School Project Help

[cadenrencher]

Hey everyone, I'm new here but I have a quick question. I am taking AP Research at my school in Mesa, AZ this year and since I love aviation I chose a topic in aviation. I knew a bit about the Yehudi Lights project (and similar projects since WWII) and thought I could look into the principle of counterillumination but with modern aircraft. Since I obviously don't have access to lots of high-performance aircraft I elected to use models. My current plan is to attach light strips or light panels to aircraft (using tape right now) and then conduct similar tests to the original 1940s experiment. Is there anyone around the Phoenix area in Arizona that would be comfortable donating or even lending for a couple weeks some larger-scale (maybe 1/48) modern aircraft for my project?

Thanks,
Caden Rencher

 

[urumomo]

Welcome to SMA !

If this is just an optical demonstration do you even need that detailed of a scale airframe ?

 

[cadenrencher]

Not really (haha)! I'm just looking for a good sized model that has a really close shape.

 

[urumomo]

You could go to Google Images and download pix of the profile and plan view of whichever aircraft you want , scale it to whatever scale to the printer and cut those out to use as templates -- cut the panels out of foam core , sheet styrene / ABS , cardboard ,balsa or whatever .
Spray paint the mockup the appropriate color .
That should be all you need . Just a flat fuselage and flat wings / stabilizers .
You won't need to worry about damaging a nicer model and you can make them up whatever size works best for the installation of LEDs

 

[cadenrencher]

That's a really good idea, thanks! Would the same thing work for different viewing aspects of aircraft (besides head-on) because I was planning on testing that, too?

 

[urumomo]

You're really going to be seeing only the lights , so yes , this type of " airframe " will allow you to mount lights in any arrangement you like .


It will still get shot down though .
radar and all that .