Design ideas for the aerospace world (seeking ideas)

[machineman9]

I do Product Design A-level at college and having just about finished the first year of work the attention will soon be on next year's designs.

In short, product design is about designing new products either brand new or improving existing designs. The key points are won in the design aspect (drawing designs, CAD, improving designs, presentation) and then the rest of the marks are in the actual production of whatever you've chosen to make.

All going well I going to university next year (after this next academic year) and the aim for everyone is to use product design to produce something for the course we're going on. For some people that is all fine and well. My university course is hopefully going to be in aerospace engineering or something pretty similar.

Yeahh...

I need to find flaws in current aerospace designs or develop something brand new

[expat]

What ever you decide to do, bin the carbon fibre plan. It is expensive and to do it you will be requiring some very specialist equipment. Unless you have mate who works for an F1 team for then you you will be struggling for an autoclave. If you decide to try it out anyway, then you will have to build some sort of vacuum to be able to compress the layers and impregnate them properly. Also once you have your (semi) finished model, sanding carbon fibre requires air extractors and filters.............unless you want to be lugging around an O2 cylinder later in life. If you want to do carbon fibre, then make it out of fibre glass and then go to your local car tuning shop and buy some of the fake foil that the local lads cover the dash of their collective Corsa's in. A whole lot cheaper and kinder on your lungs and skin, not to mention pocket. Also if you get a splinter, then that requires a visit to the doctor to get it removed at best an a operation at worst to remove it. Carbon fibre is not like wood, the body naturally over time expels it, carbon splinters work there way in until they reach bone. They are fir tree in form and once in don't like to be removed.

Matt

PS if you want an idea, I would suggest component design rather than an a flying machine. If you can get access to an aircraft of any type, just have a good look at it inside and out and find an area that is of total crap design (trust me it wont be hard to find) and then redesign it. I have been in the aircraft industry now for 23 years. I have spannered on more than my fair share of different aircraft. If I had a pound for every time I have had to change a component, when the task started with the sentence....."what bell end designed that to go in there". Closely followed by, "this Einstein obviously thought that his bit of kit would never ever break", I could have retired to a beach in the sun by now.

[TacitBlue]

I don't have nearly as much experience as Expat, but one thing does stick out in my mind. Back in trade school I had to remove the main landing gear from a Piper Cherokee. Let me tell you, that is the kind of job that makes you want to smack an engineer. The struts bolt onto the back of the wing spar, which is an aluminum I beam. There are four bolts in the top and four in the bottom and you have a six inch wide "access" panel to get to them through. It is close to (but not completely) impossible to reach some of those bolts. I always thought that there needed to be a wider access panel and possibly a different method of attachment for the struts. If you can get ahold of a manual for that aircraft, then you will see what I mean.

[machineman9]

Don't worry Expat, I remember all of what you've said from the last time about the horrors of CF... Hence I am likely to go with fibre glass if I can. I think it would be a good experience to work with composites like this. If that doesn't work, I could always use something like HIPS as that is easy enough to bend and we have some heaters for that.

TacitBlue, I think the area you're talking about may be a bit too advanced for this level of work. In my mind though, building a glider doesn't seem too too bad - I need to make lots of cross sectional areas, stick them into a frame, layer over it, fibre glass it, remove mould, attach together and paint it. I'm hoping this isn't too hard, it is just cutting similar shaped lengths of wood and putting something over the top of it.

And expat, it's a possible idea. However, I can be pretty much certain you'd be cursing down my ear at how badly I would construct something like that    Re-designing a cockpit or something, a scale model of one, to 'improve the layout' or something is a possibility. However, I just think that something more with the airframe and based on aerodynamics may suit me better for my university course so it would be nice to make something specifically for that.

[C]

Wingtip? Aerial design? Redesign the aerodynamics and aesthetics of the AAR pod (not the hose, they aren't really redesignable!)?

[machineman9]

Wing tips is a possibility, but unless I find some way to demonstrate that the designs are useful, it probably wouldn't count. I could look into the other aspects, though. Thanks for the ideas.

[expat]

Wing tips is a possibility, but unless I find some way to demonstrate that the designs are useful, it probably wouldn't count. I could look into the other aspects, though. Thanks for the ideas.

What ever you design, just check the small print out of the educational establishment out very, very carefully. It may just be that what ever you design at the end of it all, the idea, design and any possible (how ever remote) income from it belongs to your school. Some schools, universities and tech colleges work on the same principle as big business. You as a pupil are regarded as an employee and as such, your ideas belong to said employer.

Matt

[machineman9]

Is that in the wild and unlikely event that somebody likes my ideas?

Our college has had, in the past, people come in on presentation evenings to see the finished projects from the students of GCSE, AS and A2 level (this will be an A2 project, the second half of A level) and they have hired the designer of said product to help their business design new things. To my knowledge, the school has never turned around and said 'no, they belong to us'. The students have always been the ones to sell their ideas or have been the ones comissioned to design something for a company.

So I shall check, but from what I have seen so far the designs have been those of the students.

[Flying Trucker]

Goodly morning...

Well perhaps here is some food for thought.

How about a universal landing gear.
Not sure if DeHavilland is still working on that idea or not.
Something that will land on paved runways, water, snow, mud and unprepared landing areas.
Something that could be used by all aircraft.

Just a thought.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[TacitBlue]

If you really want to do something with composites, then I would suggest ordering a copy of "Understanding Aircraft Composite Construction" by Zeke Smith. It's advertised as "Basic materials and techniques for the non-engineer", after all you aren't an engineer yet. I found this book to be very informative, though some parts are pretty dry like a text book. You can get it from Amazon.

I've done quite a bit of composite work in my spare time, I haven't done any professionally yet. I enjoy it though, it's almost like artwork, especially when you are making something that you want to make "just because". I should put up a pic of the full sized propeller that I made.

[machineman9]

Flying Trucker, that is quite an interesting idea you bring. An example may be a sort of clip on attachment to the existing wheels or airframe to allow you to land and take off anywhere, if that is what you were getting at.

TacitBlue, that may well be worth a read, thank you.

[Steve M]

The world would beat a path to your door if you could design a comercial aircraft passenger seat without a shared arm rest and raised up enough to give you some leg stretch room under the seat in front of you. 

[machineman9]

Steve... I'm just a mere human 

Though, that idea is most definately noted!

[Flying Trucker]

Good evening...

I do believe I saw just what you described on a DeHavilland of Canada site.  It was quite a few years back and I am not sure what ever came of some of their design work.

Might be worth you looking into.   ;)

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

Well how about something like half a frame?

Since I have been watching the development of the 747-8F, I have noticed that if they really wanted to improve the Freighter, they could have raised the flight deck, so that the nose door, would have the same height for loading cargo as the back door.

So basically, the cargo bay needs to be the same height all the way down, and the flight deck needs to be over the cargo hold, not half way through it, once this is done, the hump  would need to be extended halfway back over the main body for aerodynamics.

Or is that way to complicated?