Presenter(s)

Domenic M. Miccinilli, Matthew R. Pulfer, Denton G. Sagerman, Alex M. Watt, Seth D. Wieging

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Description

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.

Publication Date

4-9-2015

Project Designation

Capstone Project

Primary Advisor

Aaron Altman

Primary Advisor's Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Business | Education | Engineering | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Wright B Flyer Silver Bird Replica Senior Design Project

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