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AirfieldModelsStepByStepRadioControlModelAircraftDesign

May05,2015

ModelAircraftDesignStepByStep

ThisarticledescribestheprocessIcurrentlyuseto
designanewmodelaircraftdesign.Theinformation
willbeeditedovertimeasIlearnmore.
AsImentionedontheModelAircraftDesignhome
page,myearlydesignswerenothingtobragabout.I
didnotdefinegoalsforeachmodelnordidIhavea
sounddesignphilosophy.Ihadvagueideasand
startedbuilding.Thisoftenresultedinhaving
conflictinggoalsthatweren'twellthoughtout.
Therearethreethingsyoushouldgetfromthisdiscussionifnothingelse:
Compromiseisarecurringthemeinmodelaircraftdesign.
Amodelaircraftdesignedtoexcelineveryflightcategorywon't.It
simplyisn'tpossible.
Beforeyoudoanythingelseyoushouldworkoutspecificgoalsanda
specificationforyourdesign.
MostnonspecificsportmodelssuchasStiksandSuperSportstersaregood
middleoftheroaddesigns.Theyaren'texceptionalatanythingbuttheyalso
don'thaveanyparticularlybadhabits.They'reeasytobuildandflybutthat's
asmuchascanbesaidforthem.
Whenyoupurposedesignamodelitwilldowhatitisintendedtodovery
well,butotherflightcharacteristicsmaybeprecludedaltogether.Additionally
theremaybetheriskofoneormoredevastatingflightcharacteristicssuchas
vicioustipstallsundersomeconditions.Ifyouunderstandtheserisksand
don'tflyyourmodelinthoserealmsyouwillbepleasedwithyourdesign.

WithEachStepEstablishEngineeringandConstruction
Methods

Thisissomethingyoushouldbemullingoverthroughout.Alwaysstayfocused
onyourdesigngoals,targetloadingsandfinishedweight.Thestructure
shouldbestrongenoughforonlytheintendedflightenvelopeplusa
reasonablesafetymargin.

Challengeyourbuildingskillsbutstaywithintherealmofwhatyoucan
accomplish
Youmayhaveanideaforabeautifulblendedbodydesign,butcanyou
actuallybuildit?Maybeyoucan'tnowbutasyourskillsincreaseitmightbe
verypossibleinthefuture.

Step1CreateaSpecification

Icannotstressstronglyenoughthatthisisthemostimportantstepto
creatingyournewdesign.Ifyouhaven'treadCreatingaDesignSpecification
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foraRadioControlModelAircraftthenIsuggestyoudosobeforeyoubegin
yournewdesign.

Step2ChooseaPowerplant
Iamfirmlyagainstdesigningamodelforawiderangeofengines.This
practiceresultsinamodelthathastoomanyengineeringcompromises.
Themodelmustbestructurallydesignedforthelargestengineintherange
butitwon'tnecessarilybethebestaerodynamically.Ihatetobethebearer
ofbadnews,butyoucan'thaveitall.
Forexample,ifthemodelisdesignedfora.25.40enginethenthemodel
hastobestrongenoughforthelargestengineintherange,a.40inthiscase,
whichwillresultinanairframethatistooheavilybuiltforthe.25engine.

Step3EstablishVerticalPerformanceandAirspeedEnvelope

Rateofclimbisdeterminedbythepowerplant,propellerandtheaircraft's
readytoflyweight.
Whatkindofclimbdoyouwantyourmodeltohave?Shoulditaccelerate
goingstraightupevenfromzeroairspeed?Doyouwantittohaveenough
powertoclimbafewhundredfeetbeforeitrunsoutofmomentum?Should
themodelloopfromlevelflightorisdivingtogainspeedacceptable?Decide
howheavythemodelshouldbethendesignandbuildtowardthatgoal.
Airspeed(minimumandmaximum)isdeterminedbytheengine,propeller
andwing.
Rateofclimbandairspeedinfluenceeachothertotheextentthattheyalways
compromiseeachother.Ifyouwantthemodeltoflyfastandalsobeableto
climbstraightupindefinitelyyouwillneedtobuildthemodellighter.Afast
(highpitch)propellerdoesn'thavethesameluggingpowerasaslow(low
pitch)prop.
Ultimatelyyoumayneedtocompromiserateofclimbtoachievethedesired
airspeedorviceversa.

Fillintheblanks
WeightReadytoFly
MinimumAirspeed

mph

MaximumAirspeed

mph

RateofClimb
(description)

ounces

Step4DesigntheWing

OnethingIwanttomakeveryclearisthatthewingistheairplaneandby
farthemostimportantcomponent.Manyparametersmustbeconsideredat
thesametimeandweighedagainsteachother.Againwewillneedtomake
manycompromisestodeterminewhatarewewillingtogiveuptogain
somethingelse.
Youcanbeginbychoosingafamilyofairfoilsthatcanconceivablymeetthe
specification.Pinningdownaspecificfoilwillbedependentonwhichspecific
designgoalsaremostimportanttoachieveandwhichonescanbe
compromised.
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Forexample,ifaerobaticsareaprimarygoalthenyouwouldcertainly
chooseasymmetricalairfoil.Thespecificairfoilwithinthatfamilywill
dependonotherfactorssuchasairspeedanddesiredstallcharacteristics.
Ruleoutairfoilsthatcannotstallasdesired.Anairfoilthathasagentle,
difficulttoenterstallmaybeapoorchoice,butanairfoilwithan
unpredictableorviciousstallcouldmeanashortlifeforthemodel.
Thetablebelowisintendedtodemonstratehoweasyitistobecomebogged
downinaquagmireofindecision.Notethateachparameterinthechart
affectseveryflightcharacteristicsomewhat.Characteristicsthatare
marginallyaffectedareignoredhere.
Flight
Characteristic Airfoil

DesignParameters
Wing Aspect
Aileron
Dihedral Washout
Loading Ratio
(Area/Style)

Airspeed
RollRate

LiftCapability
Lift/Drag
Ratio

Stall
Stability

Aerobatics

Let'swadeourselvesoutofthebogbyconcentratingonwhat'smost
important,takingittotheextremeofefficiencyandthenscalingitbackas
necessarysothatthemodelispracticaltobuildandtoavoidcreatinga
relatedcharacteristicthatisdevastating.

WingLoading
HowtoCalculate

Wingloadingisagoalyoushoulddesignandbuildtoitshouldnotbea
surprisingdiscoveryattheendofconstruction.
Thewingloadingisacompromiseofseveralflightcharacteristicslowspeed
flight,predictablelandingapproach,rateofclimb(liftfromthewing,notpull
fromtheengine),controlresponse,andhoweasilytheplaneisupsetinflight.
Thelowerthewingloading,theslowerthemodelcanfly.Thehigherthewing
loading,themorepredictabletheairplaneisonlandingapproach.Light
airplanesarestronglyaffectedbypocketsofrisingandsinkingairwhich
makesitverydifficulttospotlandtheairplane.Bythesametokenaheavier
modelislessaffectedbywindbutisalsoslowertorespondtocontrolinputs
andmustflyfastertostayintheair.
Designingtoalightwingloadingmayrestricttheplanetolowertopend
speedstopreventwingfailureduringhighGmaneuvers.Forexample,the
wingmayfoldifyoubuildalarge,lightwingandthenyanktheplaneoutofa
dive.Thisisnotbecausetheaircraftislightbutbecauseitmaybemorefrail
duetothelightweightstructure.Butthelowerinertiaofalightairframealso
imposeslessloadonthewing.Itisverypossibletobuildawingthatisboth
lightandstrong.

WingArea
HowtoCalculate

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WingAreaisnotincludedinthechartbecauseitisvirtually
meaningless.Allthewingareadoesisallowustocalculatethewing
loading.Itisbettertodeterminethewingareabasedonthetargetwing
loadingwhichisbasedontargetweight.
Forthisexamplewe'rebuildingamodeltoweigh7lbswithawingloadingof
20oz./ft2.
Plugthosenumbersintothewingloadingequationtofindthewingarea:
Given:
WingLoading=20oz./ft2
TargetWeight=7lbs
FindtheWingArea:
WingLoading=(Weightx2304) WingArea
(NotethatWeightisinpounds)
Rearrangetheequationtofindthewingarea:
WingArea=(Weightx2304)WingLoading
Plugingivenparameters:
WingArea=(7x2304)20
WingArea=806.4in2
Nowweknowwhattodobuilda7lbairplanehavingabout800square
inchesofwing.Whenbuildingakityouhavetohopeandpraythatthedesign
andincludedmaterialsmakeitpossible.
Oftenakitcomesinataweighthigherthanthemanufacturerspecified.
WhileIdon'tknowthisforafact,Isuspectthepublishedrecommended
weightisbasedonaprototypebuiltbythedesignerwithhandselectedwood
whichisn'twhatcomesinthekit.
Youshouldeasilybeabletostayatorunderthetargetweightofyourdesign
becauseit'syourengineeringandyouselectthematerials.

AspectRatio
HowtoCalculate

Inthechartaboveyoucanseethat
aspectratiostronglyaffectsnearly
everyflightcharacteristic.Itisone
ofthemostimportantdecisionsyou
willmakesoconsideritwell.
Theaspectratioofthewingaffects
severalareasofflightsuchasroll
rate,lifttodragratioandpitch
sensitivity.
Nottheleastimportantflight
characteristicstronglyaffectedby
theaspectratioisthewing's
propensitytotipstallparticularly
inbankedturns.Wermachtexplains
inthesidebar.

Abankedturndescribesa
cone.Thelowerwingtip(the
pointyendofthecone)is
movingthroughtheairata
slowerratethantheopposite
tip(theopenendofthe
cone).Whenthelowertip
stalls,theotherendofthe
wingisstilllifting.
Thestalledtipfallsfromlackofliftbut
liftfromthewingthat'sstillflyingflips
theplaneover.Theaircraftmayenter
aspinfromwhichitmaynotbeableto
recover.

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Mostofusaren'tterriblyconcerned Thisslickmaneuverisanespecially
withfuelefficiency,butforsome
entertainingwayforsomeoneelse's
specializedtasksthisisahigh
planetocrash.
priorityconcern.Themost
aerodynamicallyefficientwingintermsoflifttodragratiowillbeoneof
extremelyhighaspectratio.
Forexample,short,stubbywingsarenotevenconsideredanoptionforthese
types:
Sailplanes
Goalongwayusingverylittlefuel.
Airlines
Moneyspentonfuelislessmoneyinthebank.
VoyagerbyBurtRutan.
Itssolepurposewastoflynonstoparoundtheworldwithoutrefueling
andthenretire.
Ahighaspectratiowinghasabetterlifttodragratioandisgenerallymore
efficientthanalowaspectratiowing.Iftheaspectratioistoohightheplane
willhaveasluggishrateofrollandiseasiertobreak.
Astheaspectratioofawingbecomeslowertheaircraftbecomesmore
maneuverableinrollandlessefficientinlift.That'swhyyouneversee
fighteraircrafthavinghighaspectratiowingsandyoudon'tseebomberswith
lowaspectratiowingswithsomespecialexceptions.
Iftheaspectratioistoolowtheplanemaybetwitchyabouttherollaxisand
slowdownexcessivelyinturns.Lowaspectratiowingshavetremendousdrag
asangleofattackincreases.Lowaspectratiowingsareinefficientandnot
goodforloadlifting.
Soundslikeweneedtocompromiseagain.

WingTaper
Ellipticalwingsareveryefficientbutdifficulttobuildparticularlyelliptical
wingshavingellipticalthickness.Wooddoesn'tlikecompoundcurves.Some
designsgetaroundthisbyadjustingtheairfoil(ribheight)tocreateastraight
taperinthicknessfromroottotipwhichneverlooksright.
Thewaytobuildawingeasilywhileapproachingtheefficiencyofanelliptical
wingistobuildataperedwing.
TheTaperRatioofawingissimplytheTipchorddividedbytheRoot
chord.Highaspectratiowingswithlowtaperratios(tipchordmuchless
thanrootchord)areextremelypronetotipstallssoitisbesttoavoidusing
bothonthesamewing.
Ifyouwantahighlytaperedwingthenkeeptheaspectratiodown.Ifyou
wantahighaspectratiowingthenkeepthetaperratiocloserto1(sameroot
andtipchord).
Knowingthetaperratio,aspectratioandwingareaallowsyoutocalculatethe
rootandtipchordsassumingthewingdoesnothavemultipletapers.

WingSweep
Iamtoldthatsweepingawingrearwardisequivalenttoaddingdihedral(each
21/2ofsweepisequivalenttoapproximately1ofdihedral).Presumablyit
worksevenwhentheaircraftisinverted.Sweepalsomakesanaircraftmore
stablebecauseitcausestheaircrafttopitchdowninastall.
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SweepsomewhatbroadenstheCGrangeofanaircraftaswellasmovingthe
CGrearward.Lastly,sweepmakestheaircraftappearsleeker.
Ihaveneverbuiltaforwardsweptwinganddon'texpectIwilleverdesigna
modelthatusesone.You'llhavetofindanothersourceofinformationifyou
wanttobuildaforwardsweptwing.

Dihedral
Dihedralhastwodistinctaerodynamicpurposesthatimmediatelycometo
mind:
Increasedstability
Allowsanaircrafttobesteeredwiththerudderalone(noailerons)
Asacorollarytothesecondbullet,dihedralcanalsoaddundesiredcontrol
coupling.Controlcouplingoccurswhenonecontrolcausestheaircraftrotate
aboutadifferentaxisthanintendedsuchaspitchingorrollingwhenrudderis
applied.Aerobaticshipsinparticularshouldhaveaslittlecouplingas
possible.Oftenthedihedralneedstobeadjustedtoremoverollcoupling
causedbytherudder.
Unfortunatelythereisnowaytoknowinadvancehowmuchdihedralwillbe
necessarysowemakeourbestguessbasedonpreviousexperience.AsDon
Lowewilltellyou,ifyouwantyourshiptobetunedforcompetitionyouneed
tobewillingtocutthewingaparttoadjustthedihedral.
IhavenointerestincompetitionorprecisionaerobaticsandIdon'tcutmy
wingsapart,butyoumightneedto.
I'vefoundthatapproximately5ofdihedralworksverywellforarudderonly
model.Toolittledihedralwillmaketurnssluggish.Toomuchdihedralwill
makethewinginefficient.

Washout
Washoutisadeliberatewarpbuiltintothewingsothatthewingtipsflyata
lowerangleofattackthanthewingroot.Thepurposeistodelayorprevent
tipstalls.
Ihaveneverfoundwashouttobenecessaryforsportmodelsespecially
constantchordwingswhichbytheirnatureareveryresistanttotipstalls.
Washoutonanaerobaticshipisabadmovebecausethesetypesofmodels
shouldflyasneutrallyaspossible.Anaircrafthavingwashoutwillhavewash
inwhenthemodelisflyinginverted.
Caseswherewashoutwillbebeneficialareaircraftsuchasthosewithhigh
aspectratiowings(sailplanes,airliners),heavyscalemodels,utilityaircraft
(cameraplatforms)andothermodelsnotintendedtoperformprecision
aerobatics.

AileronStyleandArea
Stripaileronsareeasiertobuildandinmyexperiencehaveabetterroll
ratethanbarndoorailerons.Taperedstripaileronstendtoworkbestwith
theleastpossibilityofflutter.
Aileronareaisusually10%20%forstripaileronsandupto25%forbarn
doors.Again,itdependsonwhatyouwanttheplanetodo.Don'tdoanything
tooradicalforyourfirstdesigns.Onceyouhavesometimeontheprototype
youcanadjustthingsonthesecondprototype.

Fillintheblanks
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WingLoading

oz./ft2

WingArea
AspectRatio

in2
:1

TaperRatio

RootChord

TipChord

WingSweep

Dihedral

Stallperformance
(description)

Washout

Airfoil(root)

Airfoil(tip)

Step5DeterminePitchandYawRates
Thefuselageisnothingmorethana
levertomountflyingsurfaces,the
powerplantandvarioussystems.
AsfarasI'mconcernedtheonly
considerationforthelengthofthe
foreornosemomentissothatthe
aircraftwillbalanceascloselyas
possiblewithoutaddingballast.
Thelengthofthepitchandroll
momentsdeterminestherateat
whichtheaircraftrotatesaboutthese
axis.Themomentitselfdoesnot
makeamodelmoreorless
aerobatic,butdeterminestherate
andsizeofthemaneuver.
Longermomentsmakeforlarger,
smootheraerobaticsthanashorter
moment.
Mostpeoplewilltellyouthatthe
combinedareaofthefixedstabilizer
andelevatorshouldbeabout20%of
thewingarea.Youcan'tgowrong
withthatnumberbutitisavery
conservativeandsafeareathat
doesn'talwaysmakethemost
efficientsetup.

UntestedTheory
Itismybeliefthat(theoretically)the
horizontalstabilizercanhaveany
amountofareaandanylength
moment.
Asthepitchmomentbecomeslonger,
thestabilizercanbecomesmaller.As
themomentbecomesshorterthearea
mustincrease.
However,Ibelievethatthisrule
ensuresthatthereiswidelatitudefor
placementofthecenterofgravity.
Ifwemixandmatchwecanhavea
shortpitchmomentandasmall
horizontalstabilizer.However,thiswill
maketheCGmuchmorecritical
perhapstothepointthatachangein
fuellevelwillmovetheCGenoughto
maketheaircrafttoounstabletofly.
Wealsohavetoconsiderthatifwe
takethisideatotheextremethenwe
alsohavetodependontheairbeing
perfect(whichitisn't)whilehaving
perfectlyuniformdensity(whichit
doesn't).

Theverticalstabilizer,including
Ihaven'ttestedthistheorysoifyou
rudder,areusuallyabout8%15% wantto,thenyoudosoatyourown
ofthewingarea.Aswiththe
risk.
horizontalstabilizer,thesizecan
decreaseasthemomentincreasesandviceversa.
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Agoodstartingpointforratioofmoveablesurfacetofixedsurfaceisthat10
40%oftheoverallsurfaceshouldmove.Youcanadjustthathoweveryou
like.3Daircraftoftenhavemovingsurfacesthatarelargerthanthefixed
surfaceaswellasextremecontrolthrows.
EventhoughIdon'tlikedoingit,Iwillcutofftailsurfacesandreplacethem
withnewonestoimproveadesign.Manypeopleconsideradesignsuccessful
justbecauseitflies,butfranklythat'snotmuchofafeat.Ifyouwantyour
designstobeexcellentthenconsidertheprototypetobeatestbedandbe
willingtocutitup.

Step6LayitOutonPaper
Atthispointwedon'tcareabouttheoutlinesofthedesign.Wecanmakeit
prettylater.
Startbydrawingareferencelineonyourpaper.Locatethewingas
desired.Foramorestabledesign,movethewinghigher.Foraneutrally
stabledesignplacethewingonthereferenceline(aswellasthestabilizer
andengine).
Determinethehorizontalstabilizerlocationanddrawit.
AtthispointIstartsketchingoutlines.Ifyouwantyourdesigntoachieve
highspeedsthenthefuselageshouldbeaerodynamicallycleanandhaveas
littlefrontalareaaspossible.Filletshelppreventturbulent,highdrag
airflow.
Ifyouwantthefuselagetosupportknifeedgeflightthenitshouldhaveplenty
ofsideareawithalargepercentageofthatareatowardthefrontofthe
aircraft.
Ifyouwanttopreventspeedbuildupthenthebestwayistodesignathicker
wing.Youcanalsoincreasethedragofthefuselagebydesigningmore
frontalareaoraddingabluntwindscreenandcowlratherthanastreamlined
cowl.Theseitemscreateturbulentdragwhichiswhytheyarenotasgoodof
achoiceasbuildingthickerflyingsurfaces.
Ihonestlyhavenowaytodetermineinadvancehowlongthenosemoment
shouldbe.Inormallyfleshoutthedesignfromthewingtothetailandthen
visualizeitin3Dinthebareconstruction.
FromthereIlocatetheenginewhereitlookslikeitwillbalancethemodel.
I'musuallyprettyclosealthoughmymodelstendtocomeinnoseheavy.
AnotherconsiderationisthatItrytomakethefueltankfitentirelyinits
compartmentratherthanallowingittoextendintotheradiocompartment.

Step7BuildIt
Thenflyitalot.Learnwhatyoucan,makepracticaladjustmentsandthen
buildanother.Whentheaircraftfliesasyouoriginallyspecifiedthenit's
readyforprimetime.

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