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CONTENT
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ACTIVITIES
First Edition 3 A short editorial by our Editor in Chief, Roger Hak. Introducing the Brakecie 3 An introducting to this years BrakeCie, the creators of this magazine. WW1: Pilots Missions 6 The first world war started more than one-hundred years ago. This article refreshens your memories about it. Brake Activities 8 The President of the BrakeCie talks about her experience with the past VSV activities. Ugly Aircraft Competition 11 Jori Damond is gaing to talk about the results of the Ugly Aircraft Competition and these planes. Paper Airplanes 14 A short look at some paper air planes and our ratings for them.
24-02-2015 DYNAFLOW LUNCH LECTURE
Airbase 2015 16 Guest Editor Sjoerd Molenaar tells something about Airbase 2015!
17-03-2015 ALV Q3
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LR Faculty
24-02-2015 INHOUSEDAY SCHIPHOL GROUP
Schiphol
25-02-2015 AIRBORNE EXCURSION Airborne Aerospace 25-02-2015 HUIFKARNAVAL 26-02-2015 VSKATEV TRIP
De Atmosfeer
Skaterink Rotterdam
03-03-2015 VSV SYMPOSIUM 13-03-2015 AIRBASE
Aula LR Faculty
16-03-2015 - 03-04-2015 DDB INHOUSE DAYS De Atmosfeer
First Edition Dear readers,
It took a while, but here it finally is: The first edition of the Brake! I hope that as you are reading this, you are looking at and looking back on an awesome break. After weeks of studying the break just comes at the right time. Your head might be aching of all the time you spend studying (read: trying desperately to catch up) at the fellowship or UB. Finally you have no excuse anymore to skip the gym and that is very fortunate after Christmas and the other “all you can eat” holidays.
A new period is starting again and it’s important that your brain had some rest. Maybe you went on the VSV Ski Trip with your fellow study-buddies or you visited your parents after weeks of die-hard studying. Speaking of studying, I wish that your exams went well and you are motivated again for the new courses. I can imagine that the first week(s) after the break are tough. Well, I recommend you to take a Brake and start folding paper airplanes! This Brake features a few sophisticated paper airplane designs. We also keep you updated about the coming
VSV activities and briefly recap the activities of the past. If you are more into the history of airplanes, make sure you read the WW1 article! I wish you a good read and that it may stimulate the act of procrastination. Your editor in chief, ROGER HAK
Introducing the BrakeCie As usual, the committee responsible for the Brake is a completely fresh one, and for that reason we’d like to introduce ourselves a bit. Rintati: Who are you and where are you from? I am Rintati Roza from Maasland, a village near Delft. My role within the committee is President. This means I have to make sure all deadlines are set up and met on time, plan all the meetings and make sure everything in general goes well. What’s the wackiest belief you held as a child? That one day I would be able
to be an astronaut during the week and an acrobat during the weekend… Well, at least I was ambitious. What question do you hate to answer? There is no question in particular that I hate to answer, but this really depends on the context. Whenever I have to answer introductory questions in group conversations I get really uncomfortable. What sound drives you crazy? The sound of construction workers in the morning. Being awakened by this is my biggest pet peeve. With their annoying shouts and bleep-
cars. Jan: Who are you and where are you from? I’m Jan Post, I’m this years Layout Commissioner. This means that I’m responsible for the look of our magazine. Since we decided to go for an entirely new look this can be very hard work at times, as everything has to be made from scratch in some programs I have very little experience in. However, I really like my job and I put in a lot of hours to make sure that the Brake can look as good as possible! A little bit about myself: I was born in Gorinchem, a city pretty close to Rotterdam, but I
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have lived in Venlo since I was 4 years old. Quite a change of scenery if you’d ask me. Do you have a bad habit? I always used to postpone things on my previous school since they never were that hard to do. Sadly, this resulted in many nights where I was up working until 5 AM. This habit has been getting less lately, I would say my worst habit right now is laying in bed while I have a lecture.
I would choose Futurama! I think it would be really cool to live in the future, especially in a wacky future like that. I mean, everything has just developed so much compared to now, it would be really fun to see how some problems that we struggle with nowadays have been solved.
Valère: Who are you and where are you from? I am Valère, freshly arrived Would you rather fight one from Switzerland for a Master horse-sized duck or 100 in Propulsion, I am Editor of duck-sized horses? the Brake. More specifically I would rather fight one I come from a (very) small hundred duck-sized horses. village of 230 inhabitants and Honestly, a horse-sized duck nearly one thousand cows (I would be absolutely terrifying, let you calculate the ratio…), but I think I might be able to lost in the French-speaking handle 100 tiny horses. part of Switzerland. About aeronautics, I do Skydiving If you had to be trapped in a and also have my PPL (I espeTV show for a month, which cially like to pilot old planes). would you choose?
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What is your favorite fighter aircraft? Definitely mig-21, 100% made by propulsion engineers. Two thin wings, a little cockpit and a huge engine ;-) What was your first thought when you woke up this morning? ...?...12:47 already ?! Damned my fridge is empty, so I won’t lunch until15:00... -_-’ Would you take a one way mission to mars trip? Very good question. Like many other aerospace students, it feel this powerful urge to go to space, but the “one way” it too strict for me. Jasmijn: Who are you and where are you from? I am Jasmijn and I am part of the 70th board of the
Valère’s favorite plane, the Mig21, with a banana to show the scale.
VSV ‘Leonardo da Vinci’, therefore I am the QQ’er of the BrakeCie this year. This means I guide the BrakeCie and give input where needed, but primarily let them make this awesome Brake on their own! What is your favorite movie or TV-series? Top Gun of course! What is the most annoying thing according to you? When you drink something with a straw, but the straw is too small and therefore disappears in your cup and you have to get it out again. If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? The daghap of the Wijnhaven! Jori: Who are you and where are you from? I’m Jori Damond, the ‘Secretaris’ of the committee. It’s almost the same as the job of a secretary, but I like to believe I do more. I’m originaly from Val d’Isère (France), one of the nicest ski resorts in Europe I believe. Too bad I moved to the Netherlands ten years ago. I’m responsible for accounting everything the committee does, for example I write everything down during a meeting in case five weeks later we want to see who actually came up with an idea that turned out to be a fail. A very important task indeed. Do you do a sport? Yes, since I live in Delft I prac-
tice rowing and it’s really an intense sport. I’m training five times a week now and they even demand that I no longer drink beer and to shave my head! Of course I did, for the aerodynamics. It’s pretty clear you need to be crazy to do this for your enjoyment, but for fun I like to snowboard and to surf in summer. Would you rather be half your height or double your weight (and why)? Easy question, if I would be double my weight, they would see me rollin’, and they would be hatin’. So I prefer not to be double my weight. Half my height would just be awesome. Did anyone ever see a midget who isn’t cool? Midgets are awesome, think about Game of Thrones or Jackass. So definitely I would choose half my height. If you would be a crisps flavor, which one would you be and why? Imagine all the bad jokes I could make with this question: I could say jalapeño, because I’m HOT. Naturel, it’s impossible not to like me. Cotton candy, everyone wants a piece of me. And so on. But I will just say my favorite flavour, because I’m in a very mature mood. Cool American from Doritos are my favorite crisps flavor, those are real tasty! Roger: Who are you and where are you from? I am Roger and I am the ed-
itor in chief of the Brake and I’m from a place in the middle of nowhere close to an International Airport. As the editor in chief, I’m responsible for the final content of the Brake. What’s the worst tasting thing you’ve ever eaten? It wasn’t necessarily the worst tasting thing ever but it made me really sick. Once I visited England for a school trip. The host family took us to a restaurant and I, being a naive thirteen year old, ordered a “blue pizza” because it sounded nice. Turns out it was a very strong blue cheese pizza. Had to eat it all because I didn’t want to be rude. Drunk like 2 liters of coke to soften the taste. Fun fact: I was deeply in love with an English girl which quadrupled my sick feeling ;). Have you ever been in a foodfight? Yes multiple. Recently, I woke up at New Year’s Day and found the kitchen covered in guacamole, evidence of a good night ;). I’d love to take it to the next level and go to “La Tomatina” in Spain, the world famous tomato throwing festival :D What’s one fashion trend you hoper never comes back? Wearing your pants “at half seven” and garbage-bag-jackets with fur collar (vuilniszakjassen met bontkraag) ;) ROGER HAK
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WW1: Pilots
One century ago, the first World War was raging in Europe. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory about this major period for the sake of history. Not regarding who were the good guys and who were the bad ones, let us see focus on how, and why, aircrafts where used back then. First of all, let’s put things into context. At that time, bicycle manufacturer were the world’s best aerospace engineers (studies has changed…). Indeed, two bicycle manufacturers named Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved to fly, nearly eleven years before war broke out. Even though designing airfoil sections was much a matter of trial and error,
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aircraft’s technology rapidly grew, and especially during the war. In 1914 aircrafts were only used for observation, at this point France was the aeronautical leader with the Blériot (be patient, the Netherlands are coming later into play). In the following years, planes became able to carry bombs and artillery spotting.
Aircrafts’ reconnaissance duties was not an easy ride. Discover the enemies’ positions and weak points from the sky is a thing, but it is another thing to report the precious information to the ground… Indeed radio telephony was not practical for planes, so this problem was “solved” by equipping planes with a
Morse code transmitter. As a result, the pilot had to deal with several things at once. Not even women could multitask better. In other words, a pilot’s mission consisted in flying an aircraft made of canvas, finding one’s bearings over an unknown area, searching for people who want to kill you, and finally discussing strategies in Morse with themselves (yes, they had no receiver). Now it is easier to understand why pilots doing this hazardous business had a life expectancy of 93 flying hours. The plane below is a Sopwith Camel, a British fighter plane that is one of the most iconic planes of the WW1 era
Missions
After the epic first “dog fight” in 1914 between an Austrian and a Russian reconnaissance aircrafts, where pilots were firing at each other with handguns, the evident advantages of bringing bombes and machineguns on aircrafts was the main engineering challenge at the begining of the war. At this point, Fokker was the first firm to achieve synchronizing machineguns with the propeller, which enabled to fire through the propeller’s arc. Thanks to this technology equipped on Fokker E.I, the Germans had an advantage over Allied fighters by late 1915. At the end of the war, the pilot’s missions were no longer a matter of lonely discussion in Morse. The aircrafts were specialized on both sides. As a result, air battles became more reliant on teamwork. Basically, the bombers, or Zeppelins, were escorted by
light fighters to their delivery point. This period of time is another example of whatever the risks are you will always find pilots wanting to fly, whatever it takes… VALÈRE GIRARDIN
The planes above and below are both from Fokkers E-series (Eindecker, literally one-decker) which were as mentioned the first planes in the world to have a synchronization gear fitted to their firing mechanism
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Brake Activities
During this first part of the year, members of the BrakeCie have attended several activities of the VSV Leonado da Vinci. This a report of some of them written by our president. Top Gun - September 10th
On the tenth of September it was time for the first big activity of the VSV: The legendary Top Gun Drink! The turnout
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was big; lecture room A was almost full. Of course, this was not a surprise since this is a movie full of fighter planes. Together we sung ‘Danger Zone’, shouted at military planes (B’vo!) and yelled at the screen when Maverick did something heroic. Afterwards there was a drink in the Atmosfeer where the majority of the attendances enjoyed some fresh JupiLR’s. Beer Cantus - October 9th The lustrum opening was a Beer Cantus on the field next to the fellowship. With all tickets sold and the prospect of unlimited beer this prom-
ised to become a memorable evening (although for some people, unlimited beer means also very little memory). The evening started not too wild: everyone sat down with their friends and sung as loud as they could while beer was freely poured from watering-cans. As the Cantus went on, people started to BRAKE the rules (especially the ‘don’t drink during singing’-rule). While ‘Hey Jude’ was playing, everything escalated. Sitting became dancing and singing became ruining your throat. In total, there was as much as 600 liters beer consumed!
Beer #1: Grimbergen Percentage: 6.7 % Comments: “This beer looks very light! I think most people will like it because it is not too bitter. On the other hand, the taste is not so strong compared to the others, so overall it is a good beer, but not outstanding.” Overal rating: ★★☆☆☆
The cantus was possibly the best and most intense opening one could think of. The Beer Cantus resulted in a lot of fun memories and maybe some headaches the next Friday. It was definitely worth it! Belgian Beer Drink - December 18th Thursday 18 december the famous Belgian Beer Borrel took
place. Because of the lustrum, this edition was XXL! A thousand tickets were sold so it was very crowded at DSC. There was a lot of socializing, singing and dancing at the SOGband, and above all, delicious beers from our neighbours. Although every beer was chosen with care by the AkCie, they were not evenly appreciated by the crowd. I did some interviews at the drink to see what the opinions were.
Beer #2: Palm Percentage: 5.4% Comments: “It is a pity that we don’t have Palm Dobbel due to the strike in Belgium, but this is still a good beer” Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ Beer #3: St Louis Kriek Percentage: 4.5% Comments: “This beer doesn’t go well with the other beers: it is sour instead of bitter.” Furthermore, I heard the following a lot: “This beer is not manly enough for me!”, so I asked some girls what they thought about it. “It doesn’t taste like beer, but it’s okay.” Overall rating: ★☆☆☆☆
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Beer #4: La Chouffe Percentage: 8% Comments: The most expensive beer of the evening. Most people had already heard of this beer. “A classic. It didn’t disappoint me.” Someone else said: “I could get high on this beer.” I didn’t hear a single negative word about La Chouffe. Overall rating: ★★★★★ Beer #5: StuD-beer Percentage: unknown Comments: “It has a unique taste. But I still don’t’understand what StuD-beer exactly is? Anyway, it was worth the try.” Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ Beer #6: Gulden Draak
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Percentage: 10.5% Comments: This beer is very showy with its big foam collar. Also, this is the beer with the largest alcohol percentage of the whole drink. It was very popular, almost everyone tried this one. “This one is really special. The taste of alcohol is surprisingly enough not overabundant, but subtle. It makes my head feel light.” Overall rating: ★★★★☆ Beer #7: Straffe Hendrik Percentage: 9% Comments: This is a very popular beer amongst the Belgians. Also, it was the only Triple beer of the evening. “Its taste is really intense and strong. You love it
or you hate it, but I love it. *friends nod in agreement*” Overall rating: ★★★★☆ Beer #8: Leffe Blond Percentage: 6.6% Comments: “Its light and mild aroma reminds me of warm summer evenings on terraces with my friends.” Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ Beer #9: Duvel Percentage: 8.5% Comments: “A typical Belgian beer that should always be included in this kind of drinks. Without this beer the evening would not be the same.” Overall rating: ★★★★☆ RINTATI ROZA
Ugly Aircraft Competition Why do first years leave their sweet dreams every Wednesday morning? Maybe they get up for their course Dynamics, but probably it’s to vote for one of the most famous competition at the aerospace faculty. For first and second year students it’s a known phenomenon: the ‘Ugly aircraft competition’. Aerospace engineer students enjoy seeing beautiful aircrafts and to talk about these wonders of the sky, but we enjoy talking about the ugly aircrafts even more. Why? Most of the time those ugly aircraft are innovative and original in their own way, so way more interesting. And humans always preferred to laugh at things than to laugh about things. Let’s see the results of last year.
The prettiest aircraft chosen is also the most dangerous one. You prefer to come across a flying dinosaur than across this monster: a flying tank, the ‘A-40 Krylya Tanka’. Yes, it’s Russian, a tank and it’s flying, so for sure it is the most terrifying and coolest aircraft existing. The Soviets developed a prototype in 1942 and even tested it, but finally abandoned the project. The idea was to simply glide into the battlefield, drop the wings and you’ll be ready to fight within minutes. One word: beautiful. Unluckily drag exists and a tank is way to heavy. Although we enjoy seeing this beauty, this article is about the most ugly aircrafts, so let’s quickly continue with the top 3 of last year. On number 3, we have the ‘Dornier Aerodyne’. I know it’s hard to find the
aircraft on the picture, but do you see the airplane engine with a torpedo on top of it? That is the aircraft that I am talking about. The aircraft is unmanned and wingless. The big ducted fan was used to generate thrust and lift. It was controlled by flaps at the exit of the fan. For forward flight the tail was used, which allowed for pitch and yaw control. Some succesfull test flights have been made around 1972, but it was cancelled due to advantages of helicopters. To be fair, I think it’s better they stopped making these. Helicopters are not the nicest looking aircrafts, but definitely better looking than this one. On number 2 we have an airplane and it’s the oldest contestant in this top 3: Canadian Vickers Velos. Even
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poop around all day is not nature’s most beautiful creation. Apparently aerospace engineer students think the same about SNECMA’s (a french company) creation. The Coléoptère, which means beetle in french, is our number one most ugly aircraft, the true winner. Maybe the aircraft is now forgotten, 60 years ago it was famous. It showed up on pages of the comic book magazine Tintin and inspired engineers in the United States. SNECMA got the idea to make a full annular wing by the Austrian enthe Canadians find this one specifications. The RCAF test gineer Helmut von Zborowski. ugly, after they built the first pilot considered the aircraft A wing, he thought, should do one and saw the result they “unsuitable for any operation more than provide lift and an never built one again. The carried out in the Royal Cana- engine should do more than Canadian Vickers Velos was a dian Air Force”. In November provide thrust. “The art of the twin engine float plane, de1928, after a heavy snowdesign engineer,” he wrote, signed to be a photographic storm, the only Canadian “will therefore be to make survey aircraft. The enclosed Vicker Velos ever build sunk. one and the same component cabin fuselage was construct- Very unfortunate for the Caserve a variety of purposes.” ed of steel tubing as were nadians, right? I think not. He proposed an annular, or various support structures Nobody ever told a beetle it’s doughnut-shaped, wing suralong with the tail surfaces. beautiful. An insect rolling rounding a fuselage and The remainder of the aircraft was of wood construction and the entire aircraft was fabric covered. Readied for initial water tests in 1927, the aircraft was noted to be overweight and sitting low in the water. Besides being ugly, the airplane could not function properly. Perhaps indicative of the aircraft’s overall fate, it almost sank. Flight tests were consequently postponed pending a redesign and weight reduction. First flight occurred in 1928 but again the problems were numerous and the aircraft could not meet the
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serving “as power plant, airframe of a flying wing aircraft and drag-reducing housing.” By injecting fuel into the gap between wing and fuselage, Zborowski theorized, he could turn his wing into a ramjet engine, and his aircraft into a supersonic interceptor. The Coléoptère was also a VTOL aircraft, which was influenced by postwar strategics. Postwar strategists envisioned fighter aircraft flitting around the frontline like wasps, swooping down to attack the enemy and finding cover in nearby forests before taking off like missiles to intercept incoming bombers. So the number one most ugly aircaft was a famous, annular winged, VTOL –aircraft. Unfortunately, problems surfaced immediately. The Coléoptère had the tendency to slowly spin around his vertical axis. The aircraft didn’t have the benefit of having a large delta wing to dampen any rolling tendency. The Coléoptère had eight succesful flights where it got to an height of maximum 800 meters. On the ninth and last flight the aircraft briefly
achieved horizontal flight. It couldn’t maintain horizontal flight and without the proper instrumentation the aircraft became too inclined and too slow to maintain height. The pilot escaped via his ejection
seat and was badly injured, the aircraft was destroyed. Every year first year students enjoy voting for the ugliest aircraft, but keep in mind that these ugly aircrafts are just from engineers who dared to think out of the box, to try things nobody tried before. Every aircraft on this list has its own special story and maybe helped or maybe didn’t with the evolution of aircrafts. There is a message, never be scared to express your ideas and hope that one day your crazy creation will also be on this list, for the sake of aerospace evolution or just so the world can laugh. JORI DAMOND
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Paper Airplane Test
Scan the QR-code to find out how to make it!
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Airbase 2015
ing, and foremost, drinking base.nl for only €11,-!! If you loads of beer inside the facul- do not like the queue for coins ty of Aerospace Engineering. right upon entering the partydome, no worries, a little Since this year is the Lustrum “Thrust” was added to this. year of the VSV “Leonardo da Pre-order your coins online, Vinci” the decision to lift the and skip the early razzle-dazepicness up was an easy one zle at the coin counters. to make. First of all “Thrust the Cancel all your scheduled The most epic event of the Bass” is this year’s theme for appointments for the entire year is on our doorstep, and Airbase. Everybody is expect- weekend, and prepare for DJyou will all know what I am ed to attach an afterburner to BillytheKit, Buurman & Buurtalking about: Airbase! their behinds and a subwoof- man, DJ PJ, and many more. The 13th of March, Airbase er to the front, preferably with is brought to the faculty once a Bluetooth connection. Grab “Thrust the Bass”, again, which still is a huge yourself a cold beer, and think SJOERD MOLENAAR exception. Airbase is the only of an outstanding outfit that and the party of all faculties in Delft adds more Thrust to Airbase! AIRBASE COMMISSION that takes place inside the faculty, which means partyGet your tickets now on air-
The Airbase 2015 Commision during the presentation of this years theme
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