The design report

The aircraft design phases went fairly smooth and there were no issues that could not
be solved with advice from professors and senior students. Analyses on all aspects were
conducted in various ways as progress into the design phases continued using
numerical methods during initial stages and then more complex methods were used.
CATIA was a major component during design and it was also used to estimate weights
and CG position. Applications such as AVL had to be used to estimate the aircraft’s
stability and aerodynamic performance in later stages of design where equations were
not satisfactory due to design complexities.
Fabrication of the aircraft was done in a shorter time frame than design itself but
workload was manageable and the results were rewarding. A few obstacles we did
come across were easily overcome with determination and hard work by the team.
Weight estimations did not pan out as it was initially calculated and some errors in
calculations were later brought to our attention. Landing gears gave some trouble
during tests due to lack of strength and stability of the front right wheel but it was not a
major issue and easily overcome by the pilot’s experience.
Figure 1.05 Figure 1.06
Wing sweep and other complications were discarded due to the fact that they do not aid
in increasing performance and the only real value they had was to increase aesthetics. It
was in everyone’s interest to add a quarter circular shaped edges to the wing to ensure
that the design stayed above other simple twin fuselage designs.
The project was undertaken and completed successfully in the given time frame with
the allowed materials completing all given tasks, although the weight limit exceeded.
This was expected due to the design itself and the fact that there were two batteries,
extra wiring, two motors and two fuselages which was a key point in this design.