 157 Trainer Green |
 170 Bahama Blue |
 220M Nevada Silver |
 105 Insignia White |
Class Schedule: TR 10:20-11:45am - Napier 102
Lab Schedule: In lieu of class as announced - Eaton 116
Course syllabus
Writing Project Guidelines Page
Purdue OWL Web Site MLA Formatting and Style Guide
The Fantastic Fieldhouse Flying Festival was a huge success!!
Thank you all for your effort and participation! Check back here for notes on test flying the Cub and drop by and see me when you get back for Spring term. In the meantime, check out the lastest photos of the Fantastic Festival Cub.
Week LAST!
Important Notice: Your final draft is due Thursday. Both electronic and hard-copy versions must be submitted. The electronic version must be in MS Office .doc format or in pdf format and must be attached to an email to me at scottyorr@hws.edu. Double check the writing project guidelines page and the MLA Formatting and Style Guide one last time before submitting (see links above).
Great progress is being made on the Cub! Covering and shrinking begin Thursday and should be completed by the end of the day. Plan accordingly. See some directions on covering and painting at the Stits Lite web site. Try to be 20 minutes early if possible on Thursday to watch the covering video.
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157 Trainer Green |
170 Bahama Blue |
220M Nevada Silver |
105 Insignia White |
Week 14 (Oh M'Gosh!!)
Assignment 7: You need to include at least two photos in your Journal as follows: One photo must be on a cover sheet at the beginning of your journal OR laminated on the top outside cover of your journal. The other photo must accompany some journal entry or article (or you can just write a special journal entry explaining the photo). Both photos must be in color and relate to work you have done for this course or to field trips you have taken in this course. You may use any of the photos that Rachael and I have taken (posted in the photo galleries above), or you may use your own photos. If you want 4x6 prints of any of the above, just let me know. Feel free to use more photos if you want. The purpose of this assignment is not only to meet the photo requirement mentioned in the syllabus, but to put a nice finishing touch on your journal. I will look at these with that in mind. Be sure and choose photos that have some meaning for you.
Important Notice: The deadline for submitting your final draft has been extended, and the number of pages required has been modified (if you agreed to my terms). See the Writing Project Guidelines Page for detailed information, as well as information on decoding the markup of your rough draft and other updates.
Note: Meet in Eaton 116 each day this week (and next). We've gotta get this plane in the air! 2 person rule in effect: ie, You can come work on the Cub anytime as long as another person from your group is there (or as long as Rachael or I am there). Please come work as often as possible. It's a great stress reliever from your other classes.....
G3.5 Flight Sim: I've installed a new flight simulator in the computer lab near my office. This one has real RC aircraft (including a Piper Cub!). It uses an RC transmitter for controlling the simulator. Come by my office or see the math intern in the evenings to check out the transmitter and get some practice on the new sim. It's much more realistic than FlightGear, and is the recommended simulator for learning RC flying skills.
Turkey Week! (Week 13)
Note: All of the photos I've taken this term are posted in the Gallery links above, including the latest field trips. Check them out!
Important Reminders: Meet in Eaton 116 on Tuesday. Your rough draft is due before you leave for Thanksgiving Break. Bring it to lab, or bring it to my office. If I'm not there, slide it under my door. (It's OK to submit electronically as well, but do not leave without getting a reply from me saying that I got it. It might be safer to hand it to me in person.)
Piper Cub Links:
Cub Builder's Forum - Construction tips and photos.
Forum with photos - Several paint job ideas and more construction photos.
Cub Photos - Photos of various model Cubs.
Sig Cub Manufacturer's Site
Week 12
Changed! Field Trip 3: We are traveling to Penn Yan Airport on Sunday, November 18, at 11:30am (be in Medberry then). Bob Fitzgerald and another member of the Penn Yan flying club will meet us there to show (and demonstrate!) the club's Piper Cub. Bob even said that they would probably be able to taxi you around in the Cub!! We should be gone around 2 hours. This trip will give you an opportunity to get a close up look at the plane you are building. I hope you can all go.
Note: Meet in Eaton 116 on Tuesday for Lab. We will begin your big final aircraft building project: the Piper J3 Cub. Try to get the tables cleared before then. Hang your planes or stash them underneath. Also,be sure and bring your journal with you.
Important Notice: We will be meeting in Eaton 116 for most of the remainder of the term to work on the Cub. So plan on being there from now on unless you are notified otherwise.
Important Reminder: Your 8 note cards and your bibliography are due at the beginning of lab on Tuesday. See the Writing Project Guidelines Page (link above) for updated details. Hopefully you've made good progress on these so far. Ask for help at the reference desk if you are having trouble locating enough resources for your topic.
Week 11
Note: Meet in the Eaton 116 lab on Tuesday and bring your Aero Ace. We will be doing some mods.
Journal Reminders: You need to document your RC flying in the Field House from last week (including a critique of the directions). You also need to write a paragraph about the field trip to the Glenn Curtiss Museum on Sunday. Bring your journals to lab each day.
Assignment 6: You need to perform and fully document at least two minor modifications or one major modification to your Aero Ace. Minor modifications are those that do not involve removeing the electronics and motors from your airplane. (For example, the transmitter mod, the landing gear mod, the lower wing removal mod, the painting mod, etc.) If you don't know what is meant by "modifications", then you need to check out the links below. Documentation should include testing done with the particular modifcation you did to your Aero Ace, even if you "undid" it later. A little bonus might be available if you do both "minor" and "major" modifications (as discussed in lab), as long as the "minor" modifications are successfully demonstrated to me. (Note: landing gear and paint jobs on a "major" modification won't ordinarily count as bonus.) Check out the links below for ideas and make a printout of any major modification you want to do.
Aero Ace Links:
Aero Ace Toolbox - an excellent site for Aero Ace modifications including links to plans and other forums. In particular check out the "Plans" and "Hop-up" links.
Watt Flyer Aero Ace Forum
Watt Flyer Aero Ace Modifications - check out some of the photos.
RC Groups Aero Ace Forum
Aero Ace Mods Wiki - convenient links to specific Aero Ace mods.
Do a google search on Aero Ace and you'll find lots more.
Writing Project Reminder: Your bibliography and notecards are due next Tuesday, November 13.
Week 10
Fantastic Fieldhouse Flying II: We meet on Thursday in the Bristol Field House again. You will receive a radio controlled aircraft and start learning to fly it. The aircraft is called the Air Hogs Aero Ace (some call it the AHAA!) or a very similar plane called the Power Hawk. It is typically sold in the toy department of some stores but is a real RC aircraft. The Aero Ace (and its ilk) is extremely popular among rc enthusiasts who love its ability to be flown just about anywhere. You probably saw some of these (maybe modified) at the NEAT fair, but didn't realize what they were. We will be using this airplane for a couple of assignments so take good care of yours! (Oh yeah - don't forget your batteries.)
Announcements: This is "Advising Week". But since you will not register until November 13, we will consider this "Advising 2 Weeks". You are to choose courses for the Spring term and then come see me for approval and to obtain your PIN number for online registration. You may check out details for preparation online at: Preparing for Web Registration (the same information is available in the printed schedule of classes). On Thursday, I will bring a sign-up sheet for advising appointments for next week. When you come see me, you should have 6 to 8 courses selected that you want to take. It is very unlikely that your first 4 choices will be available when you sit down to register on the 13th.
Note: We will meet in the Library for class on Tuesday. Please be at the reference desk by 10:15am. We will move to the BI lab from there.
Field Trip 2: Your second field trip will be to the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY (about 45 minutes from here) on Sunday, November 4, from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm.. Glenn Curtiss was a pioneer in Aviation who was a contemporary and a competitor of the Wright Brothers. This field trip will include a 1 to 2 hour tour of the museum. You are to write a one paragraph response piece about your experience and include it in your journal. We will leave at noon and be gone from campus for no more than 4 hours. If you are unable to go for any reason, you will be able to substitute work for the event by writing a 2 page "research paper" about Glenn Curtiss and submitting it to me electronically (in .doc format) by November 15. See me for details about this paper if you must exercise this option.
Book Report/Research Paper: The first deadline related to your paper is Tuesday, October 30. You must have your topic selected and approved before 5:00 pm. See Writing Project Guidelines Page for full details.
Important Reminder: The first deadline for the book report/research paper is rapidly approaching. You must have your topic approved by Tuesday. It can't be approved unless you see me in person. (Have a backup.) Please remember to keep your appointment with me and bring your book. Missed project deadlines will cost points. 'Nuff said.
Week 9
Note: We meet in Gulick 208 on Thursday for a little bit of cross-country flying. You'll also get to fly formation with each other if you want. Check out the links below. On the SkyVector charts, drag the map to its upper left corner and check out the legend. We'll go over a bit of it at the beginning of the session tomorrow. (Also do a search on VFR.)
Here are a couple of links for flying the simulator:
SkyVector Aeronautical Charts
FlightGear Documentation
Other links:
Traffic Patterns
Landing
Note: We will meet in Eaton 116 on Tuesday to get ready for Parents Weekend (coming up), and our next construction project. In the mean time, check out the video below.
I will try to get more of these posted over the next week or so. If you have a youtube account, go to youtube's website and rate this video.
Week 8
Note: We will meet in Napier 102 on Thursday and will then move to an undisclosed location.
Week 7
Note: We meet Tuesday in Napier 102. We will talk some about the book report/research paper, finish discussing chapter 4 in Taking Flight, and review a bit for the upcoming Midterm Exam. If you haven't selected a book yet, you need to do so right away. See the list below to see what has already been taken and what's still available. If one of your classmates' names appears (in red) by a title, that selection is taken. (You are however free to barter with them to see if they will trade - but only until Fall Recess.) I'll bring your selections to class on Tuesday.
Midterm Exam on Thursday, October 11. (printable version) In order to prepare for the exam, you should review your class notes, chapters 1-4 in Understanding Flight, and online links provided since the beginning of the term. You should be familiar with the important terms and ideas listed here. This list is provided to help you pick out important ideas as you re-read the text and your class notes. Some of the terms here will be useful for the short-answer/fill-in-the-blank portion of the exam, but the ideas they represent are not necessarily restricted to that portion of the exam. You should also look back over the information at the web links provided earlier (scroll down to find them all).
fuselage wing horizontal stabilizer flaps aileron vertical stabilizer elevator rudder elevon stabilator tricycle gear conventional gear airfoil chord camber leading/trailing edge control axes yaw pitch roll vertical axis lateral axis longitudinal axis center of gravity angle of attack lift weight thrust drag coanda effect downwash vertical velocity turn bank slip skid lateral stability dihedral geometric AoA effective AoA stall load factor wing loading lift to drag ratio glide ratio ground effect induced power parasitic power total power induced drag parasitic drag wingtip vortices incidence planform "hershey bar" form drag sweep aspect ratio taper washout anhedral boundary layer boundary layer turbulence vortex generators canard slats/slots static stability balance stabilizer statically stable neutral point directional (yaw) stability statically neutral center of lift weathervane statically unstable center of gravity phugoid motion pitch (longitudinal) stability trim dutch roll dynamic stability (positive, neutral, negative) spiral divergence
You should also be familiar with some of the methods, techniques, and other ideas presented in labs. Things such as building materials and tools, construction methods, covering techniques, glue types and usage, balsa properties, rubber selection, lubrication, breaking in, etc.
Reminders: I will collect your journals on Thursday. Have them up-to-date and bring them to the exam. Clean your workstations and organize your planes before leaving for Fall Recess. Treat your planes carefully - you will need to use them all again at the year-end Palooza.
Week 6
Note: We meet Tuesday in Napier 102. We will talk a bit about Chapters 3 and 4 in "Understanding Flight", plus we will discuss some important upcoming events.
Mini-assignment: Read other students papers about the NEAT Fair, provide feedback to at least two classmates, and include thoughts about at least two of the papers in your journal. Also indicate which papers you read and who gave feedback on yours. Click on NEAT Fair Papers, and type in the user name and password provided in class.
Fantastic Fieldhouse Flying I: We meet at Bristol Field House (the big one) Thursday morning to fly our gliders and rubber-band models. Bring your 4 planes, your rubber motors, and a notepad (or your journal) and pencil to record times, distances, and observations. This information should eventually be included in your journal. (Note: if you want to bring your foam gliders too, that's OK.)
Field house etiquette:
Book Selections: As promised, here is a list of books from which you are to choose for your book report/research paper. I have included a short description of each book, but you can look for reviews online (amazon.com, buy.com, etc) to help you decide which one you want to read. I will expect you to make a choice by Tuesday, October 9. You might send me your top two choices, because these will be distributed on a "first come, first served" basis.
Week 5
Reading (more): I'm adding to your reading assignment. You should begin reading Chapter 4 in "Understanding Flight".
Note: We meet Thursday in Eaton 116 again, You should have your Denny Dart II mostly done by then so you can begin working on your second rubber powered model. If you haven't decided on your second model, check out the links below, or get out some graph paper and start drawing.
Assignment 5: Choose a second rubber-powered model to build. Your model has the following restrictions: 18 inch max wing span, 72 square inch (new limit) max flying surface area, 12 inch max prop to hook length. If your model is self-designed, create detailed instruction sheets and plan drawings. The instructions should include a materials list, tools required, and a list of directions similar to the ones provided for the EZ Air Rider II glider you just completed. (Assume someone following your directions has limited experience at modeling.) If your second rubber-powered model is chosen from plans available on the internet, you may do the writeup of plans/instructions for the Denny Dart II instead. The plans and instructions for whichever model you end up building (and/or writing directions for) should be included in your journal. Note: You must make your choice and report it to me by Thursday, 9-27-07.
Links to various rubber model plans:
Tweety Bird Flying Wing
Squirrel
Free Flight Model Plans (including rubber powered and others).
Special Things from "The Plans Page" website. A couple of these are appropriate.
The Plans Page. This is the gateway to almost all of the models posted on this site. Most of the planes are not the type we can build right now, but if you look through the various months listed, you will find several appropriate ones.
A canard design (for JK).
The Blatter 40.
The Purl-One R.O.G.
Wright Time 2001.
Wright Time (Modified).
The Danny Soar pages. Check them out:
Home page. Check out twin-pusher links.
The Ezekiel. A really strange rubber model.
Bunch Canary and other oddities.
Then of course, there are the models found at the Denny Dart link below. Check them out.
Links to rubber model construction tips:
Indoor Duration. Many good articles from covering to prop carving and trimming.
FAI Science Olympiad tips, including rubber band winding.
Free Flight Tips from Gryffin Aero.
Links to making your own propellers:
Make Your Own Model Aircraft Propeller".
Wright Flyer.
Prop Carving.
Another way to tie a knot in a rubber motor.
Other sites you should explore:
Gryffin Aero Free Flight Fantasies.
Marin Aero Club. Be sure and check out the info on rubber and winding.
Note: We meet Tuesday in Eaton 116 to get started on construction of your first Rubber-powered model airplane - the Denny Dart II. You should also have both of your gliders ready to demonstrate.
Reading: Search the internet for Rubber-powered models and find out as much as you can about this aspect of aircraft modeling. You should find a plan for a rubber band model to build in addition to the Denny Dart II mentioned above, or design one of your own. The goal is to build something that will fly for as long as possible (given certain constraints to be mentioned in class). One of your two rubber models will eventually be converted to ROG (look it up). Additional search terms: Rubber motors, braiding, trimming for indoor flight, duration, Reynolds crystal wrap.
Links for the Denny Dart II and related models:
Plans for the Denny Dart II and a few other rubber band models.
Techniques of building from plans - This article uses the Denny Dart II as an example.
Check out the NEAT Fair photo gallery.
Assignment 4 (from last Thursday): Design and build your own small, light-weight stick-and-tissue glider. Layout and build on the provided graph paper. Put this in your journal when you are done. (Note: You are not required to include complete directions for this model.) Materials: Two 1/16" square by 18" long balsa sticks, one 1/8" square by 9" long balsa stick, tissue, glue, playdough. You will demonstrate both of your gliders at the beginning of lab on Tuesday.
Week 4
Note: Meet Tuesday in Napier 102. Catch up on your reading in Understanding Flight. Meet Thursday in Eaton 116 to get started on "stick and tissue" construction in preparation for rubber-powered models. Check out the article:
Assignment 3: Write about your experiences at the NEAT Fair last Saturday (including details about suggested activities as discussed prior to the trip). You should write a minimum of three pages and submit an electronic pdf version to me at scottyorr@hws.edu by Thursday at 5:00 pm. Note: Three 2"x3" photos (with wrapped text) are allowed as part of the three pages.
Week 3
Notes: Meet Tuesday in Napier 101. We will talk about the NEAT Fair trip and a bit more on Chapter 2 and 3. Meet Thursday in Eaton 116 to determine L/D ratio and wing loading for 3 gliders. Results of your experiment, and a written discussion should be included in your journal (keep it organized). Journals will be collected next Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Reading: You should have read all of the first 3 chapters in "Understanding Flight". I would like you to jump ahead to Chapter 7 and read only pp. 171-176 (the sections on L/D Ratio and Glide). You will work with some of this information in Lab this week.
Field Trip: This coming Saturday morning, we will be leaving at 6:30am for the NEAT Fair in Shinhopple, NY. This is a required event for this FY Seminar - buy an extra alarm clock if necessary. Look over some of the links found above. In addition, check out these links for more detailed information from participants about events taking place at the Fair.
Also, here is a link to the beginnings of a new Taking Flight! Photo Album for Fall 2007. I will add to this as we go along.
Week 2
Note: Meet Tuesday in Napier 101. Meet Thursday in the Eaton 116 lab.
Reading: Hopefully you are enjoying "Understanding Flight" enough that you are continuing reading. You should try to get through the end of Chapter 3 by the end of next week.
Assignment 2: Design an original "foamie" glider. After Tuesday's class, you should know enough about airplanes and gliders to come up with an original design that will glide. The materials available to you will be: a 9" foam plate, a 10" foam plate, 1 balsa stick 12" x 3/16" x 3/16", 1 balsa stick 12" x 3/16" x 3/32", 2 12" bamboo shishkabob skewers, paper clips, pennies, and hot glue (AND your leftover egg carton material). You should draw plans (hand drawn is fine), and write construction directions. Your plans should be completed before lab on Thursday, because you will actually build and test your glider. Modification to your plans and directions at building time is encouraged as long as the changes make your plane fly better.
Note: I will glance at your journal/logbook on Thursday, so be sure and bring it and have it up to date.
Week 1
Note: Meet Tuesday in Napier 102. Meet Thursday in Eaton 116.
Assignment 1: Search the web for "paper airplanes" (or something similar) and find examples of "how to build a paper airplane". Write your own "how to" that an ordinary person (such as me) can follow to reproduce the airplane you created at orientation. Bring a draft of this document to class on Tuesday. (If your directions are of the type that are printed on the paper that becomes the airplane, then bring several copies.) Below are some examples (not nearly exhaustive) that I found.
Paper Airplane Links:
Joe Palmer's PL-1
Nick's Plane
The Rapier
The Best Paper Airplane in the World
Parts of an Airplane:
Airplane parts
Airplane parts definitions
Check out NEAT Fair 2007. This is a huge, 3-day electric model aircraft flying event held in Shinhopple, NY. We will be spending a full day there on Saturday, September 15. Attendance is required. You should already have this date reserved on your calendar.
NEAT is an acronym for Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology. NEAT Fair is held in mid-September each year, and according to the web site above, is "the largest and finest electric model aircraft gathering in North America, and probably the world." (It really is pretty cool - as well as neat!)
