2 nd IUGRC International Undergraduate Research Conference, Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, July 24-27, 2017. 1 Ancient Egyptian Aeroplane Modification Mahmoud Adel Abdel-Hamid Faculty of Engineering, 44519, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt, madel6905@gmail.com Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Farouk AbdelGawad Professor, Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, 44519, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt, afaroukgb@gmail.com Abstract– The present work represents an analysis for an ancient model airplane found in a tomb near Saqqara in 1898. This analysis clarifies if this model can fly or not after doing some modification to make it suitable for flying like regular Aeroplanes we known today. This work also includes a flow analysis of the air movement around the model wings. Moreover, stress analysis was carried out to examine if the plane can resist the affecting of the flow forces on the model. Keywords—Ancient Egyptians, Aeroplane model, Flow simulation, Stress analysis I. INTRODUCTION A. General In room 22 of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, there is a wooden object that appears very similar to a modern airplane or glider. In fact, it is so similar that some have offered it as proof that the ancient Egyptians possessed the technology of flight. The artifact (Special Register No. 6347; the number 33109 is written on the bottom of the port wing) is made of wood and has a length of 5.6 inches (14.2 cm) and a wingspan of 7.2 inches (18.3 cm). It was found in a tomb near Saqqara in 1898 and has been dated to about 200 B.C [1]. The seed of the theory that the model represents an example of a working aircraft can be traced to Khalil Messiha, Professor of Anatomy for the Artists at Helwan University (and member of the Royal Aeromodellars Club, Egypt, and the Egyptian Aeronautical club). According to Messiha, (in Messiha, Khalil, Guirguis Messiha, Gamal Mokhtar, and Michael Frenchman. "African Experimental Aeronautics: A 2,000-Year-Old Model Glider" in Van Sertima, ed. Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern, 1983, pp.92-99) the model is made of sycamore wood and weighs 39.120 grams. Messiha wrote, "One can note also that there is a Dihedral angle which is slightly unequal on both sides due to slight distortion of the wood, caused by the passage of time... The body is made of the same wood as the wing and has an aerofoil shape beautifully carved and smooth. Its nose is pyramidal in shape with one eye painted on its right surface." He added that "there is no trace of any decoration of 'feathers' painted on the body with the exception of the eye, and two faint reddish lines surrounding the belly under the grooves." He makes no mention of any holes on the top of the tail, nor did he observe grooves on the tail that might accommodate a tail-plane. It was found that the other birds had legs, this had none. The other birds had painted feathers, this had none. The other birds had horizontal tail feathers like a real bird, this strange wooden model tapered into a vertical rudder. One can also see that the wing has an airfoil cross-section. It was all aerodynamically correct. Too much about the model was beyond coincidence. Figure 1 shows a picture for the ancient model exists at the Cairo Museum today [1]. Figure 1. Picture of the ancient model [1]. B. Previous Work Some scientists carried out simulation to the model to see if it can fly by making a similar model and testing it in a smoke tunnel, they study the movement of the smoke around the model as shown in figures 2, 3 [2]. II. SIMULATION OF THE ANCIENT MODEL Simulations were carried out by Solidworks software [3]. The original dimensions of the ancient model were used in the simulation. There are some requirements for the model to make it suitable for flying as illustrated below.