Current Aerospace/Aeronautics Engineering students to build and fly a Microlight aircraft
Studying engineering at Brunel has always been a healthy combination of academic learning and application of these learnt skills in experimental work and lab based projects; this careful balance that is encouraged throughout the course of study is expanded in the final year of a masters degree where students work together to complete a major group project.
This year aerospace students have had the opportunity to take one of two paths, the first of which was to work on the design of a conceptual aircraft using the expert software available in the School of Engineering and Design, or secondly to test, verify and construct a homebuilt microlight kit with the aim of having it fully operational for flight.
The second of these two opportunities is the route being taken by this group of Masters students who are studying to complete either their MSc or MEng in Aerospace Engineering.
The group members are:
- Steven Arthur (studying for an MSc) who has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dundee University
- Jennifer Caselton (studying for an MSc) who is continuing at Brunel after completing her Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering with Aeronautics
- Stephen Goodman (studying for an MEng) who is currently studying to finish his Masters of Aerospace Engineering degree from Brunel
- Joseph Muskett (studying for an MSc) who has just obtained his Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Royal Holloway - "Having never embarked on a project of this nature I feel privileged to be part of the team"
- Mutinda Musuva (studying towards an MSc) who has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nairobi, Kenya
- Jack O'Byrne (studying to complete an MEng) who is continuing to finish the Brunel Masters of Mechanical Engineering with Aeronautics degree
The aim of the group project is to test, validate and construct a fully operational microlight from a kit provided by Reality Aircraft. The final construction is aimed to weigh less than 115kg (empty weight) with no more than a 10kg/m2 wing loading. If these objectives are fulfilled the aircraft can be flown under the new microlight deregulation introduced by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) who govern the legislation for light aircraft in the UK.
At present tests are being carried out to ensure that the airframe, wings, engine mount and landing gear have the integrity to withstand the loads that they would be subjected to in flight. An example of one such test, performed on the landing gear in December, is shown below in figure 1.
Once these tests are complete and any required modifications have been made the kit will be constructed under the supervision of lab technician Kevin Robinson and project supervisors' Dr Guy Gratton and Dr Cristinel Mares.
Figure 1. Static load testing of the microlight’s landing gear
Figure 2. The airframe at the start of the project
With the aircraft fully built it will be the job of the MSc students to organise flight testing and instrument calibration for their individual dissertations after the summer exam period. The flight tests will be carried out by a Brunel lecturer, qualified test pilot and microlight technical advisor, Dr Guy Gratton, with the assistance of a second test pilot, Rob Grimwood, who is the world microlight champion and a Brunel graduate in Mechanical Engineering with Aeronautics. Additionally if spinning assessment is carried out the project may employ the expertise of Rein Inge Hoff the Chief Flying Instructor at Sula Airbase in Norway and part time Brunel PhD student in flight mechanics.
In addition to flight testing one MSc student will have the opportunity to program the capabilities of the microlight into the flight simulator owned and run by Brunel University’s engineering department. The simulation model will be used as a final verification of the aircraft systems and flight regime thus confirming it as safe to fly.
As it stands, completion of the ground tests and build are proposed to correspond with the final group hand date of April 10th 2008. Flight testing will commence a couple of months after for the MSc projects.
This will be the first time a University has completed such a project in the UK for about 25 years, since Cranfield University designed and built the Cranfield A1 in the early 1980s. Previously the first such project in the UK was the Southampton Man-Powered Aircraft Project that was run in the late 1960s. The opportunity does not often come round to be the member of a team that builds an aircraft for manned flight so the prospect has been very exciting for all involved!
The post degree options for students involved in the project regarding employment are expanded with such an applied experience and application of taught subjects. Interestingly, one of the students, Dr Bill Brooks, who worked on the Cranfield A1 (which was the last university aircraft build project in the UK) is now rated as one of the UK's most successful light aircraft designers.
Figure 3. Members of the team working on the frame
Figure 4. A two-seater version of the single-seater microlight the students are building
