Break This
Blech.
So yeah, the lab continues to be a thorn in my side. We had to cough up the latest report today, which wound up being quite a mess. We missed 2 classes finishing it. A bunch of our results wound up being off by a factor of 10, and we have no clue why. So we tweaked a few things and made that go away. Then there was another result set off by a factor of 2 and another off by a factor of 4. So something was clearly messed up, but we couldn't figure out what. And that's what we put in the conclusions. Anyway, today we tested the composite dealies we made up several months ago. Now, our 90° one was broken prior to being tested, and I could swear it was intact when we got it out of the mold. So that one underperformed severely, our 45° one did okay, and the 0° one underperformed as well. We get to explain that in the massive final report due a month from now.
The second test cycle has begun. We had structures today, which was also a mess. I finished, but based on initial checks, something was wrong and I didn't have time to figure out what. Darn. The other three are sprawled out over the next several weeks. The second test cycle is never as organized as the first.
DBF flew the plane yesterday. I wasn't there, but the plane flew... barely. The control surfaces are apparently flabby, which causes poor control. So the wings and tail will have to be rebuilt, hopefully with better quality control this time around. And they sheared off the gear on landing (when has this happened before?), so that will have to be rebuilt. Apparently they oriented the grain in the plywood support in the wrong direction. Again, quality control. I assume rebuilding will be ongoing, but I have composition stuff to deal with for now. That project is more or less completely stalled out.
And that's about it. No lab report due next week.
So yeah, the lab continues to be a thorn in my side. We had to cough up the latest report today, which wound up being quite a mess. We missed 2 classes finishing it. A bunch of our results wound up being off by a factor of 10, and we have no clue why. So we tweaked a few things and made that go away. Then there was another result set off by a factor of 2 and another off by a factor of 4. So something was clearly messed up, but we couldn't figure out what. And that's what we put in the conclusions. Anyway, today we tested the composite dealies we made up several months ago. Now, our 90° one was broken prior to being tested, and I could swear it was intact when we got it out of the mold. So that one underperformed severely, our 45° one did okay, and the 0° one underperformed as well. We get to explain that in the massive final report due a month from now.
The second test cycle has begun. We had structures today, which was also a mess. I finished, but based on initial checks, something was wrong and I didn't have time to figure out what. Darn. The other three are sprawled out over the next several weeks. The second test cycle is never as organized as the first.
DBF flew the plane yesterday. I wasn't there, but the plane flew... barely. The control surfaces are apparently flabby, which causes poor control. So the wings and tail will have to be rebuilt, hopefully with better quality control this time around. And they sheared off the gear on landing (when has this happened before?), so that will have to be rebuilt. Apparently they oriented the grain in the plywood support in the wrong direction. Again, quality control. I assume rebuilding will be ongoing, but I have composition stuff to deal with for now. That project is more or less completely stalled out.
And that's about it. No lab report due next week.
posted by Kevin H | 6:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home