Airplane Design

Hand sketches of the airplane design. 

Airplane characteristics are now calculated, and the design is chosen.
The main focus of the design is to get an airplane that is stable, and can manouver in low density air. The solution is a glider plane with a pusher propeller. With a pusher design, we will ensure the field of view of the camera is not blocked by the propeller.

3D model of the airplane design. 

We want to use some of the aspects from gilders, such as self-stabilizing dihedral wings and large lift. The wing span will be approximately 2 meters and that should give us enough lift to support the payload. Most of the design has been based around the payload box and what we want to put inside the airplane. The circuit boards are stacked on one plate so that we have a modular design that will support all the circuit boards that's required.

Stacked circuit boards within the airplane body. 

We also have room for two cameras, a parachute, radio transceiver and the pusher propeller. The motor for the pusher propeller will be partly inside the body to account for the low temperatures in the upper stratosphere. 

Pusher propeller motor inside the airplane body. 

We have decided to use styrofoam for the body because of the good insulation properties. We are also working on a heat model to make sure that all the components inside the body will be working in their operating temperature range. It will be posted soon.