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I have designed a universal body to be used with wings that you design yourself. You can use wings I have included, but I spent most of my time designing and balancing the body and very little time designing optimal wings. I have included a few simple wings, but the real fun comes from designing some new wings!
https://youtu.be/8fS0UL9DvxM
11-2018 Edit - based on a request I have added a V6 model that has ~20% bigger notch for the rubber band.
Print Settings
Printer:
Generic Prusa i3
Rafts:
No
Supports:
Yes
Resolution:
0.2mm
Infill:
varies
Notes:
I printed bodies with 30% and 100% infill. The 100% were smoother prints for me.
I borrowed a makerbot replicator 5g and had to print with rafts for the wings. (It was a new to me printer though)
Different materials behave completely different for the wings. I tried out PLA, ABS and PETG all completely different.
How I Designed This
I started with an idea of a rubber band glider inspired by white wings and cheap balsa wood models. I sketched out the body of a normal Cessna 100 series looking body. Based on my experience and engineering knowledge I came up with some rough dimensions for the design, then started modeling in fusion 360.
Then I printed what I had and measured the center of gravity, then I started shaving material off the tail from my original design.
After a few revisions I printed one with wing roots, and some wings to test out. The design kept stalling.
I then revised the design to shave a lot more material off the tail.
Finally I was down to a design that would fly reasonably well with the wings I had.
The progression of body designs. Some were broken along the way (too thin).
Overview and Background
I am a pilot. I have loved airplanes since I was old enough to talk. I have built hundreds of model planes, some fly some just look pretty. We need more young people interested in aerospace! So, I set out to design a project to make a practical exploration of wing design by making rubber band gliders with wings that can easily be replaced and tested with new designs.
Objectives
- Learn about aerodynamic forces - lift, drag, weight, thrust
- Learn about flight
- Learn about wing design.
Skills Learned (standards)
- MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (HS-ETS1-1), (HS-ETS1-2), (HS-ETS1-3), (HS-ETS1-4)
- RST.11-12.9 - Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.
References
- http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/wing_design_k-12.pdf
- http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/glider_physics.html
Lesson Plan and Activity
Lesson / Activity
Step 1 - Background Knowledge
- Discuss aerodynamic forces
- Discuss how wings work.
- Discuss / show paper wing demonstration (paper taped together around a pencil and blow).
- Discuss air resistance and friction.
- Discuss center of gravity and how that relates to glider performance.
- Discuss different styles of wings: rectangular, elliptical, swept (forward and rear), and delta
- Print and use one or more of the gliders for visual aid.
- Have students develop ideas on what wings are going to work better
Step 2 - Design and/or build
Option 1:
- Have students design a set of wings and print them.
- The wing root has a 2.4mm square design ~18mm long, the wing will need an inside 3mm square ~20mm long to slip onto the root.
Option 2:
- Print one or all the wings I have in the thing files.
Option 3:
- As a class design a consensus set of wings and print it. (Maybe as an addon to Option 2.)
Option 4:
- Let students modify or design their own body and wings.
Step 3 - Practical testing
Option 1:
- Assemble the glider. Left wing slipped onto the root & Right wing slipped onto the root.
Photos below
Left Wing -> Body <- Right Wing
SAFETY NOTE: always be aware of what is down range - Setup range
- Perform a repeatable scientific collection of data: Launch gliders with same angle, same direction, into same wind conditions.
- Measure the distance to landing. (option to layout a landing grid ahead)
- Record all data in a table of distances.
- Repeat above for so each wing design launches the same number of times.
Option 2:
- Do above with an iterative design process where students design a new set of wings and test those also.
Step 3 - Calculations
- Have students evaluate their data for any trends and come up with the average distance their wing design was able to achieve.
- Graph class wide data and determine which wing design, if any, was the best and why?
Step 4 - Review
- Discuss why we got the results we got.
- Discuss how students think they could do the experiment differently.
Rubric
- What are the aerodynamic forces?
- How does a wing work?
- What is helping our design be more aerodynamic?
- What is creating resistance for our designs?
- How does friction (drag) apply to gliders?
- What is center of gravity and how can the wings affect it?
Tips and Tricks
- I spent many many revisions on the body trying to get a nice flight with a correct center of gravity
- Weight of the wings matters GREATLY.
- The wing root has a 2.4mm square design ~18mm long, the wing will need an inside 3mm square ~20mm long to slip onto the root.
- Watch the video and note how I hold the rubber band and launch the glider. I had a group of elementary and middle school kids play with them and they tried everything, but kept coming back to me to learn my way to launch them
- The glider can put a dent in your dry wall!
Materials Needed
Accessories
The following materials and items can be helpful with this project.
- rubber bands
- long tape measure, roll wheel, or GPS and an app for measuring could get close enough in the right hands.
- tape (if your wings are prone to fall off)
- open space to launch (foot ball field, greenway, gym, use good judgement!)
- calipers, rule, or tape to measure smaller things (if you are doing design-builds)
- SAFETY GEAR
Assets
I have included the body.f3d fusion 360 design files in the thing files. Modifications for other wing sizes or body designs could be made.
- body.f3d
- wing_test1.f3d
- wing_test2.f3d
- wing_test3.f3d
- wing_test4.f3d
Project: Rubber Band Gliders
Assembly: Left wing -> Body <- Right wing