Implementing A Progressive Approach To Tangible Aircraft Design

Implementation of an undergraduate aircraft design curriculum in a short aeronautical engineering course sequence can be challenging. Ideally, students need to be taught fundamental aircraft design material in a way that can easily be transitioned to a hands-on design project. The project should be both interesting and fun but also try to cover the entire design process from a conceptual standpoint to the preliminary design phase and finally expose them to the detailed manufacturing of a prototype for testing. As is often the case, time and resources are limited and much of the hands-on engineering education experience so valuable to a student is hard to achieve. While many students can and do receive this type of educational experience through a competitive capstone design project, it is arguably better that this is not the first time they are exposed to integrating and applying the material covered in an aeronautical engineering course sequence. This paper details how to make use of an inexpensive hands-on glider design project that can be integrated across a short undergraduate aeronautical engineering course sequence effectively educating students on the practical application of aircraft design. Through the individual design and construction of multiple balsa wood gliders over a two course sequence, each student can apply and correlate the various aspects of aircraft design with tangible, measureable results better preparing them to work as a team in support of a capstone project. While the use of balsa wood gliders in aerospace engineering is relatively common, this paper details how to apply a more robust design methodology that enhances a student’s aircraft design education. The goal of the paper is to provide engineering educators with the documentation, analytical tools, and examples necessary to establish a glider design project within their own existing engineering courses. Some aircraft design aspects addressed are aircraft sizing, stability, configuration and layout, as well as performance parameters such as lift-to-drag ratio, wing loading, and range. Direct feedback on successful or unsuccessful design aspects are realized through class competitions using the individually constructed gliders and results are formalized in a report. The impact of the project on student capstone performance and its contribution to aircraft design education is assessed through student surveys and degree of capstone progress.