By: Anson Hira, Lucindo LoPiccolo, Patrick LeGassic, Robert Seither & Erik Vaska
Adviser: Dr. L. Grega
The TCNJ Aero Design team is to design and build an R/C aircraft that will be entered in the 2013 SAE Aero Design Regular Class Competition in Van Nuys, California. The main objective of this competition is to design an aircraft that can lift as much weight as possible, with a maximum weight of 65 lbs (including aircraft weight, payload, and fuel); bonus points are awarded to teams that can accurately predict their plane’s lifting capacity. Additionally, the aircraft must also adhere to the imposed length, width, and height restrictions (total combined dimensions cannot exceed 225”). Initially, the design of the plane was broken up into five separate parts: 1) wing design, 2) fuselage and payload design, 3) tail and boom design, 4) landing gear design and project management, and 5) testing. During the first semester, the team ran various tests and calculations using concepts from fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Using the results of these calculations and tests, along with ANSYS and Solidworks, each member of the team was able to finalize his design for each component of the aircraft. With the design finalized, necessary parts have been ordered and construction of the plane will begin during the upcoming semester.