We can break down our plane into a few different components, which we will build independently and then piece together during final assembly. They are as follows:
- Fuselage
- Wings
- Tail
- Engine & Propeller
- Landing Gear
The key thing to remember in this plane design is that we won't be achieving altitude above a few thousand feet and will travel slow, since our materials cannot handle extreme conditions.
For simplicity, we will start by building a skeleton of several different aircraft components using a light, strong wood (pine). It is essential that we design the wings appropriately to generate lift, so we will pay additional attention to the design aspect here. This would frame will include the fuselage, wings, and tail. We will then precisely apply our duct tape coating to provide a sleek, strong finish on top of our frame.
The engine will be outsourced to a specialty manufacturer, who can provide us a quality propeller, which will generate enough thrust to achieve flight.
Finally, the landing gear will be a duct tape balloon, which will soften our landing and safely place us on the ground.
This plane will endure a rigorous flight testing routine. To ensure the safety of passengers we will use a variety of testing practices including stall testing, side-slip testing, and many additional tests.
Final assembly will take place by a highly specialized crew who have built many duct tape airplanes previously and have expertise in this domain, ensuring a quality final product that is safe for flight.