Glider Building
Test Flights
1. The plane flew to about 40 feet then began to descend slowly and stopped at 47 feet, but the vertical tail and stabilizer broke off of the plane when it landed. During flight the plane flew at a high velocity, the plane had very good pitch stability, and the plane flew straight without turning. After the flight I repaired the plane then sanded down the wing's airfoil to provide more lift to the plane.
2. The second flight did not go as far as the first flight did, possibly due to damage, and the plane flew to about 42 feet then quickly dove and hit the ground without breaking. I realized that the plane was still directionally stable, but it needed slightly more lift during the flight, so I cut out tape for elevators and attached them to the plane's stabilizers.
3. The third flight of my plane provided too much lift to my plane and caused the plane to stall around 35 ft then crash at the 41 foot mark and break. After fixing the plane again I decided that the elevators needed to be shorter and angled upward at an angle closer to 180 degrees to provide lift without stalling the plane.
2. The second flight did not go as far as the first flight did, possibly due to damage, and the plane flew to about 42 feet then quickly dove and hit the ground without breaking. I realized that the plane was still directionally stable, but it needed slightly more lift during the flight, so I cut out tape for elevators and attached them to the plane's stabilizers.
3. The third flight of my plane provided too much lift to my plane and caused the plane to stall around 35 ft then crash at the 41 foot mark and break. After fixing the plane again I decided that the elevators needed to be shorter and angled upward at an angle closer to 180 degrees to provide lift without stalling the plane.
My plane was only able to achieve a flight of 47 feet instead of the intended flight of 50 feet.
Conclusion Questions
Flight Data Recording Form Questions
1. The glider was a lot more stable than I had expected it to be, especially I was surprised that the plane flew straight each time because it had a lot of roll and yaw stability. The glider was stable because I had followed the blueprints off of the AERY program that claimed the plane was capable flight, and the stability of the plane came from the vertical and horizontal stabilizers being built perfectly.
2. To trim the glider for a smooth flight I used sandpaper on the wood surfaces and edges. While using the sandpaper I tried to flatten any part of the wood that was splintered, and I also curved the hard edges of the wings to provide less resistance. Another technique I employed was creating airfoils on the wings by sanding down the top and bottom sides to create cambers on both wings that are equal to each other providing equal lift and drag.
3. The glider was able to achieve its maximum potential after 2 test flights while building the glider, and I expected this as the first flight would demonstrate how I need to modify my plane and the second flight would demonstrate other parts of the plane that need improvement. By the time I threw the plane a third time I had modified the airfoil of the plane and glued the vertical tail and stabilizer onto the fuselage in a more aligned position to provide better stability.
Other Conclusion Questions
1. While testing my plane I noticed that the plane would unexpectedly lose all lift and nose dive due to the heavy mass on the front of the fuselage, even though the AERY software said the plane would fly fine it needed to have some of the mass taken off. Another unforeseen problem was that AERY did not provide an approximate distance that the plane could travel, and due to my plane's small size the wings couldn't provide enough lift to sustain flight for 50 feet.
2. The most optimal designs for the plane to reach the distance would be to make the wings as large as possible within the constraints so that the plane will fly the entire distance, another feature would be proper airfoils as the wings will be able to deflect the airflow, and a final optimal feature would be to remove a lot of mass at the nose of the plane.
1. The glider was a lot more stable than I had expected it to be, especially I was surprised that the plane flew straight each time because it had a lot of roll and yaw stability. The glider was stable because I had followed the blueprints off of the AERY program that claimed the plane was capable flight, and the stability of the plane came from the vertical and horizontal stabilizers being built perfectly.
2. To trim the glider for a smooth flight I used sandpaper on the wood surfaces and edges. While using the sandpaper I tried to flatten any part of the wood that was splintered, and I also curved the hard edges of the wings to provide less resistance. Another technique I employed was creating airfoils on the wings by sanding down the top and bottom sides to create cambers on both wings that are equal to each other providing equal lift and drag.
3. The glider was able to achieve its maximum potential after 2 test flights while building the glider, and I expected this as the first flight would demonstrate how I need to modify my plane and the second flight would demonstrate other parts of the plane that need improvement. By the time I threw the plane a third time I had modified the airfoil of the plane and glued the vertical tail and stabilizer onto the fuselage in a more aligned position to provide better stability.
Other Conclusion Questions
1. While testing my plane I noticed that the plane would unexpectedly lose all lift and nose dive due to the heavy mass on the front of the fuselage, even though the AERY software said the plane would fly fine it needed to have some of the mass taken off. Another unforeseen problem was that AERY did not provide an approximate distance that the plane could travel, and due to my plane's small size the wings couldn't provide enough lift to sustain flight for 50 feet.
2. The most optimal designs for the plane to reach the distance would be to make the wings as large as possible within the constraints so that the plane will fly the entire distance, another feature would be proper airfoils as the wings will be able to deflect the airflow, and a final optimal feature would be to remove a lot of mass at the nose of the plane.