Help Design an Electric Airplane!!!Blind
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My name is Frank. I live in Colorado USA. I have an idea for building an airplane of my own design. I would like to see how it would look and fly by first building a smaller, remote control version. My plan is to post this contest and have the file printed in a foam product. I would then add the electric motors and servos and put in reinforcements and cover it will kevlar or carbon fiber.
I will then fly it and make changes as deemed necessary.
Briefly, I eventually want to build a full sized Electric powered airplane capable of short take offs but still able to fly fast. I have the basic plan on paper and the files are attached. What I would like to do is have it converted to a very sleek, futuristic, and sexy looking CAD file. I will then have it cut out of high-density foam blocks, so the design needs to be configured so that it can be cut up into blocks that can interlock precisely together. Inside of these blocks would be cut outs for structural element (Like carbon fiber tubing). The file attached shows my plan for the full-sized aircraft. The remote control model I want to build will need to be about 1/5 sized. The craft will need to be in separate elements that can be pressed neatly together with interlocking components. The tail will have the two separate components. The top wing, which articulates, will be a separate component. The Alierons will be separate. and the rest of the aircraft will need to be cut into small enough pieces for the CNC machine to cut
The airfoil shape will be NLF(1)-0115
In short, I am hoping in the future, and with this as a start, to design an airplane that is easy to build and easy to fly. It will be able to take off and land short because it will be able to fly very slow with the upper wing and two of the four props positioned at a high angle of attack. (thus the thrust vector will also help get the airplane aloft). The distributed propulsion should also give it STOL capabilities, even with the faster natural laminar flow airfoil. It will be able to fly fast because it will use a fast laminar air foil so careful attention will need to be made to areas of parasitic drag. It will eventually have retractable gear, but this is not to be included in this rendering. I will sort out weight and balance issues with batteries placement location.
Given that I eventually want to build a full sized real airplane, I am looking for a designer with some experience or training in aeronautics (or a partcular interest in the subject and with a general engineering background). The winner will be first in line to bid on the actual airplane CAD designing/enginnering which will need significantly more work to make it structurally sound, to add gear, a cockpit, instruments, and in some places on the aircraft to do a finite element analysis.
- Solidworks or similar
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Discussion
Designer
We can engineer and deliver your dream electric airplane within the budget and timeline mutually agreed upon.
Buyer
Buyer
for the purpose of this RC model I will be using the same airfoil. It’s possible I may want to change that to something more capable of handling a higher angle of attack on the top wing as I get closer to the real airplane.
Similarly, for the remote control version I had planned on just using the airfoil designated and cutting out the ailerons from foam. It’s likely that will change with the actual airplane.
I would just use a symmetric air foil like Naca 0012 for the struts.
I’m not trying to create a VTOL aircraft. Rather, I am thinking of something that hopefully could get off the ground very quickly. I’m thinking the maximum range of motion of the upper wing to be around 10°.
The Emrax axial flux 188 motor looks very good to me for the four motors. I think the power output would be adequate to accomplish my needs. I am not 100% settled on this but the dimensions are available on their website. I think this would be a good place to start.
I think having 0° of angle of attack at the bottom wing route makes sense. Given that the top wing can change its angle of attack gives some wiggle room.
I am also unsettled on the elevator rudder design and and purposely leaving that blank so I can tinker with it with the model.
Thank you for your thoughtful questions
Designer
Please could you clarify a few things:
1. Does the articulated upper wing have the same NLF(1)-0115 aerofoil section?
2. Is there a particular aerofoil section you require for (a) the 2-piece elevator, (b) the struts between upper and lower wings?
3. Do you have a required adjustment angle range for the upper wing that needs to be accommodated in the scale model?
4. I see your requirement for -2 deg washout for the outer 4&; of the lower wing; is the wing chord at the root parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (i.e zero AoA in level flight)?
5. Have you any information on the size (length, diameter) of both the outboard / strut-mounted and inboard / wing-mounted electric motors & propellers for the scale model, e.g. for dimensioning the nacelles, or should we just scale from the sketches?
Thanks,
Richard
Buyer
Buyer
Buyer
Thank you for this interesting project, I will be submitting a design!
@GalaxyRobotics
Sorry for the confusion and this being unclear. In my diagram Top view I indicate that 1 box is 12 inches. This was meant to explain the scale of the drawing for the eventual airplane that I would like to build. This being the case, the drawing is for an aircraft that has a 23 foot wingspan and is 26 feet long. The scale model remote control airplane I want to build first with this CAD drawing with be 1/5 that size, or 55.2" wingspan. I hope this helps!
Frank
Buyer
2 - I will use spray foam adhesive or Gorilla glue to fix the foam blocks to each other as I am build the airplane up.
3 - So the final airplane will measure 23 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The R/C model will be 1/5 size, so it&;s wingspan will be about 55.2". The 12" per box refers to the scale on the graph paper. At this scale the pins for the articulating tail will be around 0.25", but there is room for discretion.
Thanks for your interest!
Some questions based on your statements
1. "the design needs to be configured so that it can be cut up into blocks that can interlock precisely together. Inside of these blocks would be cutouts for structural elements (Like carbon fiber tubing"
Is all the tubing for the structure 1" diameter as well ?
Are you setting the tubing structure by yourself, or do I need the make all the internal tubing inside of the foam blocks.
2.When you join foam with foam and interlock.
will it wiggle? or are you going to use a plastic piece that makes the pieces join together more neat?
3. When you talk about articulation. what kind of pin size are you using to design the thing accordingly
4. The remote control model I want to build will need to be about 1/5 sized
to have a better reference of the siza. is the total length of the airplane is 12 inches as you put in the top view 12"
thank you
vinayn
Designer