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Papers by John Brandt
49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, 2011
This paper describes the concept of a radio-controlled free-wing aircraft involving a wing sweep ... more This paper describes the concept of a radio-controlled free-wing aircraft involving a wing sweep to retain sufficient control without sacrificing airfoil aerodynamic characteristics. The topics include the design process, fabrication, and wind tunnel and flight testing of the aircraft. The free-wing concept allows the wings to freely rotate about a spanwise axis, independent of the fuselage. Previous attempts at free-wing design involved full-span control surfaces which negated the desired lift and moment properties of the wing airfoil shape required for aircraft stability. By incorporating a sweep back angle, thus effectively increasing the control moment arm, the control surface area is reduced to some outboard portion of the wings and the desired airfoil characteristics for inboard portion are preserved. Airfoil and wing geometries were determined using numerical aerodynamic software to investigate the lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) and moment coefficients. Wind tunnel testing is used to validate the numerical analysis data and equilibrium angle of attack for a range of control surface deflection angles as well as the propulsion system, fuselage, and tail configurations. Upon completion of wind tunnel testing, the complete free-wing aircraft is built and flight testing is conducted to determine the angle of attack of the fuselage as well as the incidence angle of the wing. Evaluation of flight test data will further confirm or refute the proposed design solutions.
49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, 2011
This paper describes the concept of a radio-controlled free-wing aircraft involving a wing sweep ... more This paper describes the concept of a radio-controlled free-wing aircraft involving a wing sweep to retain sufficient control without sacrificing airfoil aerodynamic characteristics. The topics include the design process, fabrication, and wind tunnel and flight testing of the aircraft. The free-wing concept allows the wings to freely rotate about a spanwise axis, independent of the fuselage. Previous attempts at free-wing design involved full-span control surfaces which negated the desired lift and moment properties of the wing airfoil shape required for aircraft stability. By incorporating a sweep back angle, thus effectively increasing the control moment arm, the control surface area is reduced to some outboard portion of the wings and the desired airfoil characteristics for inboard portion are preserved. Airfoil and wing geometries were determined using numerical aerodynamic software to investigate the lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) and moment coefficients. Wind tunnel testing is used to validate the numerical analysis data and equilibrium angle of attack for a range of control surface deflection angles as well as the propulsion system, fuselage, and tail configurations. Upon completion of wind tunnel testing, the complete free-wing aircraft is built and flight testing is conducted to determine the angle of attack of the fuselage as well as the incidence angle of the wing. Evaluation of flight test data will further confirm or refute the proposed design solutions.