 Aery
A computer program for the design and analysis
of simple model gliders.
 Description
 Aery
is an interactive program for the computer aided design and
analysis of simple model gliders. At any time, the design
may be analyzed for flying ability. Once a design is
completed, plans may be printed to allow construction of the
glider. Aery was intended for use by groups or within the
classroom to assist in teaching simple aerodynamics, stability,
and aircraft design. Aery uses the SI (metric) system for
all numbers and measurements. Aery runs on PC's using a
Windows operating system. This program was originally
written by the author as part of his project requirements for a
Master's degree.
Distribution
Aery may be freely distributed for
non-commercial use by individuals, non-profit groups, and
educational institutions. Aery may not be sold or used for
commercial purposes. Inclusion of this program on a software
distribution CD-ROM requires the express consent of the author.
Disclaimer
Aery is no longer in development! I do
not plan to modify, rewrite, extend or update this program in any
way. The source code is NOT available for your perusal.
This software program (Aery) is provided AS-IS
with no expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any kind
including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of fitness
for a particular purpose. The author of Aery (Alan Estenson)
shall not be liable for any losses or damages of any kind
resulting from the use of this program. By downloading
and/or installing Aery, you are accepting and agreeing to these
terms.
It's free, what do you expect?
Requirements
Aery was originally written in Visual Basic
version 3.0 for Windows 3.1. Testing indicates that it also
works fine in Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000. It
has not been tested under Windows ME, Windows NT, or Windows XP,
but it should work. (Visual Basic and Windows etc. are
Copyright Microsoft Corp, yadda yadda yadda.)
Any system that will run any of the aforementioned
operating systems will also run Aery just fine. (It will run
just peachy on a 486!)
Download
Click here to download
aery.zip (488 k)
Installation Instructions (for Win95 and newer)
Aery doesn't have any fancy installation routines,
so you'll need to follow the following steps.
-
Create a program directory called aery
somewhere on your hard drive.
-
Copy (or download) aery.zip into this directory.
-
Unzip aery.zip within this directory.
(requires unzipping utility such as Winzip)
-
Delete aery.zip - you don't need it any more
unless you want to give it to a friend.
-
Right-click on aery.exe and choose "Create
Shortcut".
-
Right-click on the "Shortcut to Aery.exe"
that you just created and select "Cut".
-
Right-click on any blank area of your Windows
desktop and select "Paste".
-
You'll now have a shortcut to Aery on your
desktop. To run Aery, just double-click on this shortcut.
To uninstall Aery, just delete the entire Aery
directory and any shortcuts that you made. It's that simple.
Documentation & Instructions
(the following are all included in aery.zip)
readme.txt
Aery presentation slides.pdf (requires free
Adobe Acrobat reader) - an overview of the program and its
capabilities
Aery technical paper.pdf (requires free Adobe
Acrobat reader) - gives background, instructions on how to use the
program, and the equations behind how it works
Aery building instructions.pdf (requires free
Adobe Acrobat reader)
sample group memo.pdf (requires free Adobe Acrobat
reader)
Several sample glider design files and
configuration files for Aery
Quick
Start Info
Start Aery. Click on File/Open Design.
Click OK on the dialog box that pops up. Select TG1.AE and
click OK. The current glider design is shown at the bottom
of the screen. To adjust the design either left-click and
drag on the red bars to adjust the numbers, or right-click on a
bar and a little window will pop up to let you directly type in a
number. There are 5 tabs across the top of the window.
The left four tabs are used to design parts of your glider; the
right-most tab displays information from the analysis of your
design.
To analyze your current design, click on
Analyses/Will it Fly? You'll now be told whether or not the
glider will fly, comments on what may be wrong, and suggestions
that may make the glider better. If you scroll down in the
top window, you can see all sorts of data about your glider
design. The Aery Evaluation Number is the program's opinion
of your design's "goodness". (Bigger numbers are
better.)
For greater accuracy, you need to give Aery some
details about the wood you will be using to build your
gliders. This is done through Configuration files; they may
be opened, edited, and saved through the File menu. These
details are also saved in each of your glider design files.
Several sample configuration files are provided.
When you select File/Print Plans, Aery will
automatically use your default Windows printer.
For more info, see the PDF files included in the
zip file.
Author Contact Info
Alan Estenson, estenson [at] mn-rocketry [dot] net
Feel free to send me bug reports, suggestions, or
interesting glider design files that you've created. I can't
promise that I'll ever again work on this program, but I will keep
your comments on file, just in case. Interesting new glider
designs may be made available for download.
Aery is my version of the word "aerie"
which is the word immediately before "aero" in my
dictionary. Also, AE are my initials...
In case you're wondering, Aery was accepted as my
Master's degree project. I officially received a Master's of
Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in December 1996 from the
University of Minnesota. (Rah!
Rah! Rah! for Ski-U-Mah - Go Gophers!)
Questions
Please look at Aery FAQ's
and Aery Tips before emailing questions to
me.
Kudos
This program was inspired, in part, by the similar
Macintosh
program "Glider Design" by Mr. Michael Kamprath and
the Michigan Space Grant Consortium. However, Aery was a
completely independent programming effort.
Development of this program was supported by
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Aery
