LIGHTHAWK- A Very Creative, Interesting, Challenging Glider Project.
By Q.W. (Buz) Nowicki, CATIA Higher Education and Training (HEAT) Program Manager, Product Lifecycle Management Solutions

Danny Howell is the tireless project manager doing miracles on a shoe-string budget. The goal of his project is to set a new world’s record for distance from a Mountain Roll Launch of a glider. There are several volunteers helping with the CATIA complete design and build of the airplane.

IBM and Dassault have contributed hardware and software for six stations of CATIA both V4 and V5. Howell has managed to get much needed help from people interested in this project. Among the colleges that have contributed to this endeavor are:

• CAL-TECH
• MIT
• Mississippi State University
• San Diego State University
• Texas A & M
• University of California-Berkley.

The design of this glider from scratch involves all the requirements of an airplane. CATIA was used in all phases of the development including the surfaces, and airfoil shape of the wings. The colleges mentioned all have faculty sponsors for the LightHawk project and have helped immeasurably with the aeronautical engineering and mathematics needed to calculate the flight loads and flying characteristics for the plane. Wind-tunnel testing was also done on models at the university facilities. Several industrial partners also helped with the fabrication and machining of the detail parts.

The volunteers then assembled these many parts into the first of three planned gliders. The first test flight was scheduled for August, 2003.

Stay tuned for more on this amazing project.