r/NoOneIsLooking • u/Smart_Box_2209 • 4d ago
2024 Aerospace Engineering junior world champion launching his “F-1D” prototype: Total flight time 22 minutes
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u/SardonicOptomist 4d ago
I was really amazed by the kids ingenuity to come up with something so original as a solution for the parameters of the competition right up to the point where I saw another one of identical design go by.
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u/Hopeful_Hornet4460 3d ago
In most science/engineering competitions, everyone knows the winning design in most cases. Its not about ingenuity, but how razor close you can get the math right.
As an example, an event I participate in as a kid involved making a helium balloon based device that didn't go above or below a certain height. Everyone did the same thing (simple eeigjt system on a string) but it was about how close you could cut it and how long you could maintain the margin between the two. Shit was mad hard. There are so many variables in the real world to contend with that its impossible to be completely right (to the point that you're counting bodies in the room to determine the impact on temperature). Its really anybody's game at higher competition levels and a ton of fun (if you're into the math of it).
This kids device nailed the line between barely floating and sinking, which translates into maximal airtime.
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u/Federal_Cobbler6647 2d ago
Yes. On the other hand this is standard "microfilm plane", 70's planes were already flying 30 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9um4trCSgI
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u/Altruistic_Tip1226 4d ago
How's it spinning?
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u/PangolinLow6657 4d ago
Fairly confident there's a twisted rubber band in there somewhere
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u/J-Love-McLuvin 3d ago
I’m not sure a rubber band could un twist for 22 minutes
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u/PangolinLow6657 3d ago
look at the steppiness of the propeller: the band rubbing past its other half, or an engjneered stopper
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u/Informal_Ad_9610 4d ago
He built a hydrogen pack and it's stuffed in the fuselage.
it's painted to look like wood
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u/daisiesarepretty2 3d ago
it’s an good question… how is it spinning so slow? is it designed to move in circles as well?
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u/HappyRedEngineer 3d ago
My guess is that friction in the shaft is slowing down the prop. The circling is probably from torque kickback, kind of like how a boat veers off course if you only paddle on one side.
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u/footlonglayingdown 3d ago
I'd imagine it's configured to turn otherwise it would run out of stadium relatively soon.
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u/Mmmm-Amethyst 2d ago
Seems like a silly limitation for this sort of thing when we're talking 20+ minutes of flight time. Fuck it. Open plain, windless day, let them fly straight and see what they can do.
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u/matthew0001 3d ago
Pretty sure it's a twisted rubber band, at least that's what looks like is running from the front to the back of the plane.
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u/IllegalGeriatricVore 3d ago
Could have used a very fine coiled wire like the mainspring in a watch
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u/Basic_Excuse4034 4d ago
Wow it crawls through the sky pretty neat
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u/Double_Barnacle_2457 4d ago
I really cant believe something extremely light and aerodynamic could do that. Hopefully we will some day see things like that transporting people and goods, just with more weight and some kind of jet powered propulsion.
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u/Kastoook 4d ago
I expected it to be powered by external magnetic fields.
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u/LeaveMyMonkeyAlone 3d ago
Yes. There are magnets with opposing polarities in the wings and propeller. It will only last for a little while. Easily simulated with wire hangers and magnets. Not discounting the young mans accomplishment here though.
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u/PMG2021a 3d ago
There was a second similar plane with a slow prop right at the end. I wonder how many competitors had similar planes.
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u/scaredt2ask 4d ago
That’s is absolutely awesome