Abstract
Design of a three lifting surfaces radio-controlled model has been carried out at Dipartimento di Progettazione Aeronautica (DPA) by the authors in the last year. The model is intended to be a UAV prototype and is now under construction. The main goal of this small aircraft's design is to check the influence of the canard surface on the aircraft's aerodynamic characteristics and flight behavior, especially at high angles of attack. The aircraft model is also intended to be a flying platform to test sensors, measurement and acquisition systems for research purposes and a valid and low-cost teaching instrument for flight dynamics and flight maneuvering. The aircraft has been designed to fly with and without canard, and all problems relative to aircraft balance and stability have been carefully analyzed and solved. The innovative configuration and the mixed wooden-composite material structure has been obtained with very simple shapes and all the design is focused on realizing a low-cost model. A complete aerodynamic analysis of the configuration up to high angles of attack and a preliminary aircraft stability and performance prediction will be presented.
Highlights
In the last twenty years canard configurations have become more and more usual, especially for light and very light aircraft
After the Wrights’ first flying machines, the revival of canard configuration on classical “backward-built” airplanes has been pushed by experimental aircraft and by the evolution of the numerical and experimental tools necessary to accomplish the design of this type of configuration
A canard configuration is characterized by positive features, but cannot always comply to the control and stability requirements for all c.g. range and for every flight condition, unless an artificial stability augmenter system is installed, but this would be a difficult task for small aircraft
Summary
In the last twenty years canard configurations have become more and more usual, especially for light and very light aircraft. Our R/C model has been designed mainly to test the influence of the canard surface on aircraft aerodynamic characteristics, static and dynamic stability and flying qualities at high angles of attack. Through the shift of the payload (batteries, acquisition systems and sensors) and fuel it will be possible to modify the c.g. position between 5 and 30 % of the wing chord to fly with the same static stability margin (SSM) with and without canard Another very important solid motivation for the project is that the model should be a low-cost flying platform to test all sensors and acquisition and measurement systems (for both flight parameter analysis and external monitoring, i.e., climatic and ground control). The design has been accomplished using a code named AEREO, which has been developed in recent years at DPA to predict all aerodynamic characteristics in linear and non-linear conditions (high angles of attack) and all flight performances and flying qualities of propeller driven aircraft, and has recently been extended to deal with canard and 3LSC configurations
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