End of Week 7

Week seven has now passed and it was one of our most productive so far. We finished the construction of "The Anteater" and took it out to Prado Field, where we had an experienced flier test it out. Because there was an issue with the landing gear right before the test launch, we decided to scrap the two rear wheels and hand launch it as we did with the first prototype. Although the plane managed to stay in the air for longer than the first prototype did, the result of the test was very similar to that of the first prototype. Regardless of any attempts made by the pilot, the plane was unable to turn left, thereby making the plane come spiraling down as it continued to bank right. After close inspection, our new friend led us to believe that the plane was unable to turn left due to the placement of the servo horns. According to him, the placement of the servo horns on the ailerons should be closer to the pivot points (rather than the ends like we placed them) because this would minimize the amount of flexing in the foam, since the pivot point would provide the thickest piece of foam and would therefore yield the most stability. We were also told that we should provide bigger support surfaces, that we should look into replacing hot glue with some sort of epoxy, that we should attempt to use two servos for each component to increase the torque applied, and that we should make the servo horns that we are using as thick as possible. All in all, it was a very informative experience for the team regardless of the fact that the outcome did not coincide with our current goals.

Other than that, the following was accomplished in week seven:

• We purchased the rockets we need for the actual event. We will begin testing as soon as possible.
• We developed an airframe that we believe we may use as the final design. Further testing will determine whether we use it or not.

Unfortunately, we are unable to post the video of the test flight on this blog directly at this time. If anyone wishes to view this or other videos related to this project, they can follow the link listed below.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2k8jp00wckfshnb/eFC1tm8LAF?m