The 2014 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The 2014 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile The 2014 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile Systems/AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition Flyoff was held at Cessna East Field in Wichita, KS on the weekend of April 11-13, 2014. This was the 18th year the competition was held. Of the 100 entries this year, a total of 80 teams submitted written reports to be judged. And 71 teams attended the flyoff (19 international). All the teams that attended completed the technical inspection. Approximately 700 students, faculty, and guests were present. The theme for this year was a “Back Country Rough Field Bush Plane”: Taxi Mission simulated rough field operations using corrugated roofing panels Flight mission 1 was a ferry flight scored on the number of laps which could be flown in 4 minutes Flight mission 2 was a maximum load mission with team-chosen number of cargo blocks for three laps Flight mission 3 was an emergency medical mission carrying two simulated patients and attendants on a timed three-lap flight. The Mission Score was the sum of the three Flight Scores, and factored by the Taxi Score (1 if completed, 0.2 if not). As usual, the Final Score is the product of the Mission Score and written Report Score, divided by airplane RAC (empty weight). More details can be found at the competition website: http://www.aiaadbf.org Despite strong winds for most of the weekend and a 1-hour suspension on Sunday for a passing thunderstorm, the flyoff set new records. There were 209 flight attempts, of which 105 resulted in a valid flight score. 49 teams had successful flight scores and 61 completed the taxi mission. 20 teams completed all three flight missions. The quality of the teams, readiness to compete, and execution of the flights was outstanding. First place went to University of Southern California with a score of 407.24, second place to University of California Irvine at 352.86 and third to San Jose State University at 326.37. A full listing of the results is shown below. The best paper award, sponsored by the Design Engineering TC for the highest report score, went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a score of 98.70. We owe our thanks for the success of the DBF competition to the efforts of many volunteers from Cessna Aircraft, the Raytheon Missile Systems, and the AIAA sponsoring technical committees (Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Flight Test, and Design Engineering). These volunteers collectively set the rules for the contest, publicize the event, gather entries, judge the written reports, and organize the flyoff. Thanks also go to the Corporate Sponsors: Cessna Aircraft, Raytheon Missile Systems, and the AIAA Foundation for their financial support. Special thanks to Cessna Aircraft for hosting the flyoff this year. Finally, this event would not be nearly as successful without the hard work and enthusiasm from all the students and advisors. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t keep doing it. David Levy For the DBF Governing Committee CAL POLY California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 2013-2014 AIAA Design/Build/Fly Report AIAA Design/Build/Fly 2013/2014 Contents 1 Executive Summary 3 1.1 Design Summary . 3 1.2 Mission Requirements . 3 1.3 System Performance . 4 2 Management Summary 4 2.1 Team Organization . 4 2.2 Hierarchical Chart . 4 2.3 Milestone/Gantt Chart . 5 3 Conceptual Design 6 3.1 Mission Requirements . 6 3.1.1 Mission and Scoring Summary . 6 3.1.2 Scoring Sensitivities Analysis . 8 3.1.3 Design Constraints . 9 3.2 Mission to Design Requirements . 10 3.3 Solutions Considered, Selection Process, and Results . 10 3.3.1 Initial Concepts . 10 3.3.2 High Wing Conventional . 11 3.3.3 Low Wing Conventional . 11 3.3.4 Landing Gear Configurations . 11 3.3.5 Tail Configurations . 12 3.3.6 Payload Configurations . 13 3.3.7 Selection Validation . 14 4 Preliminary Design 15 4.1 Design Methodology . 16 4.1.1 Iterative Design Process . 16 4.1.2 Rapid Prototyping . 16 4.2 Sizing and Trade Studies . 16 4.2.1 Tail Sizing . 16 4.3 Mission Model . 18 4.3.1 Model Analysis . 18 4.3.2 System Uncertainties . 18 4.4 Aircraft Characteristics . 19 4.4.1 Airfoil Selection . 19 4.4.2 Drag Build Up . 22 4.4.3 Stability and Control . 25 4.4.4 Structural Design . 28 4.4.5 Propulsion Design . 30 4.5 Preliminary Mission Performance . 32 5 Detail Design 33 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 1 AIAA Design/Build/Fly 2013/2014 5.1 Dimensions and Parameters . 34 5.2 Structural Characteristics . 34 5.3 Subsystems Design . 37 5.3.1 Servo Selection . 37 5.3.2 Electronic Speed Controller Selection . 38 5.3.3 Receiver Selection . 38 5.4 Weight and Balance . 39 5.5 Performance Parameters . 40 5.5.1 Flight Performance . 40 5.5.2 Mission Performance . 41 5.6 Drawing Package . 41 6 Manufacturing Plan and Processes 47 6.1 Manufacturing Process and Techniques . 47 6.1.1 Balsa Build-Up . 47 6.1.2 Composites . 47 6.1.3 Foam . 47 6.2 Wing Construction . 47 6.3 Backbone Construction . 48 6.4 Fuselage Construction . 48 6.5 Milestone Chart . 48 7 Testing Plan 49 7.1 Testing Schedule . 49 7.2 Flight Testing . 49 7.3 Taxi Testing . 51 7.4 Tests Performed . 52 7.4.1 Wing Structural Testing . 52 7.4.2 Backbone Structural Testing . 53 7.4.3 Propulsion Testing . 54 7.4.4 Other Component Testing . 55 8 Performance Results 55 8.1 Subsystem Performance . 55 8.1.1 Propulsion System . 55 8.1.2 Structures . 56 8.1.3 Aerodynamics . 57 8.2 Aircraft Flight Performance . 57 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 2 AIAA Design/Build/Fly 2013/2014 1 Executive Summary This report details the design process used by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to compete in the 2013/2014 AIAA Design/Build/Fly competition. The goal of the competition was to design an aircraft that best meets the mission requirements and maximizes the scoring equations. This year’s competition required a light, fast aircraft capable of carrying six inch cubes and two 9x4x2 inch blocks accompanied by two 4x2x6 inch blocks simulating a medical evacuation. The final design was created through extensive analysis, testing, and hard work by a completely volunteer student team at Cal Poly. 1.1 Design Summary The goal of the design process was to create the highest possible scoring aircraft while satisfying all of the requirements. Due to many different performance parameters greatly affecting each other, the most important factors needed to be identified. To isolate the most important parameters, a sensitivities analysis was performed on the total score equation. This analysis revealed that empty takeoff weight and speed were the two most important factors, weight being about twice as important as speed. As a result, most design decisions were driven by weight minimization, and a weight increase for speed was only acceptable if the percent speed gain was twice the percent weight gain. 1.2 Mission Requirements There are a total of four missions that must be completed.
Recommended publications
  • Application to the Flight
    Journal name 000(00):1–13 A Methodology for Vehicle and Mission ©The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: Level Comparison of More Electric sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI:doi number Aircraft Subsystem Solutions - Application http://mms.sagepub.com to the Flight Control Actuation System Imon Chakraborty∗ and Dimitri N. Mavris† Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA Mathias Emeneth‡ and Alexander Schneegans§ PACE America Inc., Seattle, WA 98115, USA Abstract As part of the More Electric Initiative, there is a significant interest in designing energy-optimized More Electric Aircraft, where electric power meets all non-propulsive power requirements. To achieve this goal, the aircraft subsystems must be analyzed much earlier than in the traditional design process. This means that the designer must be able to compare competing subsystem solutions with only limited knowledge regarding aircraft geometry and other design characteristics. The methodology presented in this work allows such tradeoffs to be performed, and is driven by subsystem requirements definition, component modeling and simulation, identification of critical or constraining flight conditions, and evaluation of competing architectures at the vehicle and mission level. The methodology is applied to the flight control actuation system, where electric control surface actuators are likely to replace conventional centralized hydraulics in future More Electric Aircraft. While the potential benefits of electric actuation are generally accepted, there is considerable debate regarding the most suitable electric actuator - electrohydrostatic or electromechanical. These two actuator types form the basis of the competing solutions analyzed in this work, which focuses on a small narrowbody aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800.
    [Show full text]
  • Problems of High Speed and Altitude Robert Stengel, Aircraft Flight Dynamics MAE 331, 2018
    12/14/18 Problems of High Speed and Altitude Robert Stengel, Aircraft Flight Dynamics MAE 331, 2018 Learning Objectives • Effects of air compressibility on flight stability • Variable sweep-angle wings • Aero-mechanical stability augmentation • Altitude/airspeed instability Flight Dynamics 470-480 Airplane Stability and Control Chapter 11 Copyright 2018 by Robert Stengel. All rights reserved. For educational use only. http://www.princeton.edu/~stengel/MAE331.html 1 http://www.princeton.edu/~stengel/FlightDynamics.html Outrunning Your Own Bullets • On Sep 21, 1956, Grumman test pilot Tom Attridge shot himself down, moments after this picture was taken • Test firing 20mm cannons of F11F Tiger at M = 1 • The combination of events – Decay in projectile velocity and trajectory drop – 0.5-G descent of the F11F, due in part to its nose pitching down from firing low-mounted guns – Flight paths of aircraft and bullets in the same vertical plane – 11 sec after firing, Attridge flew through the bullet cluster, with 3 hits, 1 in engine • Aircraft crashed 1 mile short of runway; Attridge survived 2 1 12/14/18 Effects of Air Compressibility on Flight Stability 3 Implications of Air Compressibility for Stability and Control • Early difficulties with compressibility – Encountered in high-speed dives from high altitude, e.g., Lockheed P-38 Lightning • Thick wing center section – Developed compressibility burble, reducing lift-curve slope and downwash • Reduced downwash – Increased horizontal stabilizer effectiveness – Increased static stability – Introduced
    [Show full text]
  • Setting up Ailerons and Flaperons on a DLG (Discus Launch Glider) by Andy Kunz
    Setting up Ailerons and Flaperons on a DLG (Discus Launch Glider) by Andy Kunz Originally Posted by kgantz: While waiting for parts to be delivered I am still reading a lot about how to initially set up ailerons / flaperons. One of the best descriptions I've found is this post in the DLG forum. After reading this post, I understand that flaperon trim and aileron trim are handled separately by the radio. This is not obvious to people who have not done this before but, I guess because you are working with 1 moving surface but it has 2 jobs, trimming has to work a little differently for each job! So now my question is, on the Spektrum radios-- DX 9 in my case, is the aileron portion of the adjustment done with Dual Rates as suggested by the poster or is there a different way. Reply by AndyKunz: The logic is that one is a roll trim, the other is a camber trim. You'll find that we're pretty consistent with that sort of thing throughout the radio. Use the Dual Rates to adjust travel based on a switch, for instance in launch mode vs. thermal mode vs. landing mode. If it doesn't need to change based on a switch, do it with Servo Travel instead of Dual Rates. If you are working on a V-Tail or Elevon model, then you would use Dual Rates to adjust the ratio between pitch and roll/yaw. Use Servo Travel to adjust the maximum amount in the highest position of the Dual Rates switch.
    [Show full text]
  • An Investigation of the Effects of Flaperon Actuator Failure on Flight Maneuvers of a Supersonic Aircraft
    Research Paper ISSN 2383-4986 International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering http://dx.doi.org/10.20910/IJASE.2016.3.2.1 Vo l . 3, No.2, pp.1-8 (2016) An Investigation of the Effects of Flaperon Actuator Failure on Flight Maneuvers of a Supersonic Aircraft Seyool Oh1†, Inje Cho1, Craig McLaughlin2 1Aircraft Research & Development Division, Korea Aerospace Industries, ltd, KOREA 2Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, The University of Kansas U.S.A. †E-mail:[email protected] Abstract The improvements in high performance and agility of modern fighter aircraft have led to improvements in survivability as well. Related to these performance increases are rapid response and adequate deflection of the control surfaces. Most control surface failures result from the failure of the actuator. Therefore, the failure and behavior of the actuators are essential to both combat aircraft survivability and maneuverability. In this study, we investigate the effects of flaperon actuator failure on flight maneuvers of a supersonic aircraft. The flight maneuvers were analyzed using six degrees of freedom (6DOF) simulations. This research will contribute to improvements in the reconfiguration of control surfaces and control allocation in flight control algorithms. This paper compares the results of these 6DOF simulations with the horizontal tail actuator failures analyzed previously. Key Words : Flaperon, Actuator failure, Flight maneuver, Supersonic aircraft , Combat aircraft only for specific flight phases. Primary control 1. Introduction surfaces are generally built into the aircraft wings In the past, combat aircraft were designed using the and empennage. Typical primary controls include concept of static stability for safety. However, as the elevators on the horizontal tail, rudder on the technologies of aircraft developed and the vertical tail, and ailerons on the wings [3].
    [Show full text]
  • Recreational Flyer January - February 2010 Elevated: Angus Watt’S Ch-750
    January - February 2010 Recreational Aircraft Association Canada www.raa.ca The Voice of Canadian Amateur Aircraft Builders $6.95 Elevated: Angus Watt's CH-750 Elevated: The original Zenith 701 was designed as an Angus Watt’s Ch-750 ultralight go-anywhere all metal bush plane that could be plans built by anyone with a 4 ft tabletop bending brake and a pair of snips. It was rarely described as a thing of beauty but so well does it fulfill its mission that these planes are found all over the world. They are inexpensive to construct, and because of their leading edge slats they can get in and out of extremely short patches of clear ground. 22 Recreational Flyer January - February 2010 Elevated: Angus Watt’s Ch-750 WITH THE ADVENT of the Light Sport category in and the only part interchangeable with the 701 is the US, Chris Heintz saw the need for an updated the signature Zenith all-flying rudder. Formerly the version, something with a larger cabin, greater skins were all .016” and they are now .020 to handle payload, and the ability to use an array of four the greater mass of the range of possible four stroke stroke engines. The CH 750 was the result and its engines and the 1320 pound gross weight on wheels, lineage is visually apparent but while the new plane 1430 on floats. resembles the 701 it is almost completely different in Chris Heintz correctly surmised that the US construction. CNC fabrication methods have made Light Sport category would be attractive to aging it possible to simplify the design, speed up the con- American pilots who wanted to bargain down to struction, and end up with a larger and faster plane their Sport Pilot category that allows a valid driver’s at only a slight weight penalty.
    [Show full text]
  • 7. Transonic Aerodynamics of Airfoils and Wings
    W.H. Mason 7. Transonic Aerodynamics of Airfoils and Wings 7.1 Introduction Transonic flow occurs when there is mixed sub- and supersonic local flow in the same flowfield (typically with freestream Mach numbers from M = 0.6 or 0.7 to 1.2). Usually the supersonic region of the flow is terminated by a shock wave, allowing the flow to slow down to subsonic speeds. This complicates both computations and wind tunnel testing. It also means that there is very little analytic theory available for guidance in designing for transonic flow conditions. Importantly, not only is the outer inviscid portion of the flow governed by nonlinear flow equations, but the nonlinear flow features typically require that viscous effects be included immediately in the flowfield analysis for accurate design and analysis work. Note also that hypersonic vehicles with bow shocks necessarily have a region of subsonic flow behind the shock, so there is an element of transonic flow on those vehicles too. In the days of propeller airplanes the transonic flow limitations on the propeller mostly kept airplanes from flying fast enough to encounter transonic flow over the rest of the airplane. Here the propeller was moving much faster than the airplane, and adverse transonic aerodynamic problems appeared on the prop first, limiting the speed and thus transonic flow problems over the rest of the aircraft. However, WWII fighters could reach transonic speeds in a dive, and major problems often arose. One notable example was the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Transonic effects prevented the airplane from readily recovering from dives, and during one flight test, Lockheed test pilot Ralph Virden had a fatal accident.
    [Show full text]
  • 10CAG/10CHG/10CG-2.4Ghz 10-CHANNEL RADIO CONTROL SYSTEM
    10CAG/10CHG/10CG-2.4GHz 10-CHANNEL RADIO CONTROL SYSTEM INSTRUCTION MANUAL Technical updates and additional programming examples available at: http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq Entire Contents ©Copyright 2009 1M23N21007 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 3 Curve, Prog. mixes 5-8 ............................................. 71 Additional Technical Help, Support and Service ........ 3 GYA gyro mixing (GYRO SENSE) ............................... 73 $SSOLFDWLRQ([SRUWDQG0RGL¿FDWLRQ ........................ 4 Other Equipment ....................................................... 74 Meaning of Special Markings ..................................... 5 Safety Precautions (do not operate without reading) .. 5 Introduction to the 10CG ............................................ 7 GLIDER (GLID(1A+1F)(2A+1F)(2A+2F)) FUNCTIONS . 75 &RQWHQWVDQG7HFKQLFDO6SHFL¿FDWLRQV........................ 9 Table of contents........................................................ 75 Accessories ............................................................... 10 Getting Started with a Basic 4-CH Glider ................ 76 Transmitter Controls & GLIDER-SPECIFIC BASIC MENU FUNCTIONS ........ 78 6ZLWFK,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ$VVLJQPHQWV ............................. 11 Model type (PARAMETER submenu) ........................... 78 Charging the Ni-Cd Batteries ................................... 15 MOTOR CUT ................................................................ 79 Stick Adjustments ....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • DESIGN and ANALYSIS of PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS of WING with FLAPERONS Debanjali Dey, R.Aasha #Department of Aeronautical Engineering , KCG College of Technology
    International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF WING WITH FLAPERONS Debanjali Dey, R.Aasha #Department of Aeronautical Engineering , KCG College Of Technology. 1. [email protected] 2. [email protected] ABSTRACT- The main objective of this project is to design a flaperon for a wing and compare the performance characteristic of this flaperon-wing combination with that of conventional wing design that makes use of separate flap and aileron. Theoretical analysis and comparison is performed following which the computational analysis is carried out to validate the results. Further aim is to give a clarity on the fact that the use of this high lift device aids in improvising the aerodynamic characteristics of a wing by experimental testing of the wing design incorporated with flaperon, which is designed using a special methodology. Then, modification of wing design can be done to overcome the drawbacks of flaperons if any. INTRODUCTION - When looking at an aircraft, it is easy to observe that they have a number of common features: wings, a tail with vertical and horizontal wing sections, engines to propel them through the air, and a fuselage to carry passengers or cargo. If, however, you take a more critical look beyond the gross features, you also can see subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, differences. The reasons for these differences, why the designers configured them this way, is quite an intriguing study. Today, 100,000 flights will safely crisscross the planet. At no time in history have our lives been so global and full of possibility.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing and Development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
    ICAS 2002 CONGRESS DESIGNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE MUHAMMAD ASIM Engineering Wing PAF Base Minhas PAKISTAN,43175 [email protected] DR ABID ALI KHAN Aerospace Engg Dept College of Aeronautical Engg Risalpur,24090 National University of Science and Technology [email protected] Keywords: UAV-Ip Abstract in direct combat. Even current high-tech UAV’s such as the Darkstar are limited to non- With the advancement in science and combative missions. In an age when the technology, the aviation industry is increasingly physiological tolerances and physical concentrating on the development of Remotely capabilities of the crew restrain the limits of Piloted Vehicles (RPVs), Unmanned Aerial performance of a modern fighter, the use of a Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Combat Aerial UAV in a combat role deserves some Vehicles (UCAVs). The Unmanned Aerial consideration. Vehicle (UAV) are being used for many years for a variety of different tasks like reconnaissance, bomb damage assessment 2.0 Design Philosophy and Goals (BDA), scientific research, escort EW, decoying guiding SAMs and AAMs, and target practice. The principle goal in the UAV-Ip (Unmanned These UAVs will replace the conventional Aerial Vehicle - Interceptor) design process was aircraft in several roles and even perform novel to create an interceptor, which could super assignments. The hostile battlefield cruise to intercept a target in a minimal time at a environments and difficult access areas can be maximum possible range. The application of monitored without endangering human life. This this aircraft would be defensive in nature, when paper elaborate the designing of UAV that can conventional aircraft are immediately be used as interceptor and can perform unavailable or unable to deploy.
    [Show full text]
  • KOKU-KAN-SANJI-504 Date: 09/18/20 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-449 Date: 08/17/21 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-276
    (Unofficial Translation) Date: 09/27/18 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-614 Date: 08/23/19 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-504 Date: 09/18/20 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-449 Date: 08/17/21 No: KOKU-KAN-SANJI-276 Director of Air Transport Safety Unit Aviation Safety and Security Department Civil Aviation Bureau of Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Subject: The Detailed Regulations of the Technical Standard to Prevent Objects Falling off Airplanes 1. Purpose. Based on the provisions of the Technical Standard to Prevent Objects Falling off Airplanes (hereinafter referred to as “the Standard”) and in order to bring it into effect, the Detailed Regulations of the Technical Standard to Prevent Objects Falling off Airplanes (hereinafter referred to as “the Detailed Regulations”) is established as follows. 2. Applicability. The applicability of the Detailed Regulations is the same as the Standard. 3. Application for Licenses or Authorization. The application under the provisions of the Standard shall meet the following requirements. However, the operation manual or the maintenance manual of domestic air carriers may contain the following matters in lieu of the application matters. 3-1 Engineering management. 3-1-1 The operators must have a system to collect the information of falling objects, analyze and assess from the engineering aspect, and based on these results, develop countermeasures (inspection, maintenance and others) and implement them under 3-1 of the Standard. 3-1-2 The operators must nominate a person who is to be the supervisor of the system as referred to in the preceding paragraph, and take corrective actions properly under the supervision of the person.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 1 Introduction
    INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR AIRPLANE AND HELICOPTER XP6102 6-CHANNEL COMPUTER RADIO SYSTEM TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................2 CHAPTER 1: SOFTWARE FUNCTIONS – AIRPLANE ................11 Transmitter Callouts ..................12 CHAPTER 1: USING THIS MANUAL • INTRODUCTION ..............6 Transmitter Rear ......................13 Using this Manual ....................6 Direct Servo Control (DSC) ........14 R770 Receiver ..........................6 Control Stick Tension Adjustment ..14 Control Stick Length Adjustment ..14 Frequency Notes/ CHAPTER 2: FEATURES ....................6 Aircraft Only Frequencies ..........15 X-6102 Transmitter ....................6 Base Loaded Antenna ..............15 Transmitter Specifications ..........7 Neck Strap Attachment ..............15 System Specifications ................7 CHAPTER 2: CONNECTIONS • CHAPTER 3: COMPONENT AIRPLANE ..................16 SPECIFICATIONS ............7 Installation Requirements ..........16 S537 Ball Bearing Servo ..............7 Connections ..........................17 Airborne Battery Pack ................8 Backup Error Display ................18 Charger Specifications ................8 Receiver Specifications ..............8 CHAPTER 3: INPUT MODE AND Servo Specifications ..................8 FUNCTION • AIRPLANE ....18 Charger ..................................9 Key Input and Display ..............18 Transmitter/Receiver ..................9 System Mode ..........................19 Normal Mode ..........................19 CHAPTER 4: BATTERY
    [Show full text]
  • Phoenix Supplement
    CONSUMER AEROSPACE Phoenix Rocket Launched R/C Aerobatic Glider Assembly and Operation Manual Supplement HIS sheet contains some recent additions to the Phoenix instructions. Please read them before you Tbegin construction of your Phoenix rocket glider. The following three items are very important, and must be done before you fly your Phoenix. Mandatory Additions Trim Rudder Horn Screws OU must trim the screws that Ymount the rudder horn flush with the outside of the nylon plate. If the screws are not trimmed, it is possible for them to hit the L-7 guides on the launcher during lift off. The rudder may be damaged if this happens. The screws may be cut after assembly with a razor saw or a cut off disc in a Moto-Tool. If you use a cut off disc, be very careful to keep the heat generated by the cut off disc from melting the nylon plate. Trim these screws flush with nylon plate Elevator Pushrod Stiffness HERE are 8 pieces of 3/16” square balsa strip provided in the kit. Before you start assembly, examine all T8 pieces. Due to the high speeds encountered during a Phoenix launch, the pushrods need to be both straight and stiff. The stiffest one should be used for the elevator pushrod, and the next stiffest one for rud- der. The remaining pieces are used for the fuselage corner stock. We use the stiffest balsa that we can obtain for the pushrods, but if you feel the pushrods provided in your kit are not stiff enough, please contact us and we will provide substitutes.
    [Show full text]