Question

(Refer to Figure 2). If an sUAS weighs 10 pounds, what approximate weight would the sUAS structure be required to support during a 60 degree banked turn while maintaining altitude?

1) 10.15 pounds
2) 30 pounds
3) 20 pounds

Answer 1

During a 60-degree banked turn while maintaining altitude, a 10-pound sUAS would need to support approximately 20 pounds due to the increased lift force necessary to achieve the centripetal force for the turn.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question revolves around the concepts of banked turns and lift force in the context of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). When an aircraft or sUAS makes a turn while banking, the lift force is split into two components: one vertical to counteract the weight of the sUAS and one horizontal to provide the centripetal force necessary for the turn. The actual load that the structure would need to support during a turn can be estimated with the help of physics, specifically the concept of centripetal force.

To find the weight that the sUAS structure would need to support during a 60-degree banked turn, we need to calculate the centripetal force required for the turn. The formula for this is Lift = Weight/cos(θ), where θ is the bank angle and Weight is the weight of the sUAS. For a 60-degree angle, cos(60°) is 0.5. Therefore, the sUAS needs to generate lift equal to twice its weight to perform a 60-degree banked turn while maintaining altitude. This means the structure must support approximately 20 pounds, since two times the original weight of 10 pounds equals 20 pounds.