PRELIMINARY AILERON DESIGN
We couldn’t find much information online on how ailerons are typically hinged so Ollie reached out to the Homebuilt Airplanes forum and got some great responses. It seems that the most common hinging mechanisms for ultralights are a series of separate piano hinges or two U brackets bolted together. Bearings typically aren’t used on ultralights simply to save weight. Delrin® bushings are used instead. Since we are planning to use integrated ailerons rather than “cheepo” ailerons attached on the trailing edge (primarily for sex appeal but also to save weight), we need to use the U bracket configuration, as piano hinges simply wouldn’t work. Based on some conceptual calculations done by Ryan on the physics team, Ollie began drafting a variablized aileron design. To attach the ailerons to the wing, the aft spar was also moved further back.
