This week, the Wings Team of the Human Powered Airplane project worked on attaching the foam leading edges onto the right wing tip section of our 108 foot wing. Our 108 foot wing is split into 5 sections that are connected together for its full length with a carbon fiber spar and ribs as the main structural members across the wing. The foam leading edges are intended to cover the structural members as well as create the desired airfoil shape when they are attached onto the ribs properly. The leading edges are 2 foot foam wide sheets that attach onto the wing sections and require a lot of attention and care to line up correctly. Currently the Wings team has prepared four of the five wing sections and is working on covering the last tip section. For the wing tip section in particular, because the tip sections of the wing are tapered, the Wings Team was worried that the process would be difficult because of the sloped surfaces on the foam sheeting. To our surprise, we were able to attach the leading edges on the wing section with little to no difficulty. We initially projected that it would take approximately 3 weeks to complete the foam sheeting over the 21 foot wing tip section, but it actually took three days! The HPA Team has been working very hard to prepare all five sections wing for our first test flights and we are very pleased with our progress as we head towards the full assembly of the plane.

By Steven Wu, Human Powered Airplane Wings Team