much more fun....

http://youtu.be/NnasdDF68Io

(bad landing due to the prop gearing coming off Tongue

)

And fully loaded (with 5 pound coins)

http://youtu.be/iTKYTLJaXyI

And yes, the concorde nose attachment was my idea...aided the performance dramatically (and provided a nice place to stuff nose ballast Tongue

)

However, now it's just constant 3D design.....I hate ProE Wildfire.....

.mic

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