![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In further news
Nov. 22nd, 2009 12:57 pmThe continuing saga of Senior Design.
THE PLANE FLEW.
First flight test this morning. This was interesting.
Our first takeoff well, didn't take off, since our center of gravity (CG) was too far forward and it didn't want to pitch up (tip up from the horizontal). The CG was too far forward becauseDumbfuck someone estimated our Aerodynamic center WAY far ahead of where it actually is. Went to the end of the runway and popped the front landing gear's wheel off. Whoops. That's why we do field repair.
Second takeoff resulted in a take off, but not the full circuit. Pilot said it was a very smooth flight, but again, CG is too far forward and it doesn't want to pitch. It landed very softly, resulting in no damage at all!
There were three other groups. Their performance was as so:
- First team didn't take off (much like our first run) but they REALLY broke their front landing gear (broke a weld point... which is intense).
- Second team took off, but their engine cut out and they crashed.
- Third team took off, but their tail boom twisted and the control surfaces were no longer working and they crashed REALLY hard. They're going to be replacing their stringers (fuckers don't even have SPARS like any good wing has) because they're cracked to hell. Though, srsly, wtf were they thinking using CARBON FIBER TUBE stringers, as carbon fiber has no torsional (twisting from end to end) rigidity.
So, we're the most successful. Fuck yeah.
Oh, and when I got to the lab, the parts that I laid out for the fuselage were in fact done. And hey guess what THEY FUCKING WORKED. However, the part of the fuselage I didn't outline perfectly for these guys was totally crap. Like, they took a sheet of nylon and VELCRO-ED IT TO THE FRAME. They seriously would have been better off just putting covering there, wtf. Cause I get to the lab and Dumbfuck is frantically doing stuff (mind you, this was 7 am we had to be at the field at 8 am). And the velcro was basically worthless as they had to tap the whole fucking thing anyway, because it was a SHEET OF NYLON. Like you make swishy pants out of!
So after our first non-takeoff, I beefed up that internal fuselage structure with some fishing line. Yes, fishing line. Because it was crap. And hey, guess what, the twisting was WAY LESS OF AN ISSUE THEN.
The moral of this story is: we made a good plane, even if there are idiots working on the fuselage, and I can do a better job with fishing line and duct tape in the middle of a field. THE END.
THE PLANE FLEW.
First flight test this morning. This was interesting.
Our first takeoff well, didn't take off, since our center of gravity (CG) was too far forward and it didn't want to pitch up (tip up from the horizontal). The CG was too far forward because
Second takeoff resulted in a take off, but not the full circuit. Pilot said it was a very smooth flight, but again, CG is too far forward and it doesn't want to pitch. It landed very softly, resulting in no damage at all!
There were three other groups. Their performance was as so:
- First team didn't take off (much like our first run) but they REALLY broke their front landing gear (broke a weld point... which is intense).
- Second team took off, but their engine cut out and they crashed.
- Third team took off, but their tail boom twisted and the control surfaces were no longer working and they crashed REALLY hard. They're going to be replacing their stringers (fuckers don't even have SPARS like any good wing has) because they're cracked to hell. Though, srsly, wtf were they thinking using CARBON FIBER TUBE stringers, as carbon fiber has no torsional (twisting from end to end) rigidity.
So, we're the most successful. Fuck yeah.
Oh, and when I got to the lab, the parts that I laid out for the fuselage were in fact done. And hey guess what THEY FUCKING WORKED. However, the part of the fuselage I didn't outline perfectly for these guys was totally crap. Like, they took a sheet of nylon and VELCRO-ED IT TO THE FRAME. They seriously would have been better off just putting covering there, wtf. Cause I get to the lab and Dumbfuck is frantically doing stuff (mind you, this was 7 am we had to be at the field at 8 am). And the velcro was basically worthless as they had to tap the whole fucking thing anyway, because it was a SHEET OF NYLON. Like you make swishy pants out of!
So after our first non-takeoff, I beefed up that internal fuselage structure with some fishing line. Yes, fishing line. Because it was crap. And hey, guess what, the twisting was WAY LESS OF AN ISSUE THEN.
The moral of this story is: we made a good plane, even if there are idiots working on the fuselage, and I can do a better job with fishing line and duct tape in the middle of a field. THE END.