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May05,2015

ModelAircraftDesignStepByStep

ThisarticledescribestheprocessIcurrentlyuseto
designanewmodelaircraftdesign.Theinformationwill
beeditedovertimeasIlearnmore.
AsImentionedontheModelAircraftDesignhomepage,
myearlydesignswerenothingtobragabout.Ididnot
definegoalsforeachmodelnordidIhaveasound
designphilosophy.Ihadvagueideasandstarted
building.Thisoftenresultedinhavingconflictinggoals
thatweren'twellthoughtout.
Therearethreethingsyoushouldgetfromthisdiscussionifnothingelse:
Compromiseisarecurringthemeinmodelaircraftdesign.
Amodelaircraftdesignedtoexcelineveryflightcategorywon't.Itsimply
isn'tpossible.
Beforeyoudoanythingelseyoushouldworkoutspecificgoalsanda
specificationforyourdesign.
MostnonspecificsportmodelssuchasStiksandSuperSportstersaregood
middleoftheroaddesigns.Theyaren'texceptionalatanythingbuttheyalso
don'thaveanyparticularlybadhabits.They'reeasytobuildandflybutthat'sas
muchascanbesaidforthem.
Whenyoupurposedesignamodelitwilldowhatitisintendedtodoverywell,
butotherflightcharacteristicsmaybeprecludedaltogether.Additionallythere
maybetheriskofoneormoredevastatingflightcharacteristicssuchasvicious
tipstallsundersomeconditions.Ifyouunderstandtheserisksanddon'tflyyour
modelinthoserealmsyouwillbepleasedwithyourdesign.

WithEachStepEstablishEngineeringandConstructionMethods

Thisissomethingyoushouldbemullingoverthroughout.Alwaysstayfocused
onyourdesigngoals,targetloadingsandfinishedweight.Thestructureshould
bestrongenoughforonlytheintendedflightenvelopeplusareasonablesafety
margin.

Challengeyourbuildingskillsbutstaywithintherealmofwhatyoucan
accomplish
Youmayhaveanideaforabeautifulblendedbodydesign,butcanyouactually
buildit?Maybeyoucan'tnowbutasyourskillsincreaseitmightbevery
possibleinthefuture.

Step1CreateaSpecification

Icannotstressstronglyenoughthatthisisthemostimportantsteptocreating
yournewdesign.Ifyouhaven'treadCreatingaDesignSpecificationforaRadio
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ControlModelAircraftthenIsuggestyoudosobeforeyoubeginyournew
design.

Step2ChooseaPowerplant
Iamfirmlyagainstdesigningamodelforawiderangeofengines.Thispractice
resultsinamodelthathastoomanyengineeringcompromises.Themodel
mustbestructurallydesignedforthelargestengineintherangebutitwon't
necessarilybethebestaerodynamically.Ihatetobethebearerofbadnews,
butyoucan'thaveitall.
Forexample,ifthemodelisdesignedfora.25.40enginethenthemodelhas
tobestrongenoughforthelargestengineintherange,a.40inthiscase,which
willresultinanairframethatistooheavilybuiltforthe.25engine.

Step3EstablishVerticalPerformanceandAirspeedEnvelope

Rateofclimbisdeterminedbythepowerplant,propellerandtheaircraft's
readytoflyweight.
Whatkindofclimbdoyouwantyourmodeltohave?Shoulditaccelerategoing
straightupevenfromzeroairspeed?Doyouwantittohaveenoughpowerto
climbafewhundredfeetbeforeitrunsoutofmomentum?Shouldthemodel
loopfromlevelflightorisdivingtogainspeedacceptable?Decidehowheavy
themodelshouldbethendesignandbuildtowardthatgoal.
Airspeed(minimumandmaximum)isdeterminedbytheengine,propellerand
wing.
Rateofclimbandairspeedinfluenceeachothertotheextentthattheyalways
compromiseeachother.Ifyouwantthemodeltoflyfastandalsobeableto
climbstraightupindefinitelyyouwillneedtobuildthemodellighter.Afast
(highpitch)propellerdoesn'thavethesameluggingpowerasaslow(lowpitch)
prop.
Ultimatelyyoumayneedtocompromiserateofclimbtoachievethedesired
airspeedorviceversa.

Fillintheblanks
WeightReadytoFly
MinimumAirspeed

mph

MaximumAirspeed

mph

RateofClimb
(description)

ounces

Step4DesigntheWing

OnethingIwanttomakeveryclearisthatthewingistheairplaneandby
farthemostimportantcomponent.Manyparametersmustbeconsideredatthe
sametimeandweighedagainsteachother.Againwewillneedtomakemany
compromisestodeterminewhatarewewillingtogiveuptogainsomething
else.
Youcanbeginbychoosingafamilyofairfoilsthatcanconceivablymeetthe
specification.Pinningdownaspecificfoilwillbedependentonwhichspecific
designgoalsaremostimportanttoachieveandwhichonescanbecompromised.
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Forexample,ifaerobaticsareaprimarygoalthenyouwouldcertainlychoose
asymmetricalairfoil.Thespecificairfoilwithinthatfamilywilldependon
otherfactorssuchasairspeedanddesiredstallcharacteristics.
Ruleoutairfoilsthatcannotstallasdesired.Anairfoilthathasagentle,
difficulttoenterstallmaybeapoorchoice,butanairfoilwithanunpredictable
orviciousstallcouldmeanashortlifeforthemodel.
Thetablebelowisintendedtodemonstratehoweasyitistobecomebogged
downinaquagmireofindecision.Notethateachparameterinthechartaffects
everyflightcharacteristicsomewhat.Characteristicsthataremarginally
affectedareignoredhere.
Flight
Characteristic

DesignParameters
Airfoil

Wing
Loading

Aspect
Aileron
Dihedral Washout
Ratio
(Area/Style)

Airspeed
RollRate

LiftCapability
Lift/Drag
Ratio

Stall
Stability

Aerobatics

Let'swadeourselvesoutofthebogbyconcentratingonwhat'smostimportant,
takingittotheextremeofefficiencyandthenscalingitbackasnecessaryso
thatthemodelispracticaltobuildandtoavoidcreatingarelatedcharacteristic
thatisdevastating.

WingLoading
HowtoCalculate

Wingloadingisagoalyoushoulddesignandbuildtoitshouldnotbea
surprisingdiscoveryattheendofconstruction.
Thewingloadingisacompromiseofseveralflightcharacteristicslowspeed
flight,predictablelandingapproach,rateofclimb(liftfromthewing,notpull
fromtheengine),controlresponse,andhoweasilytheplaneisupsetinflight.
Thelowerthewingloading,theslowerthemodelcanfly.Thehigherthewing
loading,themorepredictabletheairplaneisonlandingapproach.Light
airplanesarestronglyaffectedbypocketsofrisingandsinkingairwhichmakes
itverydifficulttospotlandtheairplane.Bythesametokenaheaviermodelis
lessaffectedbywindbutisalsoslowertorespondtocontrolinputsandmustfly
fastertostayintheair.
Designingtoalightwingloadingmayrestricttheplanetolowertopendspeeds
topreventwingfailureduringhighGmaneuvers.Forexample,thewingmay
foldifyoubuildalarge,lightwingandthenyanktheplaneoutofadive.Thisis
notbecausetheaircraftislightbutbecauseitmaybemorefrailduetothe
lightweightstructure.Butthelowerinertiaofalightairframealsoimposesless
loadonthewing.Itisverypossibletobuildawingthatisbothlightandstrong.

WingArea
HowtoCalculate

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WingAreaisnotincludedinthechartbecauseitisvirtuallymeaningless.
Allthewingareadoesisallowustocalculatethewingloading.Itisbetterto
determinethewingareabasedonthetargetwingloadingwhichisbasedon
targetweight.
Forthisexamplewe'rebuildingamodeltoweigh7lbswithawingloadingof
20oz./ft2.
Plugthosenumbersintothewingloadingequationtofindthewingarea:
Given:
WingLoading=20oz./ft2
TargetWeight=7lbs
FindtheWingArea:
WingLoading=(Weightx2304) WingArea
(NotethatWeightisinpounds)
Rearrangetheequationtofindthewingarea:
WingArea=(Weightx2304)WingLoading
Plugingivenparameters:
WingArea=(7x2304)20
WingArea=806.4in2
Nowweknowwhattodobuilda7lbairplanehavingabout800squareinches
ofwing.Whenbuildingakityouhavetohopeandpraythatthedesignand
includedmaterialsmakeitpossible.
Oftenakitcomesinataweighthigherthanthemanufacturerspecified.WhileI
don'tknowthisforafact,Isuspectthepublishedrecommendedweightisbased
onaprototypebuiltbythedesignerwithhandselectedwoodwhichisn'twhat
comesinthekit.
Youshouldeasilybeabletostayatorunderthetargetweightofyourdesign
becauseit'syourengineeringandyouselectthematerials.

AspectRatio
HowtoCalculate

Inthechartaboveyoucanseethat
aspectratiostronglyaffectsnearly
everyflightcharacteristic.Itisoneof
themostimportantdecisionsyouwill
makesoconsideritwell.

Abankedturndescribesa
cone.Thelowerwingtip(the
pointyendofthecone)is
movingthroughtheairata
Theaspectratioofthewingaffects
slowerratethantheopposite
severalareasofflightsuchasrollrate,
tip(theopenendofthe
lifttodragratioandpitchsensitivity.
cone).Whenthelowertip
stalls,theotherendofthe
Nottheleastimportantflight
wingisstilllifting.
characteristicstronglyaffectedbythe
aspectratioisthewing'spropensityto Thestalledtipfallsfromlackofliftbut
tipstallparticularlyinbanked
liftfromthewingthat'sstillflyingflips
turns.Wermachtexplainsinthe
theplaneover.Theaircraftmayenter
sidebar.
aspinfromwhichitmaynotbeableto
recover.
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Mostofusaren'tterriblyconcerned
Thisslickmaneuverisanespecially
withfuelefficiency,butforsome
entertainingwayforsomeoneelse's
specializedtasksthisisahighpriority planetocrash.
concern.Themostaerodynamically
efficientwingintermsoflifttodragratiowillbeoneofextremelyhighaspect
ratio.
Forexample,short,stubbywingsarenotevenconsideredanoptionforthese
types:
Sailplanes
Goalongwayusingverylittlefuel.
Airlines
Moneyspentonfuelislessmoneyinthebank.
VoyagerbyBurtRutan.
Itssolepurposewastoflynonstoparoundtheworldwithoutrefuelingand
thenretire.
Ahighaspectratiowinghasabetterlifttodragratioandisgenerallymore
efficientthanalowaspectratiowing.Iftheaspectratioistoohightheplane
willhaveasluggishrateofrollandiseasiertobreak.
Astheaspectratioofawingbecomeslowertheaircraftbecomesmore
maneuverableinrollandlessefficientinlift.That'swhyyouneverseefighter
aircrafthavinghighaspectratiowingsandyoudon'tseebomberswithlow
aspectratiowingswithsomespecialexceptions.
Iftheaspectratioistoolowtheplanemaybetwitchyabouttherollaxisand
slowdownexcessivelyinturns.Lowaspectratiowingshavetremendousdrag
asangleofattackincreases.Lowaspectratiowingsareinefficientandnotgood
forloadlifting.
Soundslikeweneedtocompromiseagain.

WingTaper
Ellipticalwingsareveryefficientbutdifficulttobuildparticularlyelliptical
wingshavingellipticalthickness.Wooddoesn'tlikecompoundcurves.Some
designsgetaroundthisbyadjustingtheairfoil(ribheight)tocreateastraight
taperinthicknessfromroottotipwhichneverlooksright.
Thewaytobuildawingeasilywhileapproachingtheefficiencyofanelliptical
wingistobuildataperedwing.
TheTaperRatioofawingissimplytheTipchorddividedbytheRoot
chord.Highaspectratiowingswithlowtaperratios(tipchordmuchlessthan
rootchord)areextremelypronetotipstallssoitisbesttoavoidusingbothon
thesamewing.
Ifyouwantahighlytaperedwingthenkeeptheaspectratiodown.Ifyouwant
ahighaspectratiowingthenkeepthetaperratiocloserto1(samerootandtip
chord).
Knowingthetaperratio,aspectratioandwingareaallowsyoutocalculatethe
rootandtipchordsassumingthewingdoesnothavemultipletapers.

WingSweep
Iamtoldthatsweepingawingrearwardisequivalenttoaddingdihedral(each
21/2ofsweepisequivalenttoapproximately1ofdihedral).Presumablyit
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worksevenwhentheaircraftisinverted.Sweepalsomakesanaircraftmore
stablebecauseitcausestheaircrafttopitchdowninastall.
SweepsomewhatbroadenstheCGrangeofanaircraftaswellasmovingtheCG
rearward.Lastly,sweepmakestheaircraftappearsleeker.
Ihaveneverbuiltaforwardsweptwinganddon'texpectIwilleverdesigna
modelthatusesone.You'llhavetofindanothersourceofinformationifyou
wanttobuildaforwardsweptwing.

Dihedral
Dihedralhastwodistinctaerodynamicpurposesthatimmediatelycometomind:
Increasedstability
Allowsanaircrafttobesteeredwiththerudderalone(noailerons)
Asacorollarytothesecondbullet,dihedralcanalsoaddundesiredcontrol
coupling.Controlcouplingoccurswhenonecontrolcausestheaircraftrotate
aboutadifferentaxisthanintendedsuchaspitchingorrollingwhenrudderis
applied.Aerobaticshipsinparticularshouldhaveaslittlecouplingaspossible.
Oftenthedihedralneedstobeadjustedtoremoverollcouplingcausedbythe
rudder.
Unfortunatelythereisnowaytoknowinadvancehowmuchdihedralwillbe
necessarysowemakeourbestguessbasedonpreviousexperience.AsDon
Lowewilltellyou,ifyouwantyourshiptobetunedforcompetitionyouneedto
bewillingtocutthewingaparttoadjustthedihedral.
IhavenointerestincompetitionorprecisionaerobaticsandIdon'tcutmy
wingsapart,butyoumightneedto.
I'vefoundthatapproximately5ofdihedralworksverywellforarudderonly
model.Toolittledihedralwillmaketurnssluggish.Toomuchdihedralwillmake
thewinginefficient.

Washout
Washoutisadeliberatewarpbuiltintothewingsothatthewingtipsflyata
lowerangleofattackthanthewingroot.Thepurposeistodelayorpreventtip
stalls.
Ihaveneverfoundwashouttobenecessaryforsportmodelsespecially
constantchordwingswhichbytheirnatureareveryresistanttotipstalls.
Washoutonanaerobaticshipisabadmovebecausethesetypesofmodels
shouldflyasneutrallyaspossible.Anaircrafthavingwashoutwillhavewashin
whenthemodelisflyinginverted.
Caseswherewashoutwillbebeneficialareaircraftsuchasthosewithhigh
aspectratiowings(sailplanes,airliners),heavyscalemodels,utilityaircraft
(cameraplatforms)andothermodelsnotintendedtoperformprecision
aerobatics.

AileronStyleandArea
Stripaileronsareeasiertobuildandinmyexperiencehaveabetterrollrate
thanbarndoorailerons.Taperedstripaileronstendtoworkbestwiththe
leastpossibilityofflutter.
Aileronareaisusually10%20%forstripaileronsandupto25%forbarn
doors.Again,itdependsonwhatyouwanttheplanetodo.Don'tdoanything
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tooradicalforyourfirstdesigns.Onceyouhavesometimeontheprototype
youcanadjustthingsonthesecondprototype.

Fillintheblanks
WingLoading

oz./ft2

WingArea
AspectRatio

in2
:1

TaperRatio

RootChord

TipChord

WingSweep

Dihedral

Stallperformance
(description)

Washout

Airfoil(root)

Airfoil(tip)

Step5DeterminePitchandYawRates
Thefuselageisnothingmorethana
levertomountflyingsurfaces,the
powerplantandvarioussystems.

UntestedTheory

Itismybeliefthat(theoretically)the
horizontalstabilizercanhaveany
AsfarasI'mconcernedtheonly
amountofareaandanylength
considerationforthelengthofthefore moment.
ornosemomentissothattheaircraft
willbalanceascloselyaspossible
Asthepitchmomentbecomeslonger,
withoutaddingballast.
thestabilizercanbecomesmaller.As
themomentbecomesshorterthearea
Thelengthofthepitchandroll
mustincrease.
momentsdeterminestherateatwhich
theaircraftrotatesabouttheseaxis.
However,Ibelievethatthisrule
Themomentitselfdoesnotmakea
ensuresthatthereiswidelatitudefor
modelmoreorlessaerobatic,but
placementofthecenterofgravity.
determinestherateandsizeofthe
maneuver.
Ifwemixandmatchwecanhavea
shortpitchmomentandasmall
Longermomentsmakeforlarger,
horizontalstabilizer.However,thiswill
smootheraerobaticsthanashorter
maketheCGmuchmorecritical
moment.
perhapstothepointthatachangein
fuellevelwillmovetheCGenoughto
Mostpeoplewilltellyouthatthe
maketheaircrafttoounstabletofly.
combinedareaofthefixedstabilizer
andelevatorshouldbeabout20%of
Wealsohavetoconsiderthatifwe
thewingarea.Youcan'tgowrongwith takethisideatotheextremethenwe
thatnumberbutitisavery
alsohavetodependontheairbeing
conservativeandsafeareathatdoesn't perfect(whichitisn't)whilehaving
alwaysmakethemostefficientsetup. perfectlyuniformdensity(whichit
doesn't).
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Theverticalstabilizer,includingrudder, Ihaven'ttestedthistheorysoifyou
areusuallyabout8%15%ofthewing wantto,thenyoudosoatyourown
area.Aswiththehorizontalstabilizer, risk.
thesizecandecreaseasthemoment
increasesandviceversa.
Agoodstartingpointforratioofmoveablesurfacetofixedsurfaceisthat10
40%oftheoverallsurfaceshouldmove.Youcanadjustthathoweveryoulike.
3Daircraftoftenhavemovingsurfacesthatarelargerthanthefixedsurfaceas
wellasextremecontrolthrows.
EventhoughIdon'tlikedoingit,Iwillcutofftailsurfacesandreplacethemwith
newonestoimproveadesign.Manypeopleconsideradesignsuccessfuljust
becauseitflies,butfranklythat'snotmuchofafeat.Ifyouwantyourdesigns
tobeexcellentthenconsidertheprototypetobeatestbedandbewillingtocut
itup.

Step6LayitOutonPaper
Atthispointwedon'tcareabouttheoutlinesofthedesign.Wecanmakeit
prettylater.
Startbydrawingareferencelineonyourpaper.Locatethewingasdesired.
Foramorestabledesign,movethewinghigher.Foraneutrallystabledesign
placethewingonthereferenceline(aswellasthestabilizerandengine).
Determinethehorizontalstabilizerlocationanddrawit.
AtthispointIstartsketchingoutlines.Ifyouwantyourdesigntoachievehigh
speedsthenthefuselageshouldbeaerodynamicallycleanandhaveaslittle
frontalareaaspossible.Filletshelppreventturbulent,highdragairflow.
Ifyouwantthefuselagetosupportknifeedgeflightthenitshouldhaveplentyof
sideareawithalargepercentageofthatareatowardthefrontoftheaircraft.
Ifyouwanttopreventspeedbuildupthenthebestwayistodesignathicker
wing.Youcanalsoincreasethedragofthefuselagebydesigningmorefrontal
areaoraddingabluntwindscreenandcowlratherthanastreamlinedcowl.
Theseitemscreateturbulentdragwhichiswhytheyarenotasgoodofachoice
asbuildingthickerflyingsurfaces.
Ihonestlyhavenowaytodetermineinadvancehowlongthenosemoment
shouldbe.Inormallyfleshoutthedesignfromthewingtothetailandthen
visualizeitin3Dinthebareconstruction.
FromthereIlocatetheenginewhereitlookslikeitwillbalancethemodel.I'm
usuallyprettyclosealthoughmymodelstendtocomeinnoseheavy.Another
considerationisthatItrytomakethefueltankfitentirelyinitscompartment
ratherthanallowingittoextendintotheradiocompartment.

Step7BuildIt
Thenflyitalot.Learnwhatyoucan,makepracticaladjustmentsandthenbuild
another.Whentheaircraftfliesasyouoriginallyspecifiedthenit'sreadyfor
primetime.

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