For this project we were asked to make a glider out of Balsa wood. Everyone in class made different designs and characteristics on there glider, and tested them out on a application to see if they would work. Then we made them using glue sticks and X-acto knives. We then used playdo and other tools to adjust our gliders while testing them inside and outside.
This is my design in the application we used to test the durability, drag, and lift for our gliders. The amount of drag and lift depended on the size of the fuselage / wings / vertical stabilizer / horizontal stabilizer. The amount of lift and drag the computer determined the glider would have, then would give us a decision on whether the airplane would fly or not.
Below and above are the final products of the design that I made. When I was testing it I made a lot of modifications, including re glueing pieces and putting Playdo on the left slide to even out the weight.
Below are the inside and outside test results of my glider. My glider did better outside than inside, with the wind. My glider was very consistent and hit top distances which were two of my goals that I achieved. My glider was hard to throw with the length of it but when I threw it correctly it glided very smoothly. If I had to make a change to it now I would make a bigger horizontal stabilizer, and I would make it easier to throw.