Airplane Independência: History, Model and Analysis

Resumo

In 1922 by the time of the comemoration of first century of Brazilian Independence, the first bimotor constructed in South America was presented in Rio de Janeiro. It was constructed under the auspices of a French Mission commanded by Etienne Lafay. Construction took place at the installations of Henrique Lage, a brazilian entrepeneur. The biplane could transport 5 passangers as it was powered with Clerget engines of 130 hp in a push-pull fashion. The airplane flew during some years, without any accidents, but disapeared from hystory. Only a few photos remain. So from them, drawings and a structural model of the airplane is developed in computer. From this model, in an operational scenario, construction materials are assigned. Associated loads are imposed and a finite element analysis performed to render the response of the airplane. Strain and stress fields result. Based on the obtained results, safety and performance evaluations of the airplane show a good level of reliabilty.