Human Powered Paper Airplane

gilgsn writes: "The Raven is a honeycomb paper, foam and graphite-fibre tape, human powered airplane designed to beat the current record held by MIT's Daedalus . The plane is also powered by a 16MHz Motorola 68332. The technical specifications of the onboard computer are pretty interesting. Unfortunately, as reported on Ananova, the Raven recently crashed a mere 100 feet after taking off, causing some damage to its fragile structure. Maybe they could upgrade to a Pentium and convinced Lance Armstrong to give it a try..."

Comments

No need to upgrade

[Space Cow]

As one of the control engineers who worked on this project, I can tell you there is no need to upgrade to a Pentium. The customized Tattletale system we were using had more than enough power.

The problems that I saw with this project had less to do with the control system and more to do with the airframe. The airframe was damaged a number of times and was extremely fragile. Damage probably occured during every flight test.

For those who are interested, I worked with the RAVEN team 2 years ago. I was resposible for getting an ultrasonic altitude sensor (primary) and a barometric altitude sensor (backup) to co-operate. The idea was that if the ultrasonic device failed the barometric would take over. The reason the barometric device wasn't the primary sensor was because of drift due to weather changes. Accuracy was important because the pilot was not a pilot, but rather an engine. The control system was in charge of maintaining altitude and heading.

Project shutting down?

[uchian]

It seems relevant that this link should be noted. Seems like the project's run out of funding?

Hey, this is local!

[Raetsel]

Paine Field is about 3 miles away from my house, if that. It's right across the 'street' from the Boeing 747/767 assembly plant -- you know, the "world's largest building"? (Largest, I suppose, in that it covers more land than any other building -- it's not particularly tall.)

I saw a news bit recently (last night?) about the crash... looked like one of those 'impending doom' situations, where you know things are going badly, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Unwieldy looking landing gear, but necessary for the size of the prop the fellow is turning. I'm amazed there was as little damage -- it looked worse.

Here are some links from local news:

• Human-powered plane crashes on first flight
• Test flight for the human-powered Raven
• (includes post-crash picture)
• 'Raven' debuts at Museum of Flight (includes pre-crash picture)

Doesn't look like the pilot has much for visibility. It's one of the most recumbant positions I've seen for human-powered flight. When they were pulling him out, it looked like he's almost strapped to the underside of the spar!

Incidentally, the Boeing hangar (the 747 assembly building) is where some of the human-powered helicopter (!!!) tests have been conducted. It's the only indoor place large enough, and the tests have to be indoors because they need absolutely calm air.

What's needed

[DeadBugs]

I found in my aerospace testing that adding a paper clip to the front of the airframe adds a great deal of stability.

Re:A 16 MHz Proc?

[Alsee]

Re:A 16 MHz Proc?
they made it to the moon on far, far less.

Yeah, but the pilots weren't busy peddling.
Now there's an amusing image!

"Huston ... (huff, puff) ... the Eagle ... (huff, puff, huff, puff) has ... (huff, puff) ... landed.
Whew! (huff, puff)
Taking nap. (huff, puff)
Eagle out. Click "

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