Flying things have fascinated students in IIT Madras for last 3 years. We had the Want 2 Fly plane, then the coanda lifter. This interest in aero modeling grew into The Aero Modeling Club.
Now again we have a new kind of flying machine which can take-off or land anywhere....
It stands for Vertical Takeoff and Landing. Our goal is to make an aircraft that can take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane. It’s a plane that can take-off without a runway!
Our aircraft is a tail sitter aircraft. It is vertical initially during take-off and becomes horizontal in mid air.
The aircraft has its wing close to the tail. This is very crucial as it brings the CG close to the ground which provides maximum stability in vertical take-off. The wing has control surfaces called Elevons (Aileron + Elevator). It has a small lift surface to front of the plane called canard which keeps the nose of the plane up. It is powered by two wing mounted engines. Twin rudders are mounted on the wings right behind the engines. This gives greater control over the yaw.
Since it does not require a runway to takeoff, it can be used on ships for air support as well as for remote surveillance.
This is useful during relief operations as these are quicker than helicopters.