Their story, in their words…
For the Mark Evison project, we designed and manufactured a custom rc plane. We had spent multiple weeks designing the structure, choosing all the parts, and altering our plan to give us the best chance of succeeding.
Despite not getting a long air time, we had successfully connected all the electronics, built the frame and implemented them together. It was an amazing experience due to us learning multiple new skills (such as soldering) and all of us dramatically improved our knowledge of aerodynamics but also improved our hands on DIY skills. Despite facing many problems during construction and not getting the most satisfying end, the new skills we acquired were well worth the time. We will be sure to use these experiences in our uni applications and CV’s moving forward as we are all applying for engineering.
Our favourite sections were the periods of back and forth communication whilst trying to decide how to handle unforeseen problems during construction. For example, we all worked together to solder the ESC to the battery but also to find stable ways to mount the motor to the foamboard. These new communication skills will be a great help to any future projects.
Even after finishing the plane, we continued to learn when we attempted flight. For example, we evaluated our design after flight and saw a few small flaws that drastically reduced flight time and stability. One of these was how we kept the wings stable using bamboo rods, however these were too far forward in the wing meaning we should’ve moved the centre of mass further up to compensate. Moving into the future, if we try this again, we would be able to create a much more stable and effective plane.
It was an overall amazing experience. In the end, the plane did unfortunately crash and become almost unrepairable. However, we will keep these memories and skills for the foreseeable future so it was all worth the weeks we spent.
