Project Description:
We are the University of Maryland undergraduate team competing in the 42nd Annual Vertical Flight Society Student Design competition. This year's competition requires that we design a hydrogen-powered electric Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicle (eVTOL) that can carry a 185-kg payload and follow a prescribed mission path. This mission requires that Draco takes off from the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC, travels 30 kilometers to Alligator Lake, loiters above this lake in a circular flight path for as long as possible, and finally returns to the starting point to land safely. To satisfy our customer's demands, we prioritized this loiter time and designed Draco to maximize its endurance in forward flight. In our preliminary design and sizing, we found that a lift-compounded single main rotor helicopter would have the best loiter time while keeping the weight minimal. We then conducted further studies in blade, wing, and hydrogen power system design to improve Draco's aerodynamic performance and loiter time. Meanwhile, we carefully designed the internal systems hydrogen power, transmission, and avionics to ensure the safety of the pilot and passenger on board. Finally, Draco's optimized loiter endurance is 2 hours and 46 minutes, and it has an installed power of 253 kW and a power requirement of 53 kW in loiter.
