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Team Black Star Flying Wing
Summary
The Black Star Flying Wing was designed and built in 1996 by a team of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering students at OSU as a project for MAE 4374 Aerospace Systems Design. The design goal was to build an extreme endurance aircraft that could set an FAI Endurance record for airplanes in its class. The record at the time of Black Star's construction was approximately 33 hours. Although fuel consumption tests demonstrated the endurance capability of the aircraft would have been of over 40 hours, the most significant accomplishment of the Black Star team was the ability to achieve controllable flight with such an unorthodox configuration.
The Airplane The Team Multimedia The Mission Sponsors
Specifications
Wing
Wingspan: 12.9 ft
Wing Area: 16 sq ft
Aspect ratio: 10.37
Sweep: 5 deg
Dihedral 5 deg
Taper Ratio: 0.525
Airfoil: Eppler 325
Propulsion
Engine: 4-stroke Saito 0.5 cu in custom modified with new carburetor, and spark ignition
Fuel: Refined Naphtha.
Fuel Tanks: Multiple 1.5 in x 18 in cylindrical polycarbon tubes. Secondary pressure regulation tank.
Propeller: 15x6 wood
Weights
Dry Weight: 6 Lb
Gross Weight: 11 lb
Systems
Basic wing leveler autopilot
Alternator for electrical power
The Black Star Team was lead by a chief engineer, and was divided into 4 technical groups: Aerodynamics/Stability and Control, Propulsion, Structures, and Systems.
Chief Engineer: Eric Davis
Aerodynamics / Stability and Control
Andy Som de Cerff (Lead)
James Root
Propulsion
Zeljko Nikolic (Lead)
Marcus Wade
Structures
Eric Hundley (Lead)
Kui Ling Ling Pau
Tung-Liang Tay
Tong Li Pua
Steve Youngblood
Systems
Edward Foxworth
Yeehui Khaw
Yin-Huei Tan
Soo-Ket Lim
Wee-Choong Chong
Thomas Wu
Pilots
Dan Bierly
Paul Reinman
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Andrew S. Arena, Jr.
Team Logo:
Memorable Quotes:
"...you want to fly it at night!?" -Dan Bierly
"Is that the receiver in the street?"
Video
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Team Video (34MB): The music video introduces the team, and highlights the development and testing of the aircraft.
Pictures
(Hover cursor over any thumbnail on this page for a description)
The mission for the Black Star was to be capable of setting an FAI world endurance record. The record at the time of the Valkyrie's design was 33 hours, 39 minutes, 15 seconds. The Black Star falls within the FAI's F3A classification for piston engined, radio controlled aircraft. Major design constraints for this class are as follows:
Maximum gross weight: 11.023 lb
Maximum engine displacement: 0.61 cubic inches
Maximum planform area: 2325 sq in
Maximum wing loading: 24.57 oz/sq ft
Minimum wing loading: 3.95 oz/sq ft
Although the aircraft did not attempt the endurance record, it was demonstrated by the propulsion team that fuel burn rate was reduced to a point that 40 hours would have been feasible. The most significant accomplishment of the Black Star team was in developing such a unique flying wing design, and achieving controlled flight without any stability augmentation. The team considered safer flying wing designs that would have had better handling qualities, but the team decided to push the limits of the design to the low sweep, high aspect ratio configuration in order to optimize performance.