ROGALLO WING RC PLANE

ROGALLO WING RC PLANE
“AEROMODELLING CLUB”

PROJECT MEMBERS
• Tushar Sikroria (Aerospace Engg.)
• Nikhil Sunil Upadhyaye (Civil Engg.)
• Amit Kumar Gond (Aerospace Engg.)
• Mayank Kumar Sharma (Civil Engg.)

INTRODUCTION
Rogallo-wing is a delta-shaped wing which gives
large lift to the fuselage. The plane requires a
very short runway. This wing is made of any
suitable fabric like parachute cloth, miler sheet
or even plastic. In this project parachute cloth
has been used. The cloth is supported by four
rods and the sag given to the cloth gives lift.

WING STRUCTURE
• Negligible porosity parachute cloth has been
used for this project.
• For the four support rods, balsa wood was
used.
• Each rod was made by joining three layers of
balsa wood using bond-tite.
• Three rods were 34” in length and one rod
was 37” in length. Thickness was 1 cm.
• Initially 70 X 40 “ cloth was cut out.

CHALLENGES
• The material used for the rods should be light but
strong so that the cloth is well supported.
• Aluminium rods or plastic pipes can be used but
they get bent easily.
• Balsa wood is suitable. Balsa ply-wood is even
better as one layer is sufficient.
• The drawback of rods used is that these provide
slight drag due to flat corners.
• The round rods reduce drag. Even wood can do so
if the edges are made smooth and slightly curved
by sand – paper.

WING CONSTRUCTION
• The cloth was spread on the floor.
• One rod was fixed at the centre of the cloth,
parallel to the breadth using bond-tite.
• Two rods were fixed on either side of the middle
rod at an angle of 60 degrees.
• So we get a common point and three other points
of rods.
• The cloth was cut from the end point of the
middle rod to those of the other to rods. Extra
cloth was also cut along the side of the rods
giving a delta shape.

• Each of the two rods was bent inwards by 2-3
degrees to provide sag.
• Care should be taken that both rods are bent by
exactly same angle.
• The tri-point of the three rods was held in
position by fixing a triangular piece of balsa
plywood.
• The fourth rod was fixed perpendicular to the
middle rod at a position such that the two ends
reach the side rods. This was about 13.5” from
the tri-point.
• This rod was stuck at the two ends and at the
middle. Thus, the rogallo wing is ready.

DIFFICULTIES
• While fixing the rods initially to the cloth with
bond-tite, the cloth along with the rods got stuck
so firmly to the floor that it was almost
impossible to remove from the floor.
• The cloth should first be placed on a thermacol
sheet covered by 5-6 sheets of paper. The sticking
of paper will not create problem.
• Sag(for providing lift) should be given carefully
and equally on both sides for ensuring
equilibrium during flight.

PYLON
• Pylon(connecting medium between wing and fuselage)
was made by using two layers of balsa ply-wood, each
about 15 X 4 inches.
• At the top, the pylon is cut to give an inclination of
about 20 degrees(for providing the angle of attack to
the wing).
• A groove is made at the inclined edge (perp. to it)
according to the width and thickness of the fourth rod.
• Wing is fixed such that the fourth rod is fixed in the
groove and supported by triangular plywood.
• The base of pylon is fixed to a rectangular sheet of
balsa ply-wood of suitable size.
• Wing is ready to be attached to fuselage.

FUSELAGE
• We have used a small fuselage for our wing.
• The fuselage has no special requirement. Just
the usual rudders and elevators are needed
along with horizontal and vertical stabilizers.
• We have repaired an old small broken fuselage
for our project, about 35” in length.
• The fuselage was open at its front end for
adjusting servos and fuel tank.

ENGINE
• 0.15 cu.in. engine is used(small for available mounts).
• For attaching with mount, one arm was fixed with usual
screws and bolts while the other side was fixed using
strong wires from MME lab.
• A wooden frame suitable for the mount was made from
ply-wood.
• Holes were drilled at the required places and the frame
was fixed at the front of the fuselage.
• The mount along with the engine was fixed using nuts and
bolts and the propeller was attached.
• Fuel tank was fixed near the mount using fibre tape.

RC PARTS
• Three servos were attached using fibre tape.
• Rudder servo was fixed near the vertical
stabilizer, elevator servo at the end of the open
part of the fuselage and the engine servo near
the mount, at the side of fuselage.
• Engine servo was fixed firmly using ductape.
• The receiver and the battery were fixed at the
backward part of fuselage.
• One wheel was attached to the engine using bolts
and a pair of wheels was fixed under the rudder
servo using bond-tite.

FIXING
• The servos were connected using thin aluminium
pushrods of a length such that the rods do not
bend while the servos rotate.
• Rudder servo was connected both with the
rudder and the wheel.
• A wire was attached to the receiver and the other
end was let free(antennae).
• The wing was attached above the fuel tank using
thick rubber string and balancing was checked. In
our case a faulty servo was needed in front.

FUEL
• The fuel used is methanol and castor oil in 3:1.
• The two were mixed in this ratio in a bottle and the
fuel was supplied to the fuel tank through the two thin
rods using rubber pipes.
• This process was done usin fuel supply pump.
• One opening(thin rod) was connected to the engine
using rubber pipe and the other was connected to
another rubber pipe and let free as there was no
silencer.
• With silencer, this opening is connected to it for release
of waste material.
• The plane is ready for flight.

SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT
• A longer fuselage and a greater power engine
is better so that all the servos can be fit inside
the fuselage.
• A better mechanism for attaching the wing
can be used.
• Another servo can be used for the side wards
deflection of wing for sharp turns.