WEIGHT ANALYSIS OF THE 'DAEDALUS' HUMAN POWERED AIRCRAFT

Authors

  • Juan Cruz

Keywords:

Aerodynamics, Structures, Materials, Design

Abstract

'Daedalus' is a long-range and -endurance human powered aircraft (HPA). Through careful design , and the use of advanced materials, it has maintained the low weight of previous HPAs, while significantly improving its aerodynamic cleanliness. These factors have allowed 'Daedalus' to attain lower power levels, and thus increase its range and endurance as compared to previous HPAs. During its construction, careful weight measurements were made of every part and component. A condensed version of the weights log is presented, together with a description of the aircraft and how it is constructed. Based on these data, several formulas for weight prediction of HPAs are proposed. These formulas should be useful for preliminary HPA sizing and optimization.

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (1990)

Section

Articles

License

CLEARANCE AND LICENSE TO PUBLISH:

This paper is UNCLASSIFIED (for public reasons) and has been cleared by the appropriate agencies, company and government. This paper represents original work by the author(s). No portion of the material is covered by a prior copyright; or for any portion copyrighted, the author has obtained permission for its use.
I hereby license OSTIV to publish this paper and to use it for all of OSTIV's current and future publications uses.