Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build - Flight Test
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build - Flight Test
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build - Flight Test
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This is my rst article on Flite Test. I generally post over on RCGroups, but gured that this community might be interested in seeing my latest project - an EDF
powered model of the X-47B UCAS.
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Some background about myself - I'm a recent graduate of the aeronautical and astronautical engineering program at Purdue University and work at a major
aerospace company. I used many of the design and optimization tools I had learned in my studies to determine the important aspects of the aircraft, so sizing,
battery weight fraction, wing and power loading, airfoil, and wing twist distribution were all found mathematically. In addition, I perfomed some wind tunnel
testing after the build in order to assess the performance and control. I've done my best to document the entire process, and will update this post as ight
testing continues. Enjoy!
Weight Estimation
I needed to gure out how big the airplane would be before I could start CAD design and pick a power system. The rst step to sizing the model was estimating
the total weight and empty weight. I rst put together a ight pro le in order to determine how much total energy the batteries need to contain. It's pretty much
a big list of guesses and estimations, and it's usually repeated a few times over the course of the preliminary design. The pro le I came up with is:
- A lift-to-drag ratio of 16
- Speed controller e ciency of 98%
- Average motor e ciency of 60%
- Propulsive (fan) e ciency of 40%
My code then calculated the energy required for each phase of the ight pro le and then added them all up. The result is a fraction that represents how much
of the airplane's weight should be made up of battery. It comes out at 16% for the values listed above, which seems reasonable as a rst estimate.
Next, I made a plot in Excel that's just a straight line of payload weight plus battery weight versus total aircraft weight. In this case, "payload weight" is the
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Ardupilot along with all its sensors and wiring. I plotted another "historical data" line that represents average battery weight versus airplane weight for a list of
similar R/C models. The point where the two lines intersect indicates the AUW that I should design for. The result is between 5 and 5.5 lb. You'll see later that the
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actual AUW ended up around 6 lb, which fortunately was close enough to the design value to meet all of the performance constraints.
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Constraint Diagram
The next step in the process was generating the constraint diagram. This takes advantage of the fact that pretty much every performance parameter depends
on wing loading and power loading. It essentially produces a range of feasible wing and power loading combinations for my model. The inputs are:
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build
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General Assumptions:
- Aspect
ratio of 3.99
- Zero-lift
70 drag coe cient of 0.03
- 40% propulsive e ciency
- 60% motor e ciency
- Oswald (span)
e ciency factor of 0.60
Takeo Performance:
- Zero elevation (for air density)
- Maximum lift coe cient of 1.3
- 75 foot takeo run
Landing Performance:
- Zero elevation (for air density)
- Maximum lift coe cient of 1.3
- 75 foot takeo run
- Rolling friction coe cient of 0.2
Ceiling Constraint:
- 1000 ft ceiling (this constraint is almost never relevant for R/C models)
Turn Performance:
- 300 ft altitude
- 70 ft/s airspeed
- Load factor of 2 (sustained 60 degree bank)
The program solves the equations for each constraint in terms of power loading over a range of wing loading values. The design space is the area where all of
the constraints are satis ed, and it's marked out on the plot. From here, it seems like a 25 oz/sq.ft wing loading and about 150W/lb will t comfortably in the
design space. The active constraints are landing, rate of climb, and maximum speed, while the rest of the constraints are easily satis ed. However, a good rule of
thumb is to multiply wing loading for a ying wing by 0.7 since the twist causes the tips to be very lightly loaded. So, I'll be designing the airplane for a wing
loading of about 17.5 oz/sq.ft. For this planform, it'll end up around a 55" span.
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Aerodynamic Analysis
To choose the airfoil for this model, I started with the NACA 64(1)-212 and added twist and refex to control the lift distribution, which is important for tailless
models. I elected to go for a bell-shaped lift distribution that's essentially a sine curve to the power of 2.5. I believe this approach was pioneered by the Horten
brothers, and it not only creates longitudinal stability but some lateral stability as well. The design ended up with a range of twist from zero degrees at the root
to -3.6 degrees at the tip. The resulting lift distribution in level ight matches the "ideal" distribution quite nicely, and the airplane is both statically stable and
trimmed in pitch.
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CAD Design
After I knew the wing span and airfoil, I could get started with the CAD design in CATIA V5. I imported a 3-view of the full scale aircraft, and used it to outline the
model. This process took several months, but it's pretty well summarized from start to nish in the set of renderings below.
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Mold Fabrication
I started manufacturing molds right after the CAD design was completed. They're made from MDF, which was cut with a 5-axis CNC mill and sealed with Feather
Fill primer. This method is durable enough to produce a few airframes, but not too expensive.
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Skin Layups
The composite skins are a sandwitch of berglass cloth with a thin foam core. It took some experimenting to determine that this method was best for sti ness
and weight. Everything was done using a wet layup and a vacuum bag.
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Internal Structure
The internal structural parts were cut by laser from some 1/8" plywood. They were assembled rst, then glued inside the skins during the joining process. Much
clamping ensured a tight t.
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First Flight
Finally, the model was ready to y! I installed some vertical tails for initial ights that will stay until the ArduPilot's yaw controller is tuned. The plane ew great,
and looks awesome in the air. No trimming was required.
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That's it for now, thanks for reading! I'll be doing some more ight testing over the next couple of weeks, and will also be painting and detailing the model. Stay
tuned!
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Update: 6/7/2014:
Got the model painted and nished! Paint is Testors Neutral Gray, and decals were custom made by Callie Graphics. I'm very happy with the result! Hopefully
the solid color won't cause any orientation troubles while ying.
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Update: Here is some additional ight video from the 4th and 5th ights.
Update 2: I've only own the X-47B a few times recently, as I'm not making much progress on tailless ight. Debating a switch from APM to AS3X, as I only need
stabilization and I think it might be an easier approach. Here are some more ight photos.
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COMMENTS
Buddah (/authors/Buddah) on May 23, 2014
()
Just Wow.
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X1
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;)
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Lmao
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(/authors/Rocketman1092)
Epic composite building. Love it.
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I actually built a simple at foam version of this airplane last year so that I could test the control layout. Uses a typical pusher jet power system and
doesn't need a ight stabilizer, though some rudder input is needed here and there to keep it pointed straight. I'll put some plans together and add them
to the article.
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Absolutely fantastic! Looks like all of the money spent on your higher education wasn't in vain. :) Good luck with your new job.
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I love it you did a really great job with it. hehehehe could make me one????
You did great!!!!!!!!!!!
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29/04/2018 Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build | Flite Test
nished product is fantastic pictures great if you ever sell a kit i would like to get one. the parts of your article that have charts and any words were way
over my head ,but not the way my rc planes are over my head lol thanks for sharing
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Wow, and here I am thinking I'm cool for using a ruler to cut my foamboard in a straight line. That is an incredible build and I can't wait to see it y without
the vertical stabilizers.
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What "code" did you use and did you program Arduino yourself? Sorry, a lot of questions.
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I have a MATLAB script that I wrote back during my senior design course that constructs the constraint diagram plot. Regarding the Arduino, I found some
code online that someone else wrote for a landing gear sequencer, then I just modi ed it to suit my needs.
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What kind of troll would give this article less than ve stars?
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It looked like it needed the whole runway. Was there power enough or do you think you'll up it a bit? Everything else was pretty much way past anything
I'll ever be able to do and really cool. Are you going to mount a camera for FPV (or classi ed recon missions)?
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Power is ne, it's just di cult for the model to rotate because the main landing gear is a good distance behind the CG. It's in the scale location, but the CG
on the full size aircraft is pretty far aft, like many ghter jets. I'm hoping that I can get a shorter takeo roll by lengthening the nosegear so that the model
sits at a positive angle of attack.
No plans for FPV, though I'd like to add a GPS module, airspeed sensor, and LIDAR Lite as soon as it's available for Ardupilot. That way I can do
autonomous ight, including takeo and landing.
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WOW !! Congratulations! Where did you build it? That's a nice facility.
Good job! With a professional shop like yours you could design anything I'm sure. Now will the next upgrade feature the folding wings?
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That is the most amazing plane I've ever seen! I would be cool if you worked with the FliteTest guys to make a small foam board version.
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Fantastic project! Its great to see something other than DTFB on here! You have access to some amazing tools!
Are you performing the constraint analysis using a software package or did you set up and Excel spreadsheet to do that?
How much of the analysis were you able to do in XFLR5 and how accurate did it turn out to be?
LOVE THIS!
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It was done in MATLAB, but the equations aren't overly complicated so I think Excel would be capable enough to do it. Now that you mention it, maybe I'll
put together a constraint analysis spreadsheet and post it somewhere. Might help scratch-builders determine the right wing and power loadings to get the
performance they want.
I used XFLR5 primarily to gure out how much twist and re ex I needed to achieve the bell shaped lift distribution that's desirable for tailless aircraft. I also
did a stability analysis to see how the model would behave. I haven't yet tried to verify these things, but I suppose I could use the Ardupilot's data logging
to try and look at the dynamic stability. At some point, I'll also get the lift, drag, and pitching moment plots from my XFLR5 model and see how close they
are to the wind tunnel data.
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Also, can you elaborate on the skin molding? What weight cloth did you use and did you use DTFB? What resin system?
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Thanks!
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The skins are made up of two layers of 2oz glass cloth, followed by a ~2mm sheet of XPS foam and nally a third layer of 2oz glass on the back side. I
imagine that Depron or DTFB would work as well if it were sliced to the proper thickness - the pink foam is just what I had available. I initially tried some
layups without the foam sandwich core, but couldn't get an acceptable amount of rigidity.
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Great work!
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Holy Cra*. Way to throw the technology at the problem. Impressive for sure! I can't wait for the Wave Rider.
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Mind Blown! You just raised the bar too high for this site ;). You made the best use of the CNC, laser cutter, and ber glass molding that I have ever seen.
Bravo! I can't wait to see more, and what you do with ArduPilot, great choice btw.
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()
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People already said it, but just wanted to add my: Wowww...
Crazy job, congratulation!
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I created a FliteTest account just to rate your article and compliment you on your build; it's absolutely amazing...wonderful job! You blew my mind :o
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x2
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jhummel (/authors/jhummel)
Northrop Grumman X-47B on Design
August 10,
&2014
Build
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X3
70
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hursto75 (/authors/hursto75) on May 28, 2014
()
Your shop is amazing and your work is better!! Love when graphs are included. Thanks so much, more videos.
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Great job in creating this. I had thought about making a RC model of this aircraft but don't have the tools or talent. Obviously you do though. I would love
to see a longer video of this in ight.
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At some point, I'll de nitely put a longer ight video up. I'm up to 4 ights now, and have mostly been working on tuning the gains for the Ardupilot. I can't
decide whether to use stabilization on all 3 axes or on yaw only. Pitch and roll are pretty stable as is.
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All is well !
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Thanks for the heads up, the podcast mention was pretty cool.
I painted the model and updated the article with some new pics. I do have more ight video as promised, but haven't gotten around to editing and
publishing it yet. Sorry about that!
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Also, when you were designing and doing calculations for you model, did you use he scale airfoil in your design or did you alter it. I have this thing for he
P-40 Warhark and am in the middle of designing it. I have done boatloads of research on and and want to build a scale model (or as close to scale as you
can get with foam and a limited income as you can get) and was winding if I should use the scale airfoil or if I should modify it. A lot of the other designers
here on FliteTest just stick win the simple under amber or at bottom airfoil, bu with me wantin to make it scale I was honking about using something
di erent. Also, what design program did you use, and how much does it cost? Do you think someone could do it in a free program like SketchUp?
Thanks, Nathan
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hi
i have some questions on this project
i have some questions on drawing
so i would be happy to get answer from you
sergey_top_1@mail.ru
friends from Russia
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Great Article!
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Crazy Good!!!
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(/authors/Rocketman1092)
That plane has been on my back burner to build. I was not con dent that a ducted fan could pull it o . Great job!
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can you provide the link for model you used to make your plane or even your model
Thanks in advance
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Can you provide an article showing us how your wind tunnel is set up?
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