This plane was a personal project to challenge my design skills and improve my understanding of plane design to better contribute as a member of the Airframe Subteam on CUAIR, a student-run project team at Cornell University which develops autonomous carbon-fiber planes.

The plane features a retractable landing gear, detachable wings, articulated control surfaces, and more.

Designing the plane was both an incredibly fun and frustrating experience. I chose a tailless configuration to reduce manufacturing complexity, but made up for the savings with aerodynamics research. I explored everything from lowering the center of gravity and adding dihedral to selecting airfoils with reflex camber to counteract the typical nose-down pitching moment. To model the plane, I challenged myself to use Fusion 360’s surface modeling tools rather than relying on sweeps or lofts to have finer control over the wing shape. Drawing on past experience with Blender, I applied best practices for topology and edge flow to sculpt a clean, aerodynamic outer shell. My 3D printing experience also helped me optimize parts for strength and printability while experimenting with materials like Lightweight PLA and TPU.