School project

[nisk24]

I have been given the task to make a big school project on anything I want until the end of this school year. Due to my love for rc and anything that flies my immediate thought was to do a project on aerodynamics and how they affect an efficient wing. Basically I'm thinking of making a school project to try and create the most efficient wing. My question is in which way should I experiment with that wing, so that it has the most effect on efficiency? That is should a try using different wing types (undercambered or flat bottum which I am against because it's complex for someone who does not know) or should a try and experiment with the width and height of the wing? Please help me out on this. I need it to have the most effect. If it about flight and not about the wing please still take the time to tell me I am interested

Your help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Ps: thinking of using the tiny trainer...

 

[Hai-Lee]

This link may be of use to you in your task.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Wind-Tunnel/

Have fun!

 

[Merv]

try and create the most efficient wing.

Which wing is most efficient depends on what is the task. Do you want speed, heavy lifting, endurance or something else. Each wing shape has strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Scooter The White Rabbit]

FT Tiny Trainer is Excellent Choice. Reason is the in kit two wing designs. The wing span is 37 inches. If you build a wind tunnel to show off the effects, make it about 40 inches wide/tall. This will give you plenty of interior room to work. You can use DTFB (Adams Board), and can also make this transportable in fold flat sections. You will need more than one fan bolted, taped, braced together, wired to one common power cord for ease of use and set up. Look into strip LED lights to light up the inside of the "Test Chamber", and marking the Plexiglas for measuring. A digital hanging scale will assist in measuring drag. I'm thinking of doing this project to test FT Guinea Pig Mods, and for cargo drop efficiency testing, parachute testing as well. Good Luck! BTW... Flat bottom corded wings aren't really that bad to build. The FT Speed Kits make it easy to do, understand, and you can use the parts to template/modify other wing designs and mods to test. The videos here are FANTASTIC for learning construction technique/ideas.

 

[nisk24]

Which wing is most efficient depends on what is the task. Do you want speed, heavy lifting, endurance or something else. Each wing shape has strengths and weaknesses.

I'm interested at the duration of a flight. Most likely by throwing the plane from a height

 

[nisk24]

FT Tiny Trainer is Excellent Choice. Reason is the in kit two wing designs. The wing span is 37 inches. If you build a wind tunnel to show off the effects, make it about 40 inches wide/tall. This will give you plenty of interior room to work. You can use DTFB (Adams Board), and can also make this transportable in fold flat sections. You will need more than one fan bolted, taped, braced together, wired to one common power cord for ease of use and set up. Look into strip LED lights to light up the inside of the "Test Chamber", and marking the Plexiglas for measuring. A digital hanging scale will assist in measuring drag. I'm thinking of doing this project to test FT Guinea Pig Mods, and for cargo drop efficiency testing, parachute testing as well. Good Luck! BTW... Flat bottom corded wings aren't really that bad to build. The FT Speed Kits make it easy to do, understand, and you can use the parts to template/modify other wing designs and mods to test. The videos here are FANTASTIC for learning construction technique/ideas.

Thank you for the inspiration! You gave me great ideas. Also I was thinking of the ft tiny trainer due to it's simplicity and ease of changing the wings. That way it will be easier to experiment for the project

 

[Scooter The White Rabbit]

Glider, trainer, sport plane. if it wasn't for the cargo capacity of the Guinea Pig, I'd have bought the Tiny Trainer to start out. Luck to you! Check out my build thread for craziness and pictures of my builds in process!

 

[Hai-Lee]

I'm interested at the duration of a flight. Most likely by throwing the plane from a height

For "measurement" purposes you will need a uniform method of launching as human performance and biases can adversely effect the results or outcome.

Better if you use a bungee launcher and a launching ramp which you can calibrate in pounds of force per unit weight and give each test subject equal launch velocity at the exact same incidence, or launch trajectory. You can even explore the relationship between the launch angle and distance covered.

Just some thoughts!

Have fun!

 

[Merv]

I'm interested at the duration of a flight. Most likely by throwing the plane from a height

A long, narrow wing, like the TT has, will be your best choice for duration.

You could build several wings for the TT, one stock, one same size but thicker and one same thickness as stock but shorter and wider. Instead of 5 inches wide, make it 7. Keep the square inches of wing area the same by making the wing shorter.

 

[Hai-Lee]

At the low Reynolds numbers used in model aircraft it would also be a good study to check out the effects of vortex generators as well as lift fences upon the wing efficiency. They are both relatively simple to implement and can give the wing better/more uniform boundary layer flows.

have fun!