RAeS General Aviation Competition 2022
The team have been challenged with designing an electric aircraft for a humanitarian mission. To help combat the adversities faced by countries without immediate access to food and medical supplies, students are tasked with designing an electric aircraft capable of delivering a payload of 100kg, tested and implemented on the X-Plane 11 flight simulator.
Subsystems
Aerodynamics
The aero design team headed by Amy Mitchell has been tasked with responsibility for design of wings and tackling all required lift and drag equations. The progress to date has been in comparing a broad range of aerofoils and as a team they have selected the Clark Y aerofoil. Current research is being conducted on necessary spars, and whether or not the wing should be swept.
Stability & Control
The stability team headed by Elyse Millard is tasked with forming the code to complete all necessary stability equations, this team is also responsible for directing the sizing of control surfaces. This team has been focussed on developing their MATLab skills, with Elyse teaching the basics of stability calculations.
Power
The power team headed by Barbora Zvolska is responsible for selecting appropriate propellers, motors and batteries as well as creating a system block diagram for the power system. This team has been focussed on researching past electric microlights to determine the amount of mass which must be dedicated to power storage. The team has also been investigating propellers, selecting initially a design utilising four 3-blade propellers, with a current task of creating thrust curves to ensure the optimal propeller is selected for the expected range of speeds.
Structures & Simulation
The structures and simulation team headed by Sam McKeating is responsible for the overall design of the aircraft, selecting materials, and determining dimensions and placements of all components (albeit with restrictions from stability!). This team has been researching past microlight designs, experimenting with X-Plane 11 with a particular focus on researching the use of composite materials to minimise weight.