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Where do I go to find design basics?

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Where do I go to find design basics?

Old 11-14-2005, 02:37 PM
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Skycam41
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Default Where do I go to find design basics?

I want to design my own aerial photo plane in a pusher configuration, twin boom tail. Where can I go to find basic model plane design basics so I have a fair chance of getting it off the ground?

Cheers

Mike
Old 11-14-2005, 03:54 PM
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BMatthews
 
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Default RE: Where do I go to find design basics?

You could start right here with the sticky thread FAQ and some of the links in it.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_1941845/tm.htm

First you need to answer the basic question of how much weight and volume is your anticipated payload going to be and how long do you want to stay airborne. Further to that what sort of flying site restrictions do you have if any? Desired flight speed? from those answers you can start to flesh out the model design by choosing wing area, airfoil, fuselage cross section and general size and move on from there. If you've never done this sort of designing before then also plan on what construction methods and materials you're happy with and figure out how to best apply them to your abilities and needs.
Old 11-14-2005, 05:17 PM
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iaclmac
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Default RE: Where do I go to find design basics?

Welcome to the world of scratch building!!! I have enjoyed doing my own thing for close to 30 years now. There is nothing more rewarding than getting your own creation off the ground. The answer to your question is not necessarily an easy one. However since this is your first leap into design, you might try to find one or two existing planes to use as a model. The key for me has always been to preserve the the relationship between flying surfaces. The measurements I find to be key... wing size (span and chord) ... Distance between the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the stab ... the size of the stab and elevator (span and chord) and the size of the fin and rudder. As long as you keep those relationships in tact, you can pretty well wrap any fuselage shape around those proportions. The final element is going to be balance. Again ... take that from your prototype. If the prototype does not show it ... I would guess somewhere between 25% - 30% behind the leading edge of the root chord of the wing. Remember ... if it is slightly nose heavy ... it will be a little sluggish. However a slightly tail heavy, the airplane can be a nightmare to handle in the air. If you set it up being slightly nose heavy, you can always move the battery and receiver further back toward the tail on the second flight.
Old 11-23-2005, 01:07 PM
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Balsacutter
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Default RE: Where do I go to find design basics?

I've always been interested in design and I have all the popular model design books. By far the best introduction (IMHO) is Andy Lennon's "Basics of R/C Model Aircraft Design", published in '96 and still available in softcover from Amazon.

Andy's a real engineer at heart and he has a thing for fancy gadgets: slotted flaps, high-lift devices, and weird configurations (canard, etc.) but the basics are all there too, including some good sizing rules of thumb to get you started. Andy published a series of complex but interesting designs throghout the 80's and 90's in M.A.N and other mags like the Crow, Swift, etc. which featured his ideas.

The other books are mostly theory-of-airfoil discussions for the competition R/C glider crowd, who are looking to get the last bit of minimum sink/ maximum penetration advantage out of their composite-material masterpieces. You can go a long way in R/C power design before you'd have to worry about all that stuff.

I think the biggest risk in design is getting bogged down with all the detail. My advice is to make sure you focus on cutting balsa.

- Norm
Old 11-23-2005, 04:47 PM
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Jigley3
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Default RE: Where do I go to find design basics?

Skycam....

Good place to start http://www.airfieldmodels.com/ This gentlemans site is first class. A metric ton of info

see also....

http://www.palosrc.com/instructors_corner.htm

Bert

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