Severn Fellow Things to Do List and Mentor Information

Louis Lentz

Mr. Baraty

Fellows Program 2022-2023

50 percent of the Assignment: Completion of a smaller functional prototype, gathering of all

necessary materials, building of the foundational blocks, powerplant, and wings of the aircraft.

List of tasks to be completed:

1. Construct a timeline for each step of the model and prototype building process
2. Construct a general design for the prototype (ideally 1/3 size of the model)
3. Construct a set of instructions for the building of the prototype
4. Identify all necessary materials to build the prototype
5. Synthesize a general cost estimate for each material
6. Buy each required material
7. Construct the prototype
8. Fly, test, and crash the prototype until a fully functional, decently looking model is made
9. Design a general structure for the model (possibly in a CAD software)
10. Construct a set of instructions for the building of the model
11. Identify all necessary materials to build the model
12. Synthesize a general cost estimate for each material
13. Buy each required material
14. Construct the model one step at a time, dealing with Issues as they come along
15. Test the model’s final CG, power output, weight, and control surface maneuverability
16. Find a local airfield to fly
17. Set a time and date with good weather to fly, inviting Severn students and faculty
18. Fly the airplane!! (Videoing with my own personal equipment)
19. Write a report backed with video-based evidence on why it did or did not fly along with
things I did well and things I could have done better
List of KNOWN needed Materials (for both Prototype and full model):

- Dubious amounts of foam and foam blocks (needed for both model and prototype)
- Dubious amounts of Aluminum pipe (needed for model)
- Low-temp-melting Aluminum alloy (needed for model)
- Blowtorch (needed for model)
- Powerplant (needed for model)
- Electric Engines (prototype engine owned, model engine with 15-20 lbs of thrust needed)
- Complementary portable Battery (prototype version owned, model version needed)
- Complementary ESC (prototype version owned, model version needed)
- Complementary Receiver (interchangeable, needed for both)
- Complementary Transmitter (interchangeable, needed for both)
- ESC connector bullets (owned for both)
- Soldering Iron, soldering wire, stand, tubing, soldering wax (owned)
- 4 heavy-duty servos (roughly 20g for model)
- Servo connection extension cords (prototype version owned, model version needed)
- Servo wires (both model and prototype needed)
- 4 Heavy-duty control horns (needed for model)
- Balsa and Plywood sheets (needed for both model and prototype)
- Hot glue, Epoxy, Duct Tape (needed for both model and prototype)
- Graph-paper Notebook (needed for both model and prototype)
- CAD software (needed for both model and prototype)
- Mentor familiar with CAD software and the engineering process
- Stickers (needed for both model and prototype)
- Foam wheels (needed for both model and prototype)
- Thick Metal Cords (needed for both model and prototype)
- Pliers (owned)
- Shed/Storage Space (owned)
Clarification:

- Cad software: Suggestion – contact Nate and Zack about CAD and “The Wheels”
- 1/9 of true airplane
- Timeline for Full Model before you leave school
- Order bulk materials first and get everything in order before start of school year
- William Toomey (in same Mentor group) and TOOLS – Materials
- Always go towards simple
- Don’t “commission” Becker
- Kindergarteners lose their minds over things that fly

Pitch:

Flight.
Have you ever stepped on a commercial airliner and wondered how the heck two wings,
essentially slabs of metal, can suspend 100’s of passengers 10,000’s of feet above the ground?
Have you ever stepped on a commercial airliner and held onto the arm rests so tightly during
takeoff that your hand goes a little numb? Fear of flying is a legitimate phenomenon, but why?
I think the tricky part about understanding the mechanics of airplanes is that they’re not
very intuitive.
The process of Flight involves a curved piece of metal spinning in such a way that
displaces air molecules over another curved piece of metal which creates differences in pressure,
which then in turn causes the movement of air to DEFY GRAVITY and push the plane UP (a
direction humans are not very used to moving) without out ever having to bend a joint or flap a
wing.
My project is all about taking the hypothetical concepts of aeronautical engineering and
applying them to the real world. Not only theorizing about how a plane is pushed upwards but
designing a plane to do so and seeing that plane actually fly and do it. Seeing something work on
a smaller scale will not only help me apply these principles, but also help me utilize them most
effectively and explain how they can be magnified to the professional level.
 My application of these flight principles will not only give me hands on experience with
the application of physical principles, but also help explain why everyone feels the urge to cry
when they get on the plane to fly.