Solid trial clears COSMOS for take-off

Company HPA International Industry Aerospace/Defense Location Czech Republic Product Used COSMOSDesignSTAR Type of Analysis Linear Static More Details

HPAI's home built aircraft kit costs about $40,000 and can achieve speeds in excess of 200 mph.

The Challenge
HPA International provides high performance experimental aircraft kits to flying enthusiasts. These are genuine flying machines which come in a large crate with a set of assembly instructions. "They are uncertified aeroplanes that enthusiasts put together. By adding a 250hp piston engine and the avionics, they can fly," said Petr Varadi, CEO and chief designer of High Performance Aircraft International of Prague in the Czech Republic.

Varadi has always wanted to improve the company's products and was determined to come up with his own in-line two-seater plane with a tapered wing and new shape ailerons. But before he could build the plane he wanted to make sure the analysis software was right for the job. After all, it wasn't just his company's reputation that would be at stake; it would be the lives of his customers who would build the kits and fly them.

The Solution
Fortunately, HPA International has close connections with the nearby Technical University and the Aircraft Research and Test Institute in Prague, which had been using COSMOS software in FEA projects for more than a decade, including analysing airframe parts and comparing the results with physical tests. So it was a natural decision to choose COSMOSDesignSTAR to analyse the wing design of HPA's new plane, the F1 Evo.

"We had some necessary modifications of the aileron control system on the wing," said Varadi. "Part of the control flexed a little. COSMOSDesignSTAR checked the whole chain of the control, from the cockpit stick, through a pair of parallel tubes, to an angle lever and another tube which is connected to the rotation point of the aileron. After analysis we could see that the holder of the angle lever, which was fixed to the spar web, was not stiff enough. The bracket was too soft so we had to reinforce that area of the spar web and we had to change the bracket."