Will Aldridge
Well-Known Member
I jsut started the design of a new ELSA. I wanted to buy a small biplane but that looks like it's not going to happen so I decided to try my hand at designing a fairly simple steel tube fuselage low wing monplane with a 55-65 hp engine on it.
At the moment it's just what i think looks good with no tweaking. I want to use a steel tube fuselage because I figure it will be easier to calculate the forces on it than it would be for other materials.
The wing is slightly tapered with a 23-015 airfoil from root to tip.
Does anyone know of a program that will calculate forces in a truss type structure?
I have X-plane and am working on creating the plane in planemaker to see what kind of results I can expect. I'm hoping to get the plane in the 300-350 pound empty weight range.
Below is a screen grab from Rhino3d
At the moment it's just what i think looks good with no tweaking. I want to use a steel tube fuselage because I figure it will be easier to calculate the forces on it than it would be for other materials.
The wing is slightly tapered with a 23-015 airfoil from root to tip.
Does anyone know of a program that will calculate forces in a truss type structure?
I have X-plane and am working on creating the plane in planemaker to see what kind of results I can expect. I'm hoping to get the plane in the 300-350 pound empty weight range.
Below is a screen grab from Rhino3d
