Fixed Wing

Fixed Wing is AeroNU’s RC plane project!

Since its inception a few years ago, Fixed Wing has built several planes and participated in the SAE Aero Design East competition multiple times. Last year, the project transitioned from being competition-oriented to focus more on research and development. They’ve spent the past year experimenting with different designs, materials, and construction methods, particularly for the wings. Now, they’re applying everything they’ve learned to a VTOL aircraft.

The goal of the VTOL project is to design an RC plane capable of vertical takeoff and landing. Once in the air, it will transition to fly like a standard plane. Designed for long flight time and stability, the project aims to serve as a data collection and monitoring tool for large scale natural disasters, specifically forest fires.

This semester, the Fixed Wing will complete the first full build of the VTOL vehicle. This aircraft will have a modular design, allowing for parts to be replaced if broken and swapped to incorporate the more complex elements of the payload or alter flight characteristics. The fuselage and wings will be made of wet-layup carbon fiber, using techniques developed in the past year with further improvement over the course of the semester.

Fixed Wing is made up of 5 subgroups: Fuselage, Wings, Tail Wing, Electrical, and Software/Firmware.

Across these groups, the project’s current areas of development are in aerodynamic design, flight calculations, battery management, and custom carbon fiber lay-ups.