Professional Documents
Culture Documents
kit LiddleRod kit Plans Free Plans Plane Design Design Rules Yard Ace Plan Electro Av Plan Chickadee Plan Blackburn Plan Finch Free Plan Spoked Wheels TurboCAD Publish Plan RC Flight Sim E-Fest Video Crashes! Site Map Privacy Info Contact Us
The wingspan can also give you an initial idea of the size of the motor for your finished project. For gas powered model airplane designs, the size of the engine is important, as you will have to design and build in the necessary fuselage support configuration. For
electric powered models, there are lesser requirements for the motor structure due to the smoother operation of electric power as compared to a gas engine.
Once you have determined the model airplane wingspan, there are several rules of thumb for fuselage and tail surface model airplane design dimensions. You next need to determine the wing chord, or distance between the wing leading and trailing edge. For normal sport flying aircraft, the aspect ratio (wingspan squared divided by the wing area) should be no less than 5:1. The aspect ratio for a constant chord wing is simply the wingspan divided by the chord. I always subscribe to the theory of keeping things simple when starting out on new projects of this nature. Thus for your first model aircraft design project, use a constant chord wing. A constant chord wing, using a single rib size, is easier to design and build as compared to a tapered wing.
Clark Y airfoil
You will next determine the length of the fuselage. A good rule of thumb is for the fuselage length to be around 75% of the wingspan. The nose length (distance from wing leading edge to the prop) should be around 20% of the fuselage length. The distance from the wing trailing edge to the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer should be around 40% of the fuselage length. The horizontal tail surface area should be around 25-30% of the wing area, and the vertical tail around 35% of the stabilizer area.
My design of the Robin and its CAD plan is a great review from start to finish of an RC
model airplane design. Note that all these model airplane design planning parameters are just starting points for your final model airplane plan. I am a firm believer in the benefits of the TLAR (That Looks About Right) approach to model aircraft design and layout. If in doubt as to your initial aircraft dimensions, consider adding a bit to the nose or tail length, or increasing the wing span. You can quickly get into trouble on your first flight if the tail or wing surfaces are too small. However, you will almost always be alright if these surface areas are a bit too large or the moments too long. For example, my first version of the Yard Ace had a wing span that was too short. The model flew much faster than anticipated to maintain flight. On the updated version of the Yard Ace, I simply lengthened the wing span - very easy to do when drawing a model plan with TurboCAD - and the airplane flew much better with the increase in wing area.
The center of gravity should be located a third of the wing chord back from the wings leading edge. I always add a bit of positive wing incidence to my model airplane designs.
Indoor Flying Model - Copyright 2011, all rights reserved Please review our privacy policy here