airplane design and the design thinking process

Paper Airplane Design

by the

ALPHA-TECH team:

Jack NordlohKatie Gaffney

Panos Manganaris

Understanding the Project ● Project Objective: Create two paper airplanes, one

optimized for distance and one optimized for hang time, which can effectively be scaled up to 4 times the size.

● Criteria: Make a small plane out of a single sheet of paper. Scale up to 4 times the paper along with 4 times any other components added (e.g. tape, paperclips, staples).

● Paper airplanes need to fly high and long. What are the best ways to fold a paper airplane to meet these goals?

Exploring Paper Airplanes● Gained insight by studying record-holding planes.

○ The Nakamura Lock, Toda’s Sky King, current distance record holder (paperairplaneguy.com)

● Evaluated weight vs lift, drag vs thrust, influence of Reynold Number, and details of balance behind flight

● Studied online sources● Searched the literature for the qualities of good “hang

glider” planes compared to good “dart” planes.

Explore: The Science of Flight ● Elevators: Small flaps in the middle-rear of the wing

○ In order for the airplane to fly higher it requires up-elevators. If the plane is flying too high and nose-diving it needs down-elevators.

● Ailerons: Like elevators but on the outer edge of the wing, make the plane bank and roll.

● Dihedral angle: All good planes fly with a positive dihedral angle

Explore: Wide Gliders & Ballistic darts

Basic requirement for gliding: Large wide wings. Center of gravity front and middle.

Basic idea for distance:Long, aerodynamic wings.Center of gravity forward.

Defining the Best Solution:● Make paper airplane with goal to maximize distance long,

sharp, and front heavy. Meant to be thrown hard, like a javelin.○ Modify according to feedback from prototypes.

○ Adjust elevators to maximize distance

● Make paper airplane with goal to maximize hang-time wide, air-catching, and center-heavy. Meant to be thrown soft and high, to catch the air.○ Should use ailerons to circularly glide back to the ground

Ideate

● Experimentally modeled our theories withairplanes made out of 8.5x11 inch sheets.

● Attempted to recreate the world record holding distance plane (theairplaneguy.com): resulted in “The Dart” final model which we used.

● Combined various designs and concepts

Ideate: Brainstorming Models

“The Dart” is Born

theairplaneguy’s Record Holder

Our Dart

Prototype● Eventually decided on perfecting our Dart model and copying the Toda Sky

King found online. Prototypes were all tested before we determined the best options:○ Toda Sky King prototype >○ “The Dart” prototype

● The Toda Sky King worked best with 2-3 three paperclips in the center of the plane and up elevators. Mini-model flew for 5-7 seconds on average

● The Dart mini-model flew best with a bit of tape holding the wings together, ensuring that they didn’t spread to far apart.

Refine- Toda Sky King● Original large scale model was a FAILURE (nose dived and paper ripped under

stress).● Repaired tears and tested with varying amounts of paper clips added to the

middle and rear. Front of the plane continued to be to heavy: FAILURE (nose dived again).

● Removed a sheet of paper- better (still nose diving, but not as fast because nose was less heavy).

● Removed another sheet of paper- gliding properly now, but self-sabotaging due to the inability of wings to keep stiff)

● Cut out a circle from the middle sheet at the nose which removed nose weight to help balance- MUCH better.

● Used eight paper clips configured to rebalance center of gravity to the middle of the plane. Made winglets bigger (Increased balance reduced drag?)- Able to FLY for 2.72 seconds.

Refining The NoseBy reducing the total thickness to three sheets, and removing the weight of one sheet from the nose (cut hole) we combined the benefit of both the three-sheet and two-sheet models.

Refine- Toda Sky KingModifications to Large Scale Hang Time

Original .7 seconds

Repaired Tears and added Paper Clips .6 seconds

3 Sheets .9 seconds

2 Sheets 1.2 seconds

Slimmed Down Nose 1.5 seconds

Added Paper Clips 1.4 seconds, 2.3 seconds, 2.72 seconds

Refine- The Dart● Successful since the initial development which occurred

while we were playing with designs in the beginning.● Tape added in the back: held wings at an effective positive

dihedral, and allowed them to sustain the full weight of the large model.○ Tape was pinched together to create less drag.

Modification to large scale Distance

Original 69 feet, 74 feet

Taped 94 feet, 81 feet, 88 feet

Solutions

● Our distance plane worked very well. It flew 90 feet, achieving class record!

● Our glider flew 2.5 seconds for our official test, but the maximum time we reached was 2.72 seconds.

● Dart Video: ● Glider Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo4lPQh07Ew

Hang Time and Distance of PlanesTrial Toda Sky King The Dart

Hang Time 1 1.5 seconds 1.6 seconds

2 2.0 seconds 1.3 seconds

3 2.5 seconds 1.7 seconds

Distance 1 Not Measured 79 feet

2 Not Measured 63 feet

3 Not Measured 90 feet

Research Sources● http://www.funpaperairplanes.com/

● http://www.paperplane.org/Aerodynamics/paero.htm

● The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes

● http://www.thepaperairplaneguy.com