I stated most of this in the new member into page, but I'll repost the background info on this project to have it all here as I add to this thread:
Myself and two of my best friends are mechanical engineering bachelors/masters students at University of the Pacific here in Stockton. We have a blended graduate program here that enables students to earn their MS in Engineering Science with a specific concentration (Mechanical for us) and their BS in Mechanical Engineering in 5 years. We are in our 4th year and are working on an independent study type project for our degree, to design and fabricate an ultralight aircraft of our own design over the next two semesters. The three of us are interested in aerospace engineering in general but unfortunately don't have a lot of options at our school specifically in that field, and so are doing this project as our own sort of crash course into the field. We will no doubt be heavily using this resource among many others as we go along, and are very thankful in advance for all the help I'm sure we will receive!
For design, we have the full Solidworks package, so we will be designing and modelling the entire plane in that before actual construction. We can do load simulation, airfoil performance analysis etc. We are by no means trying to reinvent the wheel here, so we are choosing materials and designs based on research and imitation of whats currently out there, but will be doing the engineering analysis as an exercise in engineering process, and of course to verify the performance and safety for our own peace of mind.
For construction which will start in December/January hopefully, we will be building the plane in our garage for the most part, with some thing done on campus when needed. I'm a classic car guy and have all the standard tools any home mechanic should have and then some. The "and then some" being a MIG welder with spool gun for aluminum, big drill press, tube bender, etc. Also available to us through our school shop are a few lathes and bridgeports, TIG's, and a CNC.
All things going according to plan we should be done late March, early April. Our real goal for school purposes is to just get this thing off the ground, AKA run down the runway/field, get a couple feet airborne, touch down, and call it a success. Obviously we want to really fly this thing eventually but that will be beyond the scope of what we are doing for school. None of us have ever flown before either so between now and then some flight lessons will be in order.
More to follow as we progress.
Patrick
Myself and two of my best friends are mechanical engineering bachelors/masters students at University of the Pacific here in Stockton. We have a blended graduate program here that enables students to earn their MS in Engineering Science with a specific concentration (Mechanical for us) and their BS in Mechanical Engineering in 5 years. We are in our 4th year and are working on an independent study type project for our degree, to design and fabricate an ultralight aircraft of our own design over the next two semesters. The three of us are interested in aerospace engineering in general but unfortunately don't have a lot of options at our school specifically in that field, and so are doing this project as our own sort of crash course into the field. We will no doubt be heavily using this resource among many others as we go along, and are very thankful in advance for all the help I'm sure we will receive!
For design, we have the full Solidworks package, so we will be designing and modelling the entire plane in that before actual construction. We can do load simulation, airfoil performance analysis etc. We are by no means trying to reinvent the wheel here, so we are choosing materials and designs based on research and imitation of whats currently out there, but will be doing the engineering analysis as an exercise in engineering process, and of course to verify the performance and safety for our own peace of mind.
For construction which will start in December/January hopefully, we will be building the plane in our garage for the most part, with some thing done on campus when needed. I'm a classic car guy and have all the standard tools any home mechanic should have and then some. The "and then some" being a MIG welder with spool gun for aluminum, big drill press, tube bender, etc. Also available to us through our school shop are a few lathes and bridgeports, TIG's, and a CNC.
All things going according to plan we should be done late March, early April. Our real goal for school purposes is to just get this thing off the ground, AKA run down the runway/field, get a couple feet airborne, touch down, and call it a success. Obviously we want to really fly this thing eventually but that will be beyond the scope of what we are doing for school. None of us have ever flown before either so between now and then some flight lessons will be in order.
More to follow as we progress.
Patrick
