After returning from winter break, our team has confirmed the participants changes, completed the enrollment and set up the goal of this quarter.

The primary goal of this quarter is about design and fabrication. In the first place, we need to finish the design of motor mount. We have to do this first in order to finalize where the weight of the motors is distributed on the plane. Then we can locate the lifting fan, which should be in the back of the center of gravity during hovering, but we also need to make sure that the cruise center of gravity is always in front of the center of pressure for stability. Then, we need to design considering the hover center of gravity. Because the change of center of gravity depends on hinge location, we have to set the hinge location to make sure the hover center of gravity is between the center of pressure of the wing and tile.

Secondly, we need to establish the mechanical tilting mechanism. We plan to rapid prototype the mechanisms and test between lever and metal gear to find out which one is better. Then we have to analyze the bending moment of wing spar as a result of aerodynamic forces such as the lift or weight of the motors and wing structure during cruise. The bending moment of the wing can be analyzed by finding the centroid and lift.

The third part is about the fabrication. First, each team member should learn about the fabrication technics by completing the technical and safety training. After that, we need to build the wing. We also need to finish the purchasing of fiberglass materials, electronics and parts before the end of this quarter.