Tailless Wonders

Ala Voladora, the Final Design

Mission Objectives

• Unconventional Photorecon Aircraft• Comply with Request for Proposal• Challenge limits of student design capability• Pursue absolute excellence

The Tailless Wonders• Craig Skoch• Rob McDonald• Sergio Esteban • Chris DeBons• Amy Szyhowski• Keith Gray

Aircraft Layout

• Aspect Ratio• Taper Ratio• Sweep Angle• Washout Angle• Wingspan

60.635o

4o

8 ft.

Aerodynamics

• Oswald Efficiency• Static Margin• CDo

• Cmo

• L/Dmax

0.85610%

0.0110.024

21

Panel Scheme

Panel arrangement about Ala Voladora.

PMARC SolutionCP0.9371730.6874940.4378140.188135

-0.0615443-0.311224-0.560903

Pressure coefficient for Ala Voladora.

Top surface

Bottom surface

Aerodynamic Design

0 1 2 3 4 5

Washout Angle (degrees)0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

c m0

Lambdac/4=30Lambdac/4=35Lambdac/4=40

Zero lift moment coefficient as a functionof washout angle for Ala Voladora.

Sweep Selection

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Lambdac/4 (degrees)-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

X(in

),%

sm

xac

Aerodynamic center location as a functionof sweep angle for Ala Voladora.

Lift Curve

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12alpha

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

CL

Lift coefficient as a function of angle of attack for Ala Voladora.

Drag Polar

-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

CL

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

CD

Total drag as a function of lift coefficient for Ala Voladora.

Airfoil

Root and tip airfoil for Ala Voladora, NACA 653-0018 and NACA 651-0012.

Aerodynamic Load Distribution

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1y/s

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

Sect

iona

lCoe

ffic

ient

CNCAcm

Section normal force, axial force and moment coefficientas a function of spanwise location for Ala Voladora.

Pitching Moment

-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

CL

-0.9

-0.6

-0.3

0

0.3

0.6

0.9

Cm

Pitching moment coefficient as a function of lift coefficient for Ala Voladora.

Winglet Design

0 5 10 15 20 25Sw/S (%)

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Dam

ping

Rat

io

lambda = 0.2lambda = 0.4lambda = 0.6lambda = 0.8

Dutch roll damping ratio as a function ofwinglet area for winglet sweep of 40 degrees.

Winglet Effect on Dutch Roll

Dutch roll response following an impulse perturbation.

0 10 20 30 40 50Time (s)

Am

plitu

de

Without Winglets

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Time (s)

With Winglets

Elevator Trim Calculations

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Static Margin (%)-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5El

evat

orde

flect

ion

(deg

rees

)

V= 30 ft/sV= 40 ft/sV= 45 ft/sV= 50 ft/s

Trim elevator deflection as a function of static margin.

Shear Stress Distribution

3

1

2

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

y/s0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Web

Shea

rStre

ss

123

Shear stress as a function of spanwise location for Ala Voladora.

Structures Design

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

x/c

0

50

100

150

200

250

Web

Shea

rStre

ss(p

si)

Maximum web shear stress as a function ofI-Beam location for Ala Voladora.

Stress Distribution

B

A

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

y/s-200

-100

0

100

200

Stiff

ener

Stre

ss

BA

Stiffener stress as a function of spanwise location for Ala Voladora.

Performance

• Vmax

• RCmax

146 ft/s

1426 ft/m

Thrust Required and Available

0 50 100 150Velocity (ft/s)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Thru

st(lb

f)

TaTr

Thrust required and Thrust available as afunction of velocity for Ala Voladora.

Hodograph

0 50 100 150

Horizontal Velocity (ft/s)-1500

-750

0

750

1500

Rat

eof

Clim

b(f

pm)

Hodograph for Ala Voladora.

External CATIA View

Internal CATIA View

Typical Rib

Wing Jig

Q-Bay Layout

Internal Structure

Ala Voladora

Flying

Flight Pictures

Unit Cost

• Actual• Prototype• Production

$509$50,445

$2,455

Actual Cost

• Airframe• Construction• Controls• Propulsion• Shipping

$45$115

$49$249

$51

Prototype Cost

• Parts• Engineering• Labor• Overhead

$845$35,000

$2,000$12,600

Production Cost

• Parts• Contract Labor• Labor• Overhead

$800$35

$1000$620