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SECME 2013 - 2014
The Orlando Youth Aviation Center (OYAC) is sponsoring a glider competition amongst local students. The purpose of the competition is to give these local students the opportunity to utilize their knowledge of aircraft design and performance and to learn even more by designing, testing, and building gliders and competing against other local teams of students. The rules and design requirements for the competition are as follows:
Rules and Restrictions 1. Teams must design and build a glider from scratch. No kit built gliders are allowed. Other than supplies from a kit, there is no restriction on the materials used in building the gliders (see rule #2 for other materials not allowed). 2. Do not use metal (including coins), glass, spikes, rocks, gravel, or any other hard material to construct the glider. The intent of this rule is to prevent any injuries should the glider come apart or hit a person. Use of these materials will automatically disqualify the team from the competition. The Head Judge will make the final decision as to whether the materials are not allowed. 3. Only one glider per team is allowed. Each team will consist of 3 students.
4. The payload for the gliders will consist of marbles that will be supplied by the competition coordinators on the day of the competition. The marbles will be 0.56 inches in diameter and have a mass of 3.8 g (0.134 ounces) each. 5. The glider must carry exactly 16 marbles 16 marbles will have a mass of 2.1 ounces. 6. The marbles must be kept in a single location in the glider, encased in a single container placed in a single location in the glider. There is no restriction on the length, width, or height of the container. 7. In order to prevent marbles from spilling out everywhere during a hard landing, teams are required to place all of the marbles inside a sealed sandwich bag when in the glider.
8. The gliders will be hand launched with no power assist (springs, bungee chords, etc.) or any other device by a team member in an indoor facility to be designated by the competition coordinators. The team member must have their feet planted in a box 12 inches by 12 inches square when launching the glider. If the person’s foot is outside the box upon throwing the glider, the flight will have to be redone. 9. No radio control of the gliders is allowed. 10. No glider may have a total weight (including the marbles) more than 10 ounces (283.5 grams), nor may it have a total weight less than 6 ounces (170.1 grams). Aircraft with a total weight less than 6 ounces or greater than 10 ounces will not be eligible to compete. Again, the 6 and 10 ounce weight limits include the 2.1 ounces of marbles.
11. The glider must have a minimum wingspan of 2.5 feet (30 inches). This will be measured from wingtip to wingtip with a tape measure. 12. Ballistic entries are not allowed. In other words, you cannot toss it like a shot put. 13. Points will be earned by the distance that the glider travels. One point will be awarded for every foot of gliding distance. 14. Each team will be given a total of 4 flight attempts. The team’s total score for the competition will be the sum of the scores of all flight attempts. The competition will be held in four rounds, which each team being given only one flight attempt per round. Hence, you cannot fly twice in one round and not at all in another.
15. The distance glided will be measured using the nose of the aircraft, regardless of what position the aircraft is in upon landing. 16. Any flight that results in the aircraft breaking into multiple pieces will be reduced by 25%. Hence, if the glider travels 40 feet but any piece breaks off upon landing, the distance will be scored as 30 feet. This includes the marbles, which must remain inside the glider during the impact of landing for that flight to count. The only exception is if the aircraft travels the entire length of the facility being used (likely an indoor atrium) and hits the wall at the far end of the facility. If impact with the wall causes the aircraft to break into multiple pieces, that flight will still count with no penalty. Any flight during which the aircraft remains completely intact will count in full, regardless of whether the plane reaches the far wall or not.
17. No wheels are allowed on the glider. It must slide to a halt on the ground, not roll to a stop. 18. The distance glided by the aircraft will be measured in a straight line from the starting point using distance markers on the ground, as shown below. The measured distance will be determined only by the distance from the starting point perpendicular to the distance markers. In other words, even though the aircraft may travel the distance shown by the solid line below, the measured distance will be that of the dashed line. It is up to the teams to design and develop an aircraft that is directionally stable.
19. The competition coordinators will set up a boundary (shown by the very thick lines below) which are guaranteed to be clear of obstacles and people. If an aircraft strays outside of this boundary it may hit a wall or support column and suffer damage. As mentioned above, if any pieces break off from the glider its flight will be reduced by 25%. If the glider does not suffer damage outside of the boundary, there is no penalty. The boundary is set up to define the region in which the glider is guaranteed to not be in danger of hitting a wall or other structure. It will be approximately 10 feet wide and again it is up to the teams to build a glider that can fly straight and thus not stray outside of this safe zone.
Flight Challenge
CHALLENGE Participants create a glider that stays in flight for the greatest elapsed time. The glider must be designed to be launched from a catapult that is provided on site. The design process is documented in a notebook that is submitted for evaluation.
SAFETY • Safety glasses are required for this event at all times during the event. TSA will not supply safety glasses. • Students must be instructed by their teachers on the proper use of cyanoacrylate (CA) glue.
REGULATIONS A. Students are required to provide and wear safety eyewear for this event. B. Participants are not allowed to construct a glider without a completed technical drawing in their documentation notebooks. C. A standard three (3)-ring binder, with a clear front sleeve for a cover page, is required. The cover page must include the event title, the conference city and state, and the year. The inside of the binder must include the following single-sided, 8½" x 11" pages: 1. Title page with event title, conference city and state, and the year 2. Full-size metric technical drawing with dimensions of the glider to be built; 11" x 17" paper may be folded to fit in the sheet protector. 3. Pictures of two (2) test gliders will be included in the binder 4. Flight log for each pictured test glider (see Flight Log sample below)
Materials (SUPPLIED BY THE PARTICIPANT) (Participants may have only one [1] of each wooden part. Extra wooden parts will not be allowed, so wood should be chosen carefully.) Balsaand/or basswood plus ballast material a. fuselage blank, 3mm (⅛") thick x 13mm (½") wide x 300mm (11⅞") long b. wing blank, 1.5mm (1/16") thick x 77mm (3") wide x 300mm (11⅞") long c. stabilizer and fin blank, .75mm (1/32") thick x 51mm (2") wide x 150mm (5⅞") long d. wooden shark’s tooth hook, 3mm (⅛") thick x 6.5mm (¼") wide x 20mm (¾") long, glued to the bottom of the fuselage; a shark’s tooth cut into the fuselage will also be permitted. 2. A maximum of five (5) grams of ballast, such as clay, fun tack, poster tack, or similar material to be used for balance trim
Tolerances are as follows: 1. Fuselage: 298mm to 300mm long 2. Shark’s tooth hook: 18mm to 20mm long x 6mm wide Templates, jigs, and fixtures that MAY be used in constructing gliders; these are to help facilitate fast and accurate construction. 1. Templates, jigs, and fixtures must be developed and built by students.
Sanding blocks —These may have two (2) grits affixed to the top and bottom; grits are chosen by the student. 4. Traction plate with sandpaper (150mm x 300mm maximum) attached to a thin piece of rigid material, i.e., plywood, foam core board, press board, cardboard, plastic, etc. 5. Dihedral fixture — This is an all-wood apparatus that assists in sanding the critical dihedral joints and that secures the model as the glue dries to ensure a precise prototype.
TIME LIMITS A. Participants have ninety (90) minutes to construct a glider. B. Participants are given a maximum of thirty (30) minutes for trimming (test flights) of their glider. ATTIRE AND SAFETY EYEWEAR TSA competition attire, as described in the Competitive Events Attire section of this guide, is required. Participants are required to provide and wear safety-approved eyewear during all phases of this event. Prescription eyewear will need to have side shields to be considered safety eyewear. Should a participant remove his/her eyewear during the event, s/he will be reminded once to replace it. If there is a second infraction, the participant will be asked to leave the competition.
Tool Box (254mm x 254mm x 508mm): • (Labeled with School Name, Address and Advisor’s cell phone) • Cutting Devices – X’acto knives, utility knives • Glue – super glue or cyanoacrylate (CA) glue, debonding liquid • Fastening devices (pins, clamps, tape) • Cutting surface • Rulers • Sanding paper • Pens and pencils with sharpener • Wax paper • Pliers • Safety glasses
A. Participants report to the event area at the time and place stated in the conference program with their metric technical drawing, notebooks, tools, and supplies. B. Participants use their metric technical drawing to fabricate a glider. The technical drawing may be hand-drawn using mechanical drawing instruments OR done using CAD. C. Participants may use templates, jigs, and fixtures for constructing the glider.
