Aerodynamics Craze

Hmmm, as I was revising the last chapter of my A*rodynamics II module, I chanced upon this tutorial question:

Airplane Design Assessment

Consider the airplane below:

Figure 1: Mickey Mouse's airplane in "Plane Crazy" (1928). © Disney

a) Comment on the aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft.

b) Determine the thrust requirements. Assume that a Mouse has
approximately the same dimensions as a man and that the weight of the
aircraft is 300kg. Use the performance of the NACA0006 airfoil to
approximate a flat plate.

With such an example given (well, this time, it's not to trash the lecturer. It's just that I'm feeling somewhat crappy with d(crappiness)/d(time) increasing exponentially over time t, where t = time in seconds after 0000 hrs), somehow my crappy mind came up with the following:

a) Comment on the aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft.

Well, with such an aircraft design, it is either (1) the artist:

- has never seen the wings of an aircraft in his lifetime and assumed it as a flat plate

- assumes that wings of a flat plate nature without an angle of attack does generate lift somehow

- has never seen a propeller aircraft, nor the shape of the propeller unit of the plane (it's flat!)

- is not an aerodynamicist

And that he (ok, the following is a deviation from the question, thanks/no thanks to my crappy mind now):

- has never seen a pilot wearing goggles during flight

- probably assumed a pilot manages his/her aircraft while standing

- has never seen, or known of what is in the cockpit of an aircraft (ie. a chair at least)

- is really an artist considering there is a knob at the top of the propeller unit (ie. Probably featuring a brand of some sort, or it's just for the sake of aesthetics)

...

...

...

or that (2a) the propulsion unit is actually a state-of-the-art propeller unit such that it was actually able to generate a lift and forward motion in spite of the following:

- A flat backing right after the propeller blades, blocking off some 70-80% of the airflow

- A pathetic angle of attack of at most a figure very close to 0 degrees on top of a flat plate.

- A pretty non-aerodynamic fuselage (ie. body of the aircraft) considering two mice are standing up while in the aircraft.

- The aircraft design is that of a state-of-the-art model such that it doesn't require its vertical and horizontal stabilizers (ie. the vertical and horizontal wings at the back of an aircraft) and could manoeuvre.

And that (2b) the aircraft already has the following installed on board:

- An in-flight autopilot system considering that the two mice are... erm... busy that the moment

- Automated rudder/elevator controls to perform trimming (ie. to make sure the aircraft remains in a horizontal path rather than ending up pitching, rolling and yawing)

- The possibility of super high performance wings (which didn't appear so somehow) to enable low velocity flights such that the busy mice need not use goggles.

And on top of all the above, (2c) the materials engineer is assumed to have produced the following:

- A propeller unit with blades made of superalloys, considering it could produce such magnificent thrust.

- Wings with great structural strength such that the wings of that nature and period need not use any wire bracing to reinforce the wings.

b) Determine the thrust requirements. Assume that a Mouse has approximately the same dimensions as a man and that the weight of the aircraft is 300kg. Use the performance of the NACA0006 airfoil to approximate a flat plate.

I'm skipping this for today. I want to rest...

Thought: Perhaps in 1928, mankind has already made several major breakthroughs in aerodynamics after the Wright brothers in 1903?