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= 1903 Wright Flyer =
= for FlightGear with LaRCsim and the UIUC Aeromodel =
= =
= Flight model by: =
= Michael Selig, et al (m-selig@uiuc.edu) =
= http://www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/apasim.html =
= =
= Visual model by: =
= Jim Wilson (jimw@kelcomaine.com) =
= and some help from Paul Beardsley =
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To run, try:
fgfs --aircraft=wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl-uiuc
Files and directory structure required in $FG_ROOT/Aircraft/ to fly the
model:
wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl-uiuc-set.xml
wrightFlyer1903/Sounds/uiuc/wrightFlyer1903-sound.xml
UIUC/wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl/aircraft.dat
UIUC/wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl/CDfa.dat
UIUC/wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl/Cmfa2.dat
UIUC/wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl/Cmfade6.dat
UIUC/wrightFlyer1903-v1-nl/CLfade.dat
wrightFlyer1903/Models/[visual model files]
These files above come with the FlightGear base package.
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Model description and updates:
12/21/02 - Updates to aircraft aero file, and tweaks (above and below)
in this file.
5/26/02 - First release: v1-nl
* This model is based partly on wind tunnel tests of a 1903 Wright
Flyer replica tested at NASA Ames by a group lead by Prof Culick at
Caltech. The model is a nonlinear model, meaning that stall of both
the canard and biplane wing is included. Because the replica was
not tested to stall, data in this regime had to be deduced from a
number of different sources, including low Reynolds number airfoil
data taken at UIUC.
* Wonder what it was like to fly the 1903 Wright Flyer? Be a test
pilot. See the longitudinal static instability. Fly steady,
straight and level, then put in a brief canard pulse (elevator
stick) so as not to change the trim speed. With an up canard pulse
and hands off the stick, the Wright Flyer will start to pitch
upwards until it stalls. Down pulse, and it goes down. This same
instability is seen by simply trying to fly straight and level! The
rates are low enough that a good pilot with practice can stay ahead
of the static instability. Stall can get pretty nasty if both the
canard and biplane wing stall at the same time. Typically, however,
the canard will stall first. Full up elevator can be used to fly
out of the dive. But in this condition the canard is
stalled. Relieving the back pressure will move the canard out of
stall and the pull-out will be a little bit faster, but the
difference is hard to notice. Keep in mind that this aircraft was
flown four times before it was damaged on Dec 17, 1903. The first
flight was 120 feet in 12 seconds, and the last was 852 feet in 59
seconds. How far can you fly?
* Run with the FGFS "enable-auto-coordination" option (default setup
includes this option) to model the coupling between the wing warping
and rudder to counteract the adverse yaw effect of the wing warping.
The amount of coupling has been set to match that on the original
Wright Flyer (see the aircraft.dat file for some specs). The
resulting handling is "not that great." For later designs, the
Wright Brothers decoupled the warping and rudder to have more
control and the ability to fly in coordinated flight with
cross-controls.
* Finally, it's a hand full!
* References:
- Culick, F.E.C. and Jex, H.R., "Aerodynamics, Stability and
Control of the 1903 Wright Flyer," Proceedings of The Wright
Flyer: An Engineering Perspective, National Air and Space Museum,
Smithsonian Institution, 1985.
- Jex, H.R. and Culick, F.E.C., "Flight Control Dynamics of the
1903 Wright Flyer," 12th AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics
Conference, AIAA Paper 85-1804-CP, 1985.
- Jex, H, Grimm, R., Latz, J.P., and Hange, C., "Full-Scale 1903
Wright Flyer Wind Tunnel Test Results From the NASA Ames Research
Center", AIAA 38th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, AIAA Paper
2000-0512, 2000.
- Various other sources including
http://www.wrightflyer.org/Papers/papers.html
http://www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/uiuc_lsat.html (low Re data)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**************************************************
Prof. Michael S. Selig
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
306 Talbot Laboratory
104 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801-2935
(217) 244-5757 (o), (509) 691-1373 (fax)
m-selig@uiuc.edu
http://www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig
**************************************************