In this version, the vertical joystick movement controls the incidence of both the main wing and the horizontal stabilizer (opposite variation) and the horizontal movement of the joystick controls the position of the center of mass. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Read More... "The Aeroscope – center of mass position control by joystick"
The Aeroscope – an upgraded version controlled by virtual joystick
This is an upgraded version of the aeroscope. Besides improving of certain aspects of the old version, this version has both the main wing and the horizontal stabilizer controlled by a virtual joystick (presented on this blog before and used extensively). The horizontal movement of the joystick controls the angle of attack of the main wing and the vertical movement… Read More... "The Aeroscope – an upgraded version controlled by virtual joystick"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #11 – full 360 degree operation – aerobatics, inverted flight and loops – FINAL
This section updates an angle formula so that the virtual glider can now perform both backward and forward loops, as well as inverted flight. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #11- 360 full coverage – loops by George Lungu – This section fixes an angle issue so that the virtual aircraft will now be able to perform both backward and forward loops. Upgrading… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #11 – full 360 degree operation – aerobatics, inverted flight and loops – FINAL"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #10 – implementing the numerical method
This section of the turorial finalizes the main dynamics calculations and implements the numerical method for approximating the glider trajectory. At this point, the model is already functional but with a crude interface. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #10- the numerical method by George Lungu – This section deals worksheet implementation of the numerical setup for a dynamic modeling of the flight. The… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #10 – implementing the numerical method"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #9 – more about forces and momenta – preliminary validation and testing
This tutorial finalizes the implementation of the forces and momenta acting on the plane. It also initiates some hand testing and validation of the overall dynamics of the plane. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #9- finalizing the dynamics – preliminary validation by George Lungu – This section continues with the dynamics formulas governing our 2D plane. Worksheet lever calculation formulas: – Copy… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #9 – more about forces and momenta – preliminary validation and testing"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #8 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (c)
This section continues the worksheet implementation of the dynamics formulas for aerodynamic forces and momenta. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #8- worksheet implementation of the real dynamics by George Lungu – This section continues with the dynamics formulas governing our 2D plane. Worksheet implementation of the force calculation formulas: – We will calculate these forces in a new area of the worksheet.… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #8 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (c)"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #7 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (b)
This section continues the worksheet implementation of the dynamics formulas. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #7- worksheet implementation of the real dynamics by George Lungu – This section continues with the dynamics formulas governing our 2D plane and their worksheet implementation. Some Reynolds number corrections: – We introduced one single named cell for the Reynolds number (Re) when in fact there… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #7 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (b)"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #6 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (a)
In this section, the parameters cl, cd and cm are scaled back to the force of lift, drag and the pitching moment of the aircraft. After that, the numerical modeling scheme is described together with the macros behind it. At the end, the formulas for the angles of attack of the wing and the horizontal stabilizer are introduced. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #6- worksheet… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #6 – worksheet implementation of the dynamics equations (a)"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #5 – finishing the aircraft
This section finalizes the aircraft (glider) by inserting the wing, the horizontal stabilizer and a center of gravity (CG) sprite in the layout. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #5- putting the glider together by George Lungu – This section puts together the fuselage, main wing and stabilizer with the proper scale, shift and rotation determined by the input parameters. Scaling and… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #5 – finishing the aircraft"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #4 – virtual aircraft definition
This section of the tutorial explains how to create the 2D aircraft components for the animated longitudinal stability model. The first part deals with extracting the x-y coordinates for the fuselage, canopy, vertical stabilizer and rudder. The second part handles the main wing airfoil and the horizontal stabilizer airfoil. All thses parts will be put together in the next section.… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #4 – virtual aircraft definition"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #3 – layout parameters and wireframe fuselage generation
This section discusses the layout of the virtual plane and provides for the worksheet implementation of the plane dimensions as input parameters controlled by spin buttons and macros. In the final part a freeform is used to generate raw data for the fuselage. [sociallocker][/sociallocker] Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #3- defining the virtual aircraft by George Lungu – This section of the tutorial… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #3 – layout parameters and wireframe fuselage generation"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #2 – 2D polynomial interpolation of parameters cl, cd and cm
In the previous section, the main wing airfoil and the horizontal stabilizer airfoil were simulated using Xflr5. The three coefficients, lift, drag and moment were then interpolated on charts in Excel using 4th and 5th order polynomials. This section shows a few tricks about how to easily introduce those 60 equations as spreadsheet formulas in Excel ranges. It also presents a simple linear interpolation method across the Reynolds… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #2 – 2D polynomial interpolation of parameters cl, cd and cm"
Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #1 – using Xflr5 to model the main wing, the horizontal stabilizer and extracting the polynomial trendlines for cl, cd and cm
This is a tutorial about using a free aerodynamic modeling package (Xflr5) to simulate two airfoils in 2D (the main wing and the horizontal stabilizer) for ten different Reynolds numbers, then using Excel to extract the approximate polynomial equations of those curves (cl, cd and cm) and based on them, simulate a 2D aircraft as an animated model. This section deals with… Read More... "Longitudinal Aircraft Dynamics #1 – using Xflr5 to model the main wing, the horizontal stabilizer and extracting the polynomial trendlines for cl, cd and cm"
Aerodynamics Naive #3 – a brief introduction to Xflr5, a virtual wind tunnel
The previous section implemented and charted the ping-pong polar diagrams in a spreadsheet and showed a reasonable similarity, for moderate angles of attack, between these diagrams and the ones modeled using Xflr5, a virtual wind tunnel. This section introduce the concept Reynolds number and it also contains a very brief introduction to Xflr5, the free virtual wind tunnel software. Aerodynamics… Read More... "Aerodynamics Naive #3 – a brief introduction to Xflr5, a virtual wind tunnel"