P-51 Project
While waiting for the approval on the continuation of the Zenish CH750, SAB members began creating a sheet metal model of a P-51 for the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year. This sheet metal model would be entirely crafted by members, with different groups focusing on sketching the main parts of the plane in CAD, and everyone contributing to the build. The hope was to create a realistic to scale model of the original aircraft.

To create the different parts of the plane, two main teams were formed. One fuselage and one wing team, which each used NX siemens software to sketch the parts they were assigned. Group members were taught the basics of using the sheet metal version of NX, and how to form important features that were necessary to constructing the model. The inner sheet metal skeleton would be joined together using rivets, connecting flanges placed on each part.

Once all parts had been created in their respective part files, the next step was to cut them out onto the sheet metal that would be used to construct the model. To do this, SAB visited the SCD CNC Lab to use the Omax 2652 Waterjet. The waterjet uses a high-pressure stream of water alongside abrasive material to cut the metal into the desired uploaded shape. By uploading the part files created by members, the waterjet was able to cut unique shapes that would have otherwise been difficult to cut by hand.


Once everything was cut, SAB met to start assembling all the parts together. Progress was made before Winter Break, and the rest will resume once school is back in session. Stay tuned for more updates and the finished model.

