Glider Design Challenge Report

Student Name: Ken Lugo

In Glider Design Challenge One, you designed a stable glider. In this project, you are
going to expand your knowledge through more advanced skills while refining your
glider design. This is an important design step of refining and testing a design to
improve your design concept.

Glider Design
Describe the information that you entered into the AERY software.
In the process of designing the glider there were many things that I entered into the
AERY software in order to make it fly. Slight adjustments on the taper ratio, span,
root chord, and nose mass played a major role in determining if the glider would fly.
Furthermore, I had to enter precise measurements on the location and dimensions
of the Wing, Stabilizer, and Vertical tail that would fly at a launch velocity of 20km/hr.

Benefits of Computer Based Models

Describe the information that the AERY software provides. Describe how you would
compute the same information using your knowledge of Aerospace engineering and
a calculator.
The AERY software provides a lot of useful data on the glider. It provides the mass,
coefficient of lift, and the coefficient of drag on the glider. If AERY wouldnt have
provided this information I could easily compute and attain those values. For starters
I would need to know the weight of the plane.I could get the mass by either using a
scale or by multiplying the volume by an approximate weight of the material. Then I
would use the dimensions to solve for the area. Finally, having all these variables I
would be able to calculate the the coefficients of drag and lift. In addition, computer
based models are really helpful in giving us an idea of what is would do in reality.

Glider Construction
Based on what you have learned, describe additional skills and knowledge essential
for transforming a glider design into an actual model.
Additional skills that would be required to transform the glider into an actual model
would be how to cut and glue balsa wood. As for knowledge I would need to know
the proper tools required to measure angles properly, cut and square things.