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Wright B Flyer Silver Bird Replica Senior Design Project
Domenic M. Miccinilli, Matthew R. Pulfer, Denton G. Sagerman, Alex M. Watt, Seth D. Wieging
The Wright Model B Flyer was one of the first piloted aircraft produced by the Wright brothers in 1910. Wright B Flyer Incorporated specializes in fully functional Wright Model B replicas. The Silver Bird was an aircraft designed and manufactured by the company back in 2007. Unfortunately, the plane and its two pilots were lost due to a welding failure that caused the propeller malfunction. The company has since commissioned another model to be designed and built. The overarching goal of this research is to verify the existing design and perform sensitivity studies to see if the performance can be improved given certain model constraints. Thus far, engineering drawings, as well as 3D models were used to extract crucial dimensions and aerodynamic locations. Other considerations including, but not limited to, airfoil design, constraint analysis, weight buildup, and CG envelope have also been investigated. Test pilots have flown the model to compare the flight characteristics of the simulated aircraft to the previous Silver Bird. The pilots’ feedback, input from other Wright B Flyer Inc. personnel, and flight test data comparisons have been used to evaluate the accuracy of the model. Further investigations will involve looking into various geometric changes to the model and analyzing the effect of these deltas on various flight parameters. These cause and effect results will impact the future design of the Silver Bird, as Wright B Model Inc. looks to build a more effective and transportable model that encompasses the original Wright B Silver Bird model.
The Brother Joseph W. Stander Symposium recognizes and celebrates academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. This annual event provides an opportunity for students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. The Stander Symposium represents the Marianist tradition of education through community and is the principal campus-wide event in which faculty and students actualize our mission to be a "community of learners." This collection contains a sampling of the posters presented during the symposium in 2015.
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