I think Mark Drella has worked on real life simulations of this sort for a Mars airplane, so he would also have some usefull information. Also, remember that, in addition to simulating a thinner Martian atmosphere, you need to simulate lower martian gravity (otherwise your wing loading will be higher then it would be if the plane were actually flying above Mars). I recall Mark telling me they did this by flying the airplane in a big parabolic (hyperbolic?) arc, so that the plane was experiencing 1/3 gravity.
Brett Erik Alber wrote: > > Hello everyone, > At my high school (Skyview in Vancouver), we have a program called > Project Alpha. Project Alpha is an aerospace research program involving > research, design and development of aerospace projects for use in the real > world. Currently our focus is on the design of a Remotely Piloted Vehicle > (rpv) with the intention of possible flight in a Martian environment. I am > the RPV specialist in our group. I am leading efforts in designing, > building and > testing of an extreme high altitude balloon launched remotely piloted > vehicle for this project. Our team is intending to build a 140-120 inch > (approx. 3-3.5m) wingspan composite rpv capable of being launched at > altitudes of greater than 100000 feet (30 km) and sustaining level flight at > or close to that altitude. This altitude will simulate the Martian > atmosphere. > We are currently engaged in the research/design/development stage of the > project. One of the major issues we are dealing with at this time is > aerodynamics of low-density airflow. I am familiar with near-earth flight > aerodynamics and build and fly radio control model sailplanes. I have > calculated that at that altitude (30 km), with our intended design, the > aircraft would have to fly at about 130-150 mph to sustain a Cl of about > 0.9. > > I am now faced with a series of unknowns. > -How will these velocities at these low air densities affect the airflow > over the wing? > -Will I run into problems with separation bubbles or compression effects? > -Will this air velocity tear my plane apart? > -Do I need to take special considerations into selecting/designing an > airfoil? > -if so, what should I do in respect to the airfoil? > -Will I need to take special consideration for low altitude flight such as > flaps to slow my airspeed or reflex to prevent stalling? > > Any other issues that may be applicable to this type of extreme altitude > flight that you can think of would be great too. > > If you know of any sources of additional information that I should refer > to, that would be appreciated. > > I appreciate any help you can provide. > > Thanks, > > Erik Alber > Skyview High School - Project Alpha > Portland Area Soaring Society Vice President > http://NuanceHLG.8k.com > Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and >"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- _____________________________________________________________ Brett Jaffee [EMAIL PROTECTED] R/C Slope and Power Homepage http://home.earthlink.net/~jaffee The Unoffical Extra 300 Home Page http://members.nbci.com/bjaffee/extra300/ OnTheWay Quake 3 Server Utility http://www.planetquake.com/ontheway _____________________________________________________________ RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
