5/2/17 - Wing Improvements

I have added the other side to the wing. I have also swept the wing forward by two degrees and added a dihedral angle of three degrees. The wing now has two sides (which will fly better than one). The wing can be fabricated from this shape. Built from foam, it can be lodged in an SD7037-shaped slot in the side of the aircraft body. The object could also be cut in half to allow for the insertion of a carbon spar for stability of the wing.

I have tried to print a wing, but the geometry is very difficult to work with in the context of a 3D printer. An airfoil is a nuanced shape, so a division into stereolithographic layers is a little bit of an oversimplification. The dihedral is also a problem because most of the footprint of the wing is not on the same plane. Generally, the print will be weak because of its thickness and entangled in supports.

I completed a print of the wing. An image here wouldn't be helpful; it just looks like a flat piece of plastic. It worked better than the others as I was able to remove most of the supports without damaging the wing.


--Aryn Harmon