[WEllis780]

Hi there, im new to using solidworks and for my assignment i need to create the aircraft linked in the PDF. the screenshots are what ive conjured up so far but im now stuck on where to go from here. ive tried lofting but i cant get it to work no matter what i try and i cant find anywhere online that has helped me. So i was just wondering if anyone could give me some pointers in the right direction or know of anywhere online that would help me with some information. Any help is greatly apprecitated Thanks.

[peteeng]

Hi Well - Try a simple loft of one or two sections first. Create planes at the sections you want to loft and draw a circle or a square on each plane. Then use the loft tool to connect them. I'm not a SW user but all CAD s loft the same way. Peter

[WEllis780]

Hi Peter, Thanks for reply. So would you suggest for each vertical line I have created I should make a new plane to sketch the line etc onto?

[peteeng]

yes each section needs to be on a separate plane. Peter

[routalot]

If the image I am trying to post actually appears,you will see the transverse sections and you will need to create the equivalent for your project.Where there is a definite change of character,each of those surfaces will need to end with the correct transition added.The good new is that you only need to create one half and then mirror the surfaces to arrive at the other side.What the illustration also shows is that you will have a ridge along the centre if you don't incorporate a small segment perpendicular to centreline.Like peteeng I'm not a SW user but agree with him that the process is much the same with any software.Do be aware that the direction of each line in the sections is important and they should all go the same way,furthermore you need to select them from either top or bottom of the dreaded bow-tie surface will appear.

[peteeng]

Hi Well - I suggest you don't do half and mirror it. SW is not sensitive to that sort of issue. If you do half and mirror it you will have to be careful with the curve ends trajectory so ytou don't get a midline bump or hollow. If you do complete sections then the curve will be smoother hence the loft will be smoother. The line direction is important in wireframe modellers but SW is a solid modeller so the loft is more robust than in a wireframe CAD system. SW being a solid modeller, the solid cannot be a bow tie so the loft will fail vs in a surface modeler the surface can turn inside out and the modeller will not know this... Practice on 3 planes with silly curves and you will soon see what happens... Peter

edit - in Fusion I created three planes 100mm apart. One has a circle one has a funny shape and the last has a triangle. I then lofted thru those shapes....

here is a link to a video I did about lofting a surfboard fin in Fusion. It will be a similiar process in SW. I did do this with a mirror feature but the leading and trailing edges of a fin are sharp.
https://www.facebook.com/ScootCNC/vi...75503432763490