Monday, December 6. 1976 7 Staff Writer on. 'Better' plane grounded for study By ROBERT MACKEY Even though the world is hardly beating a path to its door, a University of Kansas senior aerospace design class claims it has invented a better airplane. One of the three initial designers, Don Durenburger, Lawrence graduate student, said last week that the new design started as a class project. "The class split into three teams. Each group did an initial design. Oururs was decided to be the most promising." Durenburger explained. His teammates trained him anderson, Lawrence graduate student and Doutsen, graduated and now teaches a firing course. THE DESIGNERS and five other members of the class refined the initial design and the result was entered in the annual Bendix Corp. Engineering competition. The effort, which took both last fall and spring semesters to complete, paid off. Bendix, which manufactures such diverse items as bicycle brakes and airplane landing gear, sponsors the competition to encourage engineering interest in the field. He also赞助ed greater said the competition offered students a chance to put class theories to practical use. In the past, the contest dealt with deviant methods of nuclear waste disposal and environmental concerns. FOR THE contest, Bendix provided a list of desirable qualities for the airplane. It should, Bendix said, be easy and safe to fly, economical, competitive in the marketplace and is designed to protect you from Protection Agency minimum regulations for noise and exhaust emissions for 1980. year's content is similar to last year—to desi- nation an airplanes—but it will be a kit that can fly the same. "We wanted a plane snakey enough so that people would buy it, fast enough so that it would seem to be an improvement and quiet enough to improve community relations," he said, referring to complaints of airport noise. Durenburen noted other considerations the class had on the project. The winning result was ATLIS, an acronym for Advanced Technology Light Single-engine aircraft. Stressing practicality, ATLIS was designed from the 1980s when it became a bigger airer said. Its resemblance to modern aircraft, however, is only skin deep. AND EVEN THE skin isn't conventional. Weight is a critical factor in aircraft performance, experts say. So ATLIS sports a sleek fiberg肌 body. As a result, ATLIS can carry a 900 lb. load and weighs only 3,000 lb. The cabin was designed to protect its human cargo in a better way. Foam padding, stronger seat mounts, energy-absorbing foam to fit across the torso add safety to the chair. THE INSTRUMENT panel was designed to carry more than the usual array of fuel, altitude, engine speed and orientation gauges. In the new package are an angle-of-attack indicator to warn of a possibly dangerous stall, a flight computer for inflight course corrections and other calculations and a digital clock-timer to keep track of the time each consumption. In addition, instead of the control wheel, a stick is used, which swings out of the way when not used to increase doorway room. Outside, Durenbur痛 pointed out features that made ATLIS more stable in flight than conventional airplanes. Special spoilers and wing levelers eliminated the rocking moths characteristic of smaller aircraft. At Tara, drives the propeller 60 per cent slower than usual, making it quater than conventional planes. DURENBURGER said the engine was more expensive than others available, but that it was best suited for their purpose, adding that most of the devices on the plane were taken from NASA computer-designed plans. Flaps are used to maintain aircraft control at slower landing speeds. Conventional flaps are mounted at the back, or trailing edge, of the wing. The Fowler flap is mounted below a projection of the trailing edge. When lowered, the flap moves backward aiding control and increasing wing area and lift at the same time. ATLIS can fly at 225 mph and has a range of 750 miles with a one-hour fuel reserve. Durbenburger said these statistics were consistent with those of current aircraft of the same type. HE ADDÉD that the Fowler flap was designed three years ago and was used on larger airplanes such as those flown by airlines. "This is a direct application of airliner technology," he noted. "ATLIS is extremely stable in flight, unusual for airplanes of this class." Durenburger said the aerospace engineering department at KU stressed stability and control when working with airplanes. The department has a Cessna Cardinal, which it uses to test new ideas. He put on the aircraft plane, nicknamed the Redhawk, and these features worked as well as expected. Six members are added to Affirmative Action board Durbenburger said the most noteworthy achievement was the use of the Fowler flap. The new Affirmative Action board members were announced Friday by Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the executive vice chancellor. Durenburen said ATLIS didn't have much of a future, though. The new members are: Ken Dodds, Lawrence junior; Margie Garrid, manager of "We'll all use it for reference purposes," he said, adding that one company had seemed interested in making a desktop model of it. Candy machines stolen at school employment center personnel; Jackie McClain, Lawrence sophomore; Dorothy Pennington, assistant professor of African studies; Su Zanna Prophet, Lawrence Williams; Roger Williams, chairman of the committee for the architecturally handicapped. Four nickel candy machines valued at a total of $200 were taken from the office of the metal shop at Lawrence High School over the weekend, police said yesterday. The burglars entered the school through a door that had been locked but not pulled shut, police said, and gained access to the office by removing a door from its hinges, causing an estimated $175 damage to the door. Lissete Alverio, Copperas Cove, Tex., junior; Joanne Hurst; office manager of liberal arts; Deb Teeter, director of the office of institutional research and planing; Yun-Sheng Yu, professor of civil engineering, already are members of the board. New members were chosen by Del Shankle, executive vice chancellor, from the University of Alabama. Johnson said Friday that the members were chosen to represent classified and unclassified personnel, faculty and staff, who would have to have minorities on the board, she said. "ISRAELI SPECIAL INTERESTS Eli Eyal, director of political and diplomatic affairs for the Israeli national broadcasting service, will speak and answer questions on the current political situation in the Middle East. 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