Hello everyone,

This week we have finished our aircraft design and successfully modeled it in Solid Works. As you can see in the picture above, we have a T tail, fuelselage, and wing designed and ready for testing and eventual fabrication. One of the main challenges of the design was the fuelselage. Initially we started off with a rather bulky and unappealing design due to inexperience and lack of direction. After working through major issues regarding necessary space for electronic components and wing and tail placement, we have come up with a design that uses several rib sections guided by rods. We also had to keep in mind how possible it would be to fabricate such a piece. After various discussions and revisions, we have decided to proceed with the pictured model included in this post. It accommodates our avionics equipment and provides space for the battery packs if needed. It will also be able to attach to the wing better than the previous models because of the top’s flat surface. As the models are being finished up and parts are being ordered, the teams are beginning preliminary simulation testing, electronic circuit diagrams and research on fabrication techniques to help facilitate the transition from the design to fabrication stages. Additionally, we are discussing ordering a model plane to conduct tests with the avionics equipment and motor. Lastly, The team is also working on the upcoming senior design project poster as well as continued contact of solar companies to receive possible funding and solar cell samples.

Thank you for reading,

Blake Theilacker
btheilac@uci.edu