PFR - Aerospace Engineering Sciences Senior Design Projects ...

Project Final Report – CUDBF April 30 th , 2009
ASEN 4028: Aerospace Senior Projects
The funding available for the project was provided by the Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Department at the University of Colorado, the Engineering Excellence Fund, and Lockheed
Martin Corporation. Each internally funded project receives $4,000 funding from AES. Since
this funding was inadequate for the entire project, additional funding was sought from EEF and
Lockheed Martin. The team applied for and received funding from EEF on the order of $2,000.
Lockheed Martin, a longtime supporter of CUDBF and RECUV, also supported the project by
providing a generous donation of $10,000. Funding under these sponsors brought the CUDBF
budget to a maximum of $16,000.
Aircraft construction was composed of four major categories: wing, propulsion, avionics, and
missions. A breakdown of the entire project budget can be observed in Figure 143 on page 158
and Table 26 on page 159. The total estimated cost of the project was $15,162 including a 25%
margin added to all spending. This placed the project under the $16,000 limit by $838. The
actual cost of the budget was $13,955.
13.4.1 Wing Budget
The major components for the wing construction were the foam wing cores and the balsa
sheeting. Based on previous contact with FlyingFoam.com, the estimated cost for custom cut
foam cores is approximately $1,500 for 12 sets of wings. Balsa sheeting will be purchased from
Specialized Balsa and is quoted to cost $957. The reinforcements and other structural
components will cost approximately $450 while adhesives cost an estimated $300. The total cost
to build all the wings is approximately $3,291. Due to an overestimation of the foam core costs
from FlyingFoam.com, the total cost of the wing construction was cheaper than expected. The
actual cost of the wing construction was $3,107.
13.4.2 Propulsion Budget
Propulsion components were comprised of the battery cells, motors, gearboxes, and ESCs.
Competition battery cells were been ordered from CheapBatteryPacks.com with a discount value
of 25% for a total of $180. An additional LiPo battery was ordered to allow for longer test
flights for $200. Neu Motors agreed to a 50% discount on all parts, bringing the motor and
gearbox costs to $375 and $300, respectively. A 30% discount was received from Castle
Creations, allowing the purchase of ESCs to cost $686. With the addition of propellers and
wiring, the total propulsion team cost was estimated to be $1,841. The actual costs of propulsion
were much higher than anticipated. Backup motors, batteries, propellers, and speed controllers
were ordered to replace broken items during testing. Additional shipping costs also inflated the
expenditures. The total budget for propulsion was $3,128.
13.4.3 Avionics Budget
The avionics system was comprised of the transmitter, receiver and servos. The team needed to
purchase a DX6i transmitter and BR7000 receiver from Spektrum for $320. Servos and
connectors were purchased from ServoCity.com for about $680. The total budget for avionics
was estimated to be $1,000. The actual costs of avionics was $1,551. This was due to ordering a
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