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Aircraft design
The ADAG research group has carried out researches on light aircraft design and sailplane design. In particular some research activities have regarded sailplane fuselage design, wing-fuselage interference effects and wing-fuselage junction design for high performance sailplanes in cooperation with Prof. Boermans of Delft University (Holland). Since 1993 the group is involved in design problems related to ultra-light (ULM) aircraft, in particular to well known P92 and P96 aircraft produced by Tecnam. Since 1997 has worked on the design of a new light aircraft called G97 Spotter, designed by Prof. Vincenzo Giordano, mainly devoted to reconnaissance and observation. The group has acquired a good expertise performing both numerical aerodynamic analysis and wind-tunnel test with majority of the work addressed to these light aircraft.
A numerical code named AEREO has been developed in the past ten years to predict in a simple and fast way all aerodynamic, dynamic, and performance characteristics of propeller driven light aircraft and sailplanes. The code is intended to be a “design tool”, menu-driven and user friendly, fast and accurate enough to perform sensitivity analysis in the aircraft preliminary design phase.
In the last years the group is working on the design and construction of an UAV model (Radio Controlled Model) with three lifting surfaces. The model has been built in composite materials is equipped with some sensors to measure all flight and control parameters. The final goal, among others, will be the investigation of canard influence on aircraft aerodynamics and dynamic behavior.
