Mason Shopperly

Mason with the Minerva UTAT airframe at SAE Aero Design West 2024

Worlds · Building

Building.

Two student airframes a year apart, a Mooney cylinder when it comes off, an E-series in the bay. What gets taken apart gets put back together — and usually flown, driven, or run after.

The shop

Engine bays, cylinders, intakes, ignition packs — airframe and car together.

Mooney aircraft engine, cowling removed for cylinder teardown in a hangar

Tailwheel aircraft with engine partly exposed, propeller forward

BMW Z4 N54 engine bay mid-service, engine cover off

Z4 N54 intake manifold off, ignition coils laid out on a table

E92 N55 VANOS solenoid on a shop rag

Two N55 intake manifolds side-by-side for comparison

cf.Notes · Z4 N54 ignition service · E92 N55 boost-pressure diagnostics · Mooney cylinder borescope →

Aircraft

The team aircraft and the design exercises that taught me to finish things.

Year 1 · UTAT — Minerva · 2023–24 · SAE Aero Design West, advanced class · 1st place

Year 1 of UTAT Aero. Non-linear lifting-line coupled with beam-bending sizing — the loop that drove the airframe.

Mason with Minerva aircraft at SAE Aero Design West 2024 in Los Angeles — Minerva, Los Angeles.

SAE Aero Design West 2024 plaque — 1st Place, Advanced Class Written Design Report — 1st place, advanced class.

Minerva on grass at tech inspection — Tech inspection.

Minerva deployment moment — Deployment.

cf.Work · UTAT non-linear lifting-line + beam-bending loop →

Year 2 · UTAT — Stratus · 2024–25 · tiltrotor UAV, build to flight

Year 2. Tiltrotor configuration — a different airframe and a different problem from Minerva.

UTAT Stratus wing spar at inspection, with three team members — Wing spar.

Stratus wing planform on lab bench — Wing planform.

Stratus wing assembly — Wing assembly.

Stratus tiltrotor build at the bench — Assembly bench.

Stratus airframe at assembly — At assembly.

UTAT outdoor assembly deck

Stratus tiltrotor UAV on grass, pre-flight — Pre-flight, on grass.

Stratus on taxiway at golden hour — Taxiway, golden hour.

cf.Work · the UTAT loop, year two →

Concepts

Design exercises — the geometry side, not always built.

SBach 342 · Design exercise · outer-mold-line aerobatic, not built

An aerobatic outer-mold-line study. Geometry only — never built.

SBach 342 full aircraft cut-away, spar and ribs visible — Cut-away.

SBach 342 top planform — Planform.

Side profile.

Student systems

Other things built in school — chassis, design-day displays, topology studies.

Western Sunstang solar car chassis frame under construction — Sunstang chassis, Western.

Western capstone design display, exhibition hall — Capstone, design day.

Altair topology-optimised structural component, polygonal mesh — Topology study.

Cars

Driving — prairie, forest, the road home.

BMW Z4 framed composition

BMW E30 in BC forest

E90 + E92 under an orange steel bridge in Ontario

Three BMWs parked together

Car meet, Alberta.

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