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PROPOSAL
THE LOW SPEED FLIGHT APPLICATIONS FOR FAN WING DESIGN
June 15, 2014
PREPARED FOR: The National Science Foundation

PREPARED BY: Ryley James Reese, Student
Mechanical Engineering Department
University of Idaho

DESCRIPTION:
This document is an overview of a design plan to further the research in Fan Wing technology. The low
speed high lift capabilities of the fan wing could have many applications, such as unmanned flight
vehicles, Cargo aircraft, and Aerial Application (crop dusting) aircraft. The project plan is to design build
and test the Fan Wing Technology using a small scale radio controlled aircraft, to further the aerospace
research in this new technology.














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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview 3

Literature review 3

Design and Methodology 4

Preparation 5

Line-item Budget 6
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Figure 1. Fan Wing Prototype
0verview:
I am writing a
proposal to The National
Science Foundation for a
grant of $5000 dollars to
explore the cutting edge
technology of the Fan
Wing in aircraft
propulsion.
The Fan Wing is a
new Aerospace system
that combines the
propulsion and wing in
one. A large source for
information on this
Technology is on the Fan
Wing website. The Fan
wing uses this same idea as a regular wing, however it can increase velocity and airflow over the top of
the wing mechanically by using a Fan like system, creating more lift than a typical airfoil. The dramatic
increase in lift is what intrigues me the most, the applications for higher lift at lower speeds
I would be working on this project for not only the advancement of my own aerospace
knowledge. In this research project I hope to answer some questions I have surrounding Fan Wing
technology. These questions include what is the System efficiency, what is the lift to wing size ratio, how
slow can the vehicle maintain flight, and how maneuverable is it. These among other questions, that will
no doubt present themselves during the project, will help in the understanding and document this new
technology. Some theoretical predictions I have before starting the project are the fan wing will require
less power to provide lift than traditional propulsion systems and that it will be a much more difficult to
maneuver than a normal aircraft design.
For this project the most relevant sources on this aerospace system is from The Fan Wing
Company. This wing and propulsion design is relatively recent in the aerospace field so the Fan Wing
Companys patent would be the best source of information on how to build and test this technology.
Because of the patent the Project would be to simple design and test this area of aerospace and would
have no impact on the companys holding over the idea, this project would legally called a research
exception.
My objectives are to design and build a small radio controlled aircraft, with an approximate wing
span of 3 feet. The objectives for the design process is to create a virtual solid model of the aircraft and
complete flow dynamics for the wing and fuselage. The aircraft is small due to my small budget and
limited amount of time to work on the project.


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Literature review:
The Fan Wing company website is a well-documented source for information on the Fan Wing
design. On the website there are videos of a small radio controlled aircraft, which show the technology
in flight and also their patent of technology is on the website. The Patent has detailed plans on how the
system works and how to build it, this would practically be a cookbook for the designing and testing of
this project. After looking at the Patent, the Fan Wing design seems relatively easy to build as long as I
had access tools and materials.
I have a general interest in the technologies of aerospace engineering, this would be a good
project to help progress my knowledge in this field of study. Right now the Fan Wing is only being
produced in Italy by English Engineering Company. This technology is just waiting to be tested and
shown what it is capable of doing. From all of the reading I have been doing on the Fan Wing, this
technology has the great potential for areas such as Aerial Application of pesticides, and UAV technology
due to its slow airspeed, and high payload capacity due to its high amount of produced lift.

Design and Methodology:
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Figure 2. Fan Wing UAV design
Figure 3, the basic Fan Wing Design
The Project
start date would be
June 30
th
, 2014 and
would last for 3
months. The three
months would be
divided into 1 month
sections for the three
stages of research. The
first month would be
designing and
planning, gathering
materials and doing
the necessary
calculations. The
calculations would include the
structural load calculations to
find the necessary material
thickness and structure, the
electronic power calculations
to determine the size of
batteries needed and the flow
dynamic calculations to
double check the wing design
and fine tune the angle of
attack for the airfoil. The second month would be Building the Fan wings and wind tunnel testing them.
This means I would need to have the 3 feet of wing span built and the motors and batteries attached so I
could test them in semi real conditions. The third and final month would be to build the aircraft body
that would house the electronics and attach it to the Fan Wings and complete real flight testing. The
fuselage would be big enough to hold the necessary electronics and be able to hold the aircraft upright,
that size would be determined in the structural calculations.
The materials necessary for this build can be divided into 3 categories, structure, aeronautical
and electronics. The structure would include material need to make the wings and fuselage. The
structural materials needed would be upwards of 10 feet of sheet aluminum and a 5 foot long 2 by 2
inch aluminum stock to make brackets and fixtures from. The aeronautical aspects for this design would
include the metal for the Fan and welding wire to weld it together. The electronics that are needed for
the project are Fan Motor[s], Fan bearings, a microcontroller with radio transmitter and receiver, flap
and aileron actuators, and a battery. As of right now my estimated material cost for the structural
aeronautical and electronic materials adds up to $2350.

Line-Item Budget:
Material costs:
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Sheet aluminum $100
5 long, 2 by 2 stock aluminum $60
Wheels $20
Fan motors $200
Fan bearings $20
Microcontroller $350
Radio transmitter for microcontroller $100
Flap and aileron actuators $50x4
Altimeter $200
Battery $100
Miscellaneous fund $1000

Salary:
3 months of work @ $ 3.68 an hour $2650
Total: $5000

Using data acquisition tools such as a Dewesoft I could gather data in real time about the plans
flight such as power used by the motors vs. altitude gain of the plan. After gathering such data I would
be able to generate statistics for Fan Wing lift capacity and efficiency. The data will primarily be
gathered in wind tunnel and testing the real apparatus. These tests will show the capacities of the Fan
Wing in theoretical conditions as well as real ones. The analyzed data will be the results of this research
project and will have the most benefit for myself because it will give me a real data to look at rather
than watching a video online about this technology.


Preparation:
My experience in the aerospace field is extensive for a junior engineering student. I have had
two aerospace internship positions at two different aerospace companies and have taken the class fluid
mechanics. The first aerospace internship I had was with a company called tamarack aerospace group,
where I learned about aerodynamics and research methods for aerospace. The second Internship was
with Quest aircraft, where I was involved in testing aircraft parts in the burn lab, I learned the proper
technique for documenting and testing designs. In the fluid dynamics class I learned about how
propulsion and airfoils work, and how to compute the calculations for these fluid systems.
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As far as preparing adequately for this project, I would need to acquire some academic
resources from a university. At the University of Idaho, I would have access to the facilities I need, those
being a wind tunnel and machine shop. To gain access to the wind tunnel I would talk to and ask for help
from Steve Beyerlein, a professor I have taken a few classes from already. To be allowed in the machine
shop to create this project I would talk to Russ porter, the shop teacher and manager.
Also in preparing for this project I would have to consider potential liabilities. The liabilities of
this project would be minimal, because I would be primarily working by myself. The only liability then
would be my own safety. If I did happen to get hurt working on this project I would be at fault. However
if I was going to have another party help me with the project I would require them sign a liability wavier
to protect myself, the university and The National Science Foundation.

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