Challenge 1
Changes I made:
Brought the main wings closer to the front, increased the nose weight, and increased height of vertical stabilizer.
Conclusion Questions:
Which glider or aircraft term was difficult to understand?
None, I understood all of it.
Explain any challenges if someone else were to construct your design using the Aery print.
Correctly tapering the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.
Explain any challenges faced using the Aery software and how you overcame those challenges.
I encountered no challenges..
Brought the main wings closer to the front, increased the nose weight, and increased height of vertical stabilizer.
Conclusion Questions:
Which glider or aircraft term was difficult to understand?
None, I understood all of it.
Explain any challenges if someone else were to construct your design using the Aery print.
Correctly tapering the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.
Explain any challenges faced using the Aery software and how you overcame those challenges.
I encountered no challenges..
Challenge 2
Changes I made:
I decreased the mass of the nose, increased the vertical tail height, and I increased the chord length of the vertical tail.
Conclusion Questions:
Explain any difficulties compared to first challenge.
I had no difficulties making either design fly.
Explain how the new constraints impacted your glider design compared to the first.
Unlike the first glider, in the second glider I had to put the horizontal stabilizer in front of the wings and work with it to make it fly.
I decreased the mass of the nose, increased the vertical tail height, and I increased the chord length of the vertical tail.
Conclusion Questions:
Explain any difficulties compared to first challenge.
I had no difficulties making either design fly.
Explain how the new constraints impacted your glider design compared to the first.
Unlike the first glider, in the second glider I had to put the horizontal stabilizer in front of the wings and work with it to make it fly.
Challenge 3
Conclusion Questions:
Was the glider as stable as you expected?
No, I expected it to be much more stable than it turned out because of how closely I thought I had followed the Aery directions. It must have flown bad because the center of lift and weight were not balanced, and some edges may have been imperfectly sanded, but I still find it hard to believe how much of a drastic failure the glider was.
What techniques did you use to trim the glider for straight and gently descending flight?
I sanded the long ends of the wing and stabilizers so there were no jagged areas and I sanded the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer so it came to a smooth point as air hit it. The "tooth" for the launcher was also cut to be angled into the wind to reduce drag.
How many test flights were required to get the glider trimmed for long distance, straight-line flight?
None of the flights were particularly straight, but I did get an acceptable distance on my third throw despite the glider veering to the left. I feel that if I had thrown the glider differently or used the launcher I may have been able to achieve a more stable flight. I performed no modifications to the glider between any tests since I had assumed that was not an option, and I was persistent on thinking that the glider would be fine if I simply flew it correctly. This was not the case, and I had expected to achieve a good flight on the first try due to my confidence in my ability to construct the glider exactly according to my plans.
Why or why not my glider should be chosen for production?
I would say that both the glider I built, and the Aery simulated glider, should not be produced, and this is because both turned out to be unreliable. The Aery design had a low flight rating, between 130 and 140, which meant the built version had to be extremely precise to even achieve that much flight. Ultimately, the low rating of Aery means that a replica would need excessive precision to achieve flight, and even a perfect build would still have a low probability of flying nicely.
Was the glider as stable as you expected?
No, I expected it to be much more stable than it turned out because of how closely I thought I had followed the Aery directions. It must have flown bad because the center of lift and weight were not balanced, and some edges may have been imperfectly sanded, but I still find it hard to believe how much of a drastic failure the glider was.
What techniques did you use to trim the glider for straight and gently descending flight?
I sanded the long ends of the wing and stabilizers so there were no jagged areas and I sanded the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer so it came to a smooth point as air hit it. The "tooth" for the launcher was also cut to be angled into the wind to reduce drag.
How many test flights were required to get the glider trimmed for long distance, straight-line flight?
None of the flights were particularly straight, but I did get an acceptable distance on my third throw despite the glider veering to the left. I feel that if I had thrown the glider differently or used the launcher I may have been able to achieve a more stable flight. I performed no modifications to the glider between any tests since I had assumed that was not an option, and I was persistent on thinking that the glider would be fine if I simply flew it correctly. This was not the case, and I had expected to achieve a good flight on the first try due to my confidence in my ability to construct the glider exactly according to my plans.
Why or why not my glider should be chosen for production?
I would say that both the glider I built, and the Aery simulated glider, should not be produced, and this is because both turned out to be unreliable. The Aery design had a low flight rating, between 130 and 140, which meant the built version had to be extremely precise to even achieve that much flight. Ultimately, the low rating of Aery means that a replica would need excessive precision to achieve flight, and even a perfect build would still have a low probability of flying nicely.
(Thanks for the images Mrs. Gallo)
Phases of Challenge 3
Phase 1: I planned on using the Aery software and planned from the start to make the simplest flying glider with the goal of minimizing possible error in construct. I was funded by Mrs. Gallo who provided all the materials I needed, including wood, superglue, and clay.
Phase 2: I went into Aery, took the default model, and selected will it fly. Then I took the suggestions of the software and kept modifying different parts of the glider until it told me that the model could fly, all while disregarding any tapering wings or stabilizers. Next I printed out the Aery design and began using wood, glue, and cutting tools to produce a model glider which matched as closely to the design on paper as possible. Outside of the Aery designs, I sanded some edges on the glider to be smooth and added a tooth on the bottom in order to launch the glider with an elastic launching device (a slingshot).
Phase 3: I performed three test flights of my glider and recorded data on the distance, pitch control, and directional stability of the glider each time. I quickly found out that my glider veered off to the left no matter how I threw it, and also saw it go far upwards all three times. This made me come to the conclusion that I had made a grave error in my judgement somewhere in the design process, either with my construction of my glider or the fact that I left the Aery design at a low flight score.
Phase 2: I went into Aery, took the default model, and selected will it fly. Then I took the suggestions of the software and kept modifying different parts of the glider until it told me that the model could fly, all while disregarding any tapering wings or stabilizers. Next I printed out the Aery design and began using wood, glue, and cutting tools to produce a model glider which matched as closely to the design on paper as possible. Outside of the Aery designs, I sanded some edges on the glider to be smooth and added a tooth on the bottom in order to launch the glider with an elastic launching device (a slingshot).
Phase 3: I performed three test flights of my glider and recorded data on the distance, pitch control, and directional stability of the glider each time. I quickly found out that my glider veered off to the left no matter how I threw it, and also saw it go far upwards all three times. This made me come to the conclusion that I had made a grave error in my judgement somewhere in the design process, either with my construction of my glider or the fact that I left the Aery design at a low flight score.