Design of a drone system for maritime search and rescue missions

Abstract: The work summarized in this report aims to investigate how a drone airplane design can be optimized to create a safer and more efficient sea rescue by providing staff with an early picture, performing search missions and aiding communication through visual contact. A flying wing is in theory one of the most efficient designs for a fixed wing aircraft, at the same time as it also offers high structural efficiency for its given size. In this report, an overview of aerodynamics, stability and flying quality for a flying wing is discussed and analysed. XFLR5 was used for this project, and a comparison between the analytical results and wind tunnel test data for a prototype was conducted. A strong correlation was found between the theoretical analyses and the wind tunnel data. A simple control solution using only one set of elevons has been proposed and simulated, resulting in Level 1 dynamic stability for all modes except Dutch-roll (where the drone’s damping is