BRB-52
Named after the room our university design studio was located in, BRB-52 is human powered aircraft built to compete under the rules of Kremer Prize and Icarus Cup.
The aircraft must be able to complete a flight in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions along a predetermined flight path. In order to complete this course in under 7 minutes, a flight speed of at least 22mph must be achieved. As well as this, there is a Kremer World Speed Record that can be broken. The current top speed is 27.5mph, which was set in 1985.
Performance
Top Speed: 14 Metres per Second (31 MPH)
Maximum Flight Time: 7 Minutes
Wingspan: 24 Metres
Weight (With Pilot): 86Kg
Weight (Without Pilot): 26Kg
Thrust: 522.8 Newtons (53.3 Kg of Force)
How Does it Work?
Operating on a 3:1 gear ratio, and assuming the pilot pedals at 100rpm, this means a propeller speed of 300rpm can be achieved. The overall drag, angle of attack (tilt of the wings) and lift generated from the wingspan should allow for flight to be achieved.
For the purposes of the model a motor that turned at 100rpm was used to simulate the pedalling speed of the pilot.
1:5 Scale Model
This model weighed around 8Kg due to the materials I had access to and the weight of the motor. If this was to be built again, weight reduction through the use of finite element analysis would be a priority. The model at a 1:5 scale should approximately weigh 6Kg in order to achieve the desired flight speed.
Making Process
To make this model we used; machining, vacuum forming, 3D printing, laser cutting and fibreglass reinforcements on our model. It had a 4.8 metre wingspan when fully assembled.
Concept Generation
