First Year Seminar - Fall 2009
Taking Flight!

Instructor: Scotty Orr
Email:scottyorr@hws.edu
Office: Lansing 309
Phone: office (315) 781-3616, cell (315) 878-2450

TC: Jeff Bilharz
Email:jeffrey.bilharz@hws.edu
Phone: cell (315) 750-8058

Class Schedule: TR 8:45-10:10am - 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 full-scale PJ-260
Some photos of a nearly completed model PF-260
Power Point presentation of model A380 (and other big models)
Class Photos
Airport Info (airnav.com)

The PJ-260 Flies!!

The long-awaited flight of the PJ-260 biplane finally took place around 11am on Wednesday, May 5, 2010!

In attendance were Maeve, Sam, Marissa, Alden, and Jenny (and me and Bill of course). It couldn't have been a nicer flight. For those of you who were not lucky enough to see it in person, here is a video that you can download or if you prefer, you can just watch it on YouTube:

Congratulations on a great semester!
Look at what we did!!

(Click for full size)

LAST WEEK OF CLASS!

Good Job!! Thanks to all who showed up Saturday! You made great progress on the PJ-260. We still have a bit to go, but I think now that it's possible to get it done in time for the festival (you've been working on a name I hope). I will start being around more in the afternoons and evenings, so if you drop by to work, I can help if you need it. BTW, here are your base colors:

Base Colors for the PJ-260

Vintage Orange

Natural

You can still choose any other colors you want to paint on top of these base colors. Settled on a paint scheme yet? Just remember - we don't have tons of time left now....

Important Reminder: Your final draft is due Thursday. Electronic versions must be submitted. I would also like a hard copy if you've still got printer credits. The electronic version must be in MS .doc or .docx format, or in pdf format. It 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).

Spring 2010 Reader's College: OK. Here's the formal blurb for the course.

Taking Flight: 100 Years of Aviation in Popular Media

Since the first earth-bound witnesses watched as fellow humans rose above the earth in flying contraptions, people have been fascinated with and excited about flight. Naturally, many of these people have found various was to communicate that fascination and excitement to other people, and even to take to the skies themselves. In this Reader's College, we will explore aviation by retracing the various perspectives from which it has been viewed in all types of media: from newsprint, magazines, and books - to movies and newsreels - to television and radio - to comic books, video games, and the internet - to in-person narratives. We will read, view, and listen to many accountings and representations of flying machines and the human events involving them - covering the time period from shortly after the Wright Brothers' first flights to the current day.

(This Reader's College is part of a Learning Community and is open only to students of FSEM 046.)

Week 14 (12-1 & 3) Wow!! (One more after this one!)

Notes: Meet in Eaton 116 each day this week (and next). We've gotta get this PJ-260 ready for the big air show. 2 person rule in effect: ie, You can come work on the plane anytime as long as another person is there (even if it's only Jeff or myself). Please come work as often as possible. You know it's a lot more fun than your other classe...(and cutting and glueing wood is a great stress reliever).

Writing Project: Next deadline on the paper is this Thursday. Submit a rough draft if you are so inclined (remember this part is optional but recommended). I will mark them over the weekend and have them available for you on Monday. If you need help from a writing colleague, contact the CTL for an appointment. You will need to do this online at: http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl and select the TutorTrac link in the right column.

Color Scheme: Time to start thinking about a color scheme for the PJ-260. We will be covering with a product called SolarTex. It is easily paintable, but you need to select at least one base color (and perhaps one other). Remember that dark paint covers light colors, but not vice versa. See BalsaUSA for a selection of colors. (Also see some of the PJ-260 links for some ideas.)

Turkey Week! (11-24)

Notes: Meet in the Lab on Tuesday (and for the remainder of the term).

PJ-260: Here is an important gateway to a lot of information about the biplane you are building. And here are some photos of a nearly completed model.

Important Reminders: Your bibliography and notecards (or notes) are due before you leave for the Thanksgiving break. Bring them to class on Tuesday, or deliver them to my office anytime before you leave. You may slide them under my door if I am not around. See details on format, etc in the Writing Project Guidelines Page above.

And most importantly - Gobble!

Week 12 (11-17 & 19) Getting Close!

Notes: Meet in the Lab on both days this week - We start the big plane!!

DC photos are on-line

Check the links above for other photo galleries. (Right click on any photo to download full-size version.)

Reminder: Assignment 5 is due on Thursday.

Week 11 (11-10 & 12)

Assignment 5: Write a detailed materials list and detailed instructions for your BluCor foam airplane (BluBaby, BluMax, or SloMoWatt). Word process these instructions and provide enough detail so that a beginning builder would be able to use the patterns and plans to build the airplane (Note that you are not a beginning builder.) You may use the same format as the "Control surfaces" instructions I provided a week or so ago. (Note: If you were unable to travel to DC, but would like an alternate assignment anyway, I can provide a mini-research topic for you. See me soon if this sounds preferable to writing instructions for the plane you are building.)

Or Alternately:
Write a 3 page (minimum) response paper about your trip to DC. Focus primarily on the events you experienced with the entire group (the museum, the concert, and the Peace Corp talks). Your paper should include more than one photo and be neatly word-processed. Use double spacing and include the equivalent of at least 2 full pages of text (that is, the photos can not take up more real estate that a page's worth).
Assignment 5 is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, November 19.

Notes: Meet Tuesday and Thursday in the lab. You will build your blue foam rc models this week! Do a search to look over some building techniques for these models. Keywords: Blucor, blue foam, rc airplane, slowfly. Bring your journals - I will do a spot check. Check out the BluBaby build thread on rcgroups. In particular check out the photos and posts on pages 1,4, and 5. This info will help you even if you are building one of the other airplanes.

THIS IS ADVISING WEEK! Remember at your appointment you will need to bring 8 (eight) different class choices. Try to pick ones that overlap as little as possible. See the registrar's web site for information on registering online (including a tutorial). Remember: you also need to bring 2 suggestions for research topics to your advising appointment.

Week 10 (11-3 & 5)

WASHINGTON, D.C. ROAD TRIP!! The buses will load between 11:30 and 12:00 on Friday. We travel to DC where we will attend a jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, attend a panel discussion at the Peace Corps building, and tour the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Check out the link. Can't wait!

Notes: Meet Tuesday at the Field House - see details below. Please be on time. (You'll need to start a little earlier to make it by 8:45.) On Thursday, we will meet back in the lab. You will have your rudder mechanism tested and we will go over a few last minute notes about the DC trip and sign up for advising. (I will also want you to select models for the next project - more details Tuesday.)

Fantastic Fieldhouse Flying II: We meet on Tuesday in the Bristol Field House again. You will be flying small indoor radio controlled aircraft and also see (and maybe fly) larger foam aircraft which will be demonstrated as examples of your next project. Bill Birkett from F.L.A.P.S. will be joining us to demonstrate some airplanes and to assist on buddy-box flying.

The small aircraft that you may fly are the Vapor, the Ember 2, and the Micro Cessna (these are listed in order of ease-to-fly). You will fly in teams of two, with one person acting as pilot and one acting as "spotter". After about 10 minutes of flying, you will switch roles. Most of you will start out on the Vapors (if you want to be buddy-boxed that's fine), then graduate up to the other planes as you become proficient. Check out the videos below to see the flying characteristics of each plane. (The music on a couple of these is pretty bad - you might want to turn down sound...)

Week 9 (10-27 & 29)

Reminder: Take your RC checkride on Monday or Tuesday.

Notes: Meet in Napier 102 on Tuesday. We will go over the exam, talk about the upcoming Washington DC trip, and discuss the writing project in detail (see above). I will also go over procedures for advising and registering for classes. Time permitting, we will go build something. Thursday will be a full day in the lab.

Week 8 (10-20 & 22)

Notes: The Midterm Exam is on Tuesday, October 20 in Napier 102. Study Hard! (See review information below.) We meet Thursday inside the entrance to the Library for our Library session at 8:45am. We will move to Library conference room 175. Please be on time and bring note-taking material.

Note: Journals will be collected for scoring Thursday, October 22. You must bring your journal to me by 4:30pm. (You may leave it with me after the Library session if you like.) Your latest entries should include reports on all labs from the Denny Dart building day, up through the Flight simulator experience. (Please leave your older journal material in place.) Here is the Journal II Checklist.

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 Friday, October 23, 5:00pm. Email me your top two choices (or you can call or come by), because these will be distributed on a "first come, first served" basis . If someone's name is listed in the red parenthesis, then that book is already taken.

(Stephanie) Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck.
Two brothers, ages 15 and 17 rebuild a small airplane (a J-3 Cub) and fly it from New Jersey to California and back. Told through the eyes of the younger brother, the true story is a memoir of adventure, danger, determination, and of coming to terms with a family.
() Amelia Earhart's Daughters by Leslie Haynsworth and David Toomey.
Women pilots convince the military brass that they have what it takes to help out with wartime aviation efforts in World War II. The women aviators provide a ferry service for all of the military's aircraft. The book traces the battles that women have had to fight to become pilots then, and even up to the current day to become astronauts.
(Sarah) Airman's Odyssey by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.
Written by one of the pioneers of international postal flight (and the author of The Little Prince), this collection of three aviation stories portrays the adventure and romance of flying in the early half of the 20th century. Two of the three stories are non-fiction. One depicts the sometimes solitary life of an aviation pioneer as he attempts to do something no one else has done before. The other is about a group of young pilots facing certain defeat, yet flying and fighting valiantly against a formidable enemy. The other story (optional reading) is a fictional, but exciting "right stuff"-type account of an early trans-oceanic mail service.
(Alden) Skunk Works by Ben Rich and Leo Janos.
Ben Rich tells an insider's story about one of the most secret research organizations in US History - the Skunk Works. As the former head of Skunk Works, Mr Rich is finally allowed to reveal stories about many of our country's most closely held secret airplane development missions - from the U-2 spy plane to the Stealth fighter.
(Jordan) Forever Flying by R.A "Bob" Hoover.
Aerobatic pilot Bob Hoover tells his story about dogfights during World War II, a daring stalag prison camp escape (he stole a German plane and flew to Holland), his adventures as a test pilot, and the thrills, dangers, and even the techniques of being a barnstormer and aerobatic show pilot.
(Sam) Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann.
Ernest Gann is most well known as a writer of such books as The High and Mighty and The Aviator. In this book, he tells his own story about many of the events that he experienced during his more than 10000 hours flying airplanes in both wartime and peace.
(Jenny) First Heroes by Craig Nelson.
The author brings to life the incredible story of the attack on Japan by Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which drew the US into WWII. With interviews of surviving crew members of the raid, this is the story of how some of America's bravest gave hope and confidence to an entire nation that had been reeling and dispirited from Japan's deadly attack.
(Louis) Flying, The Aviation Trilogy by Richard Bach.
Richard Bach is an author that is perhaps most well known for his novels, such as "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and "Illusions". However, in these three shorter stories, Bach describes true aviation events in his own life that reflect the allure, excitement, and romance of flying. From flying a single seat jet aircraft through treacherous weather to complete a secret courier mission, to reliving the life of a barnstormer by flying from town to town in an antique biplane and selling rides, it's easy to put yourself in the cockpit with him.
(Timothy) Wings of Madness by Paul Hoffman.
An interesting account of one of the earliest pioneers of aviation. Contemporary of the Wright brothers, Alberto Santos-Dumont often flew his earliest flying inventions (steerable, bicycle-powered derrigibles) around the streets of Paris even before the turn of the century (1900). After the Wright brothers' historic flight, Santos-Dumont competed with them on an international scale to attain new milestones in aviation.
(Nico) Janey, A Little Plane in a Big War by Alfred W. Schultz with Kirk Neff.
Janey was the name given to a World War II spotter plane by its pilot Alfred Schultz. Janey was an L-4B Piper Cub and was the only such plane to survive the entire European war intact. Schultz tells of his many exciting flights in Janey, from surviving while flying General Patton around observing ground fighting, to ferrying liquor and other contraban for officers, to almost being brought down by a shepherd's staff.
() Chasing Icarus by Gavin Mortimer.
The author chronicals a few days in 1910 that forever changed the path that American aviation would follow. Enthralled by the different technologies that allowed humans to "take to the air", people followed any story that had anything to do with contraptions that allowed flight. The competition for this attention involved balloons, derigibles, and of course, airplanes. Indeed it usually involved actual competition between aeronauts and pilots seeking fame, glory, and monetary reward.
(Marissa) Loving's Love by Neal V. Loving.
This book chronicles the life of an African American pilot who had to overcome prejudice in his time to become a pilot. He designed and built his own airplanes, one of which crashed and caused him to lose both legs. Undeterred, he designed, built, and flew other planes afterwards and eventually became an aeronautical engineer.
(Maeve) Zero Three Bravo by Mariana Gosnell.
A reporter decides to take a leave of absence from her job and fly across the country in her small airplane (with call-sign zero three bravo - 03B). Her story describes her trip as well as the interesting people she meets as she travels from airport to airport.
(DJ) Mavericks of the Sky by Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macaulay.
This book recounts the crucial first three years of the U.S. Air Mail Service - beginning with the inaugural NY to DC service in 1918. The pilots of the airmail service were a bunch of daring World War I aces who returned as heroes from Europe, but wanted to keep flying. The flying was so dangerous ("the mail must get through" - in all weather conditions) that the pilots were nicknamed the Suicide Club.
() The Happy Bottom Riding Club by Lauren Kessler.
The amazing story of Pancho Barnes - a contemporary of Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes. Always a colorful character, she was a barnstormer, a racer, and even a Hollywood stunt-pilot. She opened her own airport in the Mohave desert and later fought the US Government to keep it from becoming Edwards Air Force Base.
(Cary) East to the Dawn by Susan Butler.
This is one of the most thorough biographical accounts of the life, times, and accomplishments of Amelia Earhart that exists. It covers her story from well before she was born up through the tragic flight where she disappeared over the Pacific ocean. (Research topic for this book cannot be Amelia Earhart herself.)
(Mark) Kill Devil Hill by Harry Combs.
Written by a pilot who grew more and more fascinated by the story of the invention of flight, this book is one of the very best accounts of the genious and tenacity of the Wright brothers. Kill Devil Hill was one of series of sand dune mountains on the outer banks of North Carolina. It happens to be the one where the Wright brothers made the first powered flight. (Research topic for this book cannot be the Wright Brothers themselves.)

Simulator Check Ride: You will need to practice at least one hour on the flight simulator (use the command "fgrc" - then click the trigger 3 times for rc view). To practice, you should come to Lansing 310 during my office hours or during the hours listed in class last Thursday for the Math intern, Dave Brown. (Mostly 5-11, Sunday thru Thursday. See your notes for exact times.) Sign out a controller for practice and remember to sign it back in when you are done. After sufficient practice, you will meet with me at your signed-up time and you will demonstrate flying a figure eight and landing in a controlled fashion on the airfield.

Week 7 (10-15)

Note: We meet Thursday in Napier 102. We will talk some about the book report/research paper, discuss upcoming assignments and trips (including important changes), and review for the upcoming Midterm Exam.

Midterm Exam on Tuesday, October 20. (printable version) In order to prepare for the exam, you should review your class notes, chapters 1-4 (and part of 7) 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, prop-balancing, making rubber motors, lubrication, breaking in, etc.

Week 6 (10-6 & 8)

Notes: Meet Tuesday inside the doors of the main Library at 8:45am. Please be on time. We will go from there immediately to meet with librarian Jennifer Nace. This session will last the entire class period and will be for providing information about your large book/research paper coming up in the second half of the term. Jennifer has spent a good deal of time preparing information directly related to this paper. Bring something to take notes in/with.

Thursday we will be back in Napier 102 for class. Your writeup about the trip to the FLAPS RC airfield will be due at the beginning of class that day. I'm pretty sure most of you had a good time flying - please write a nice paper reflecting that.

Week 5 (9-29 & 10-1)

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 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: Bring at least your two rubber-powered planes, the stick and tissue glider, your original foamy glider, and one of the catapult gliders.)

Field house etiquette:

Walk slowly and lightly around all planes - it will be easy to accidently crush one. They will mostly be laying around on the floor.
Make sure you know where your plane is going to go before you put 1000 winds in the rubber motor - there may be other people in the arena. (Hint: your rubber band plane will stay aloft longer if it makes a gentle circular turn to the right or left. I will bring some tabs and tape to add to the vertical stab to adjust the flight.)
Try very hard to keep the ArmourAll off of the field house floor.
We need to leave the field house as we find it - we want to come back soon to fly some RC planes.
Come early if at all possible - the time will be up before you know it.

I will be there by 8:30am with winders, stooges, extra rubber motors, and various repair parts and tools. Please get there as early as you can, especially if you need to make adjustments or break in rubber, etc. If you want me to carry your planes over (highly recommended), you must have them stashed in one of the large protective boxes no later than 8:15am.

Class photos are online! (see link above)

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 built last Thursday, or design one of your own. The goal is to build something that will fly for as long as possible, given certain constraints (see Assignment 4 below). One of your two rubber models will also be converted to ROG (look it up). Additional search terms: Rubber motors, braiding, trimming for indoor flight, duration, OOS.

Note: We meet Tuesday in Eaton 116 to begin working on your second rubber-powered model. (Your Denny Dart II should be ready to demonstrate at the beginning of lab.) If your searching hasn't generated ideas for your second model, check out the links below, or get out some graph paper and start drawing. If you complete the DD II this weekend and want to get started on your second model Monday afternoon or evening, please contact me. You will fly both models at the Field House on Thursday morning!

Assignment 4: Choose a second rubber-powered model to build. Your model has the following restrictions: 18 inch max wing span, 72 square inch max horizontal 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 recently completed. (Assume someone following your directions has limited experience at modeling.) If your second rubber-powered model is chosen from plans already available on the internet, you may do a thorough writeup of plans/instructions for the Denny Dart II (as you built it) instead. The plans and instructions for whichever model you end up building (and/or writing directions for) should be included in your journal before it is collected again. Note: Please make your choice and report it to me by email no later than Monday, 9-28-09. If you are building from any of the plans below other than the Wright Stuff, you will need to print out your plans and bring them on Tuesday. (I will have copies of the Wright Stuff plans.)

Science Olympiad Wright Stuff Information including:
Construction Plans for the Wright Stuff Flyer and
Construction tips (and directions) for the Wright Stuff.
The Wright Stuff is the recommended model to build for your duration model if you are having a hard time deciding. It's also a good model to use as a basis for your own design.

Links to various other rubber model plans (not all of these are designed for duration flight):
Tweety Bird Flying Wing
Squirrel
Special Things from "The Plans Page" website. A couple of these are appropriate.
The Plans Page. This is the gateway to "The Plans Page". 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.
The Blatter 40.
The Purl-One R.O.G.
Other plans at the GryffinAero pages (not all are rubber-powered)
Wright Time 2001.
Wright Time (Modified).

Links to several oddities - 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 pages:
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.

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 can explore:
Gryffin Aero Free Flight Fantasies.
Marin Aero Club. Be sure and check out the info on rubber and winding.

Week 4 (9-22 & 24)
Assignment 3: Write a one-page paper about your experience at the FLAPS RC field this Thursday. Word process the document, and include photos if you like. Include some detailed information about your time on the buddy box, and anything else you thought was interesting. This paper will need to be included in your Journal by the time I collect them again.

Notes: Meet Tuesday in Napier 102. Meet Thursday in Eaton 116. We get to start building powered models this week!
Reading: Read Chapter 4 in "Understanding Flight". I will try to start discussing that chapter on Tuesday. I've tried not to give you specific deadlines on reading in "Stick and Rudder", but if you are half-way through it by now you are in pretty good shape. As you read, think about how you might write a book review from the point of view of a student pilot recommending it to another student pilot, or from the point of view of a flight instructor recommending it to another flight instructor or to a student pilot. (Since you are probably neither of those things, it's definitely OK to use your imagination!)
Note: Journals will be collected for scoring this Tuesday morning. Your latest entries should include the building experience of the balsa and tissue glider (including a critique of the directions), and your glider experiements. Here is the Journal I Checklist.
Field Trip I: This Thursday afternoon, we will meet in the Lansing parking lot (out behind our lab room) at around 5:20pm and pull out at 5:30pm to head over to Carter road to visit the Finger Lakes Air PirateS (FLAPS) RC flying field. This is a short field trip and we will return about 7:00pm. The FLAPS club is group of RC airplane and helicopter enthusiasts and several of the members will be on hand that evening to demonstrate some cool airplanes and even give you an opportunity to fly one on a "buddy box" (look it up). If the weather happens to be bad, we will go the following Tuesday evening. Plan on it for Thursday, and I'll let you know in lab if there's to be a change.

Week 3
Notes: Meet Tuesday in Napier 102. Meet Thursday in Eaton 116. This week in lab, you will build one more glider and also determine L/D (or glide) ratio and wing loading for 3 or 4 gliders. To prepare for building your additional glider, check out the article:

Building Model Airplanes from Plans and Materials
It is about building a rubber-band model (which we take up next week), but we will use some of the same materials, tools, and techniques in lab this Thursday to build a stick-and-tissue glider.
Results of your L/D experiment, and a written discussion should be included in your journal (keep it organized). Note: Journals will be collected for scoring next Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Reading: You should have read all of the first 3 chapters in "Understanding Flight". I would also like you to jump ahead to Chapter 7 and read pp. 171-176 (the sections on L/D Ratio and Glide). You will work with some of this information in Lab this week. And of course you should be making progress in "Stick and Rudder".

Week 2

Note: Meet Tuesday in Napier 102. Meet Thursday in the Eaton 116 lab.
Reading: Hopefully you are enjoying "Understanding Flight" enough that you are continuing reading. Try to read through Chapter 2 for Tuesday. You should try to get through the end of Chapter 3 by the end of next week. You should also have started reading "Stick and Rudder".
Assignment 2: Design an original "foamie" glider. After last week's lab and after this Tuesday's class, you should know enough about airplanes and gliders to come up with an original design that will glide well. 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 1/8", 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, but be neat - rulers are good and graph paper is even better), and write detailed construction directions. Your plans should be completed before lab on Thursday, because you will actually build and test your glider during lab. Modification to your plans and directions at building time is encouraged as long as the changes make your plane fly better. I will have more information in class on Tuesday.
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.
Reading: Your books are available at the bookstore. You should pick them up and begin reading "Understanding Flight".
Assignment 1: Search the web for "paper airplane" (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 or a classmate) 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. If your document is an animation or video, bring your display device.) Below are a few examples that I found, but that do not represent anywhere close to all of the types of how-to's that are out there. Find a document style that you think you can master in a short time and focus on making it clear for someone else to follow.
Paper Airplane Links:
Joe Palmer's PL-1
Nick's Plane
The Katydid
The Best Paper Airplane in the World
Parts of an Airplane:
Airplane parts
Airplane parts definitions

On Friday November 6, we will travel to Washington DC with several other Learning Communties and spend two nights in our nation's capital. On Saturday, our class will spend a few hours visiting the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. Check out http://www.nasm.si.edu/ to see what's in store!
Put this on your calendar now: "Nov. 6-8: DC TRIP!" You will all receive metro passes and will have plenty of free time of your own to explore DC.

Scotty Orr
Last modified: Fri May 28 10:42:52 EDT 2010

First Year Seminar - Fall 2009 Taking Flight!