Session 10 Time For Flight

Session 10 Time for Flight

This session concluded our after school aviation program. The end of goal of this session was to have each student get their plane into the air. That is what happened. We had cheers, high fives, and shouts of elation from students and parents. What an epic finale to this great program.



 

We had great turnout by parents and family members. Every one of our students flew their plane. Some of the more impressive flights were the one that crashed into the school building, the one that landed about 90 yards down the soccer field. The greatest flight went at least 100 feet up and about 120 yards in length. It flew past the end of the soccer field and ended up landing in a tree. Working as a team the students successfully recovered the plane. Sadly the on plane cameras we used did not record anything other than lots of blue sky, so we left those videos off. Below you will see videos of some of the great and not so great flights.

 



 

 

As you can see the excitement level was high with all of the students. They were not only excited about their own flights but also by the flights of their fellow classmates.



 

 

 

Below is the amazing Piedmont IB vs. Airplane exchange. The airplane lost.



 

 

Even with all of the new pilots the planes held up surprisingly well. The durability and repairability of these planes is amazing. The photo below shows some of the students with their planes after the flights.

 



 

 

 

Though this looks a lot like play it certainly is much deeper. These students took ownership of the creation of their planes. They became so excited the moment their planes went into the air. They used tools they had not seen before. They constructed a structure with system components that was capable of mating up with control and power hardware. They utilized geometry and math. They learned how to draw in 3D and how to convert that "CAD" type file into a "CAM" file of machine code for 3D printing. They explored the details of setting up a 3D print, which is much more like machine tool work than printing. They got their start with some basics of flight and over ten weeks made wings that literally soured.

 

Here are some parting thoughts about the program from the students themselves.

 



 

 

 

Thank you to all of the students and parents that took part in this program. I know it was a sacrifice of time and energy for many of you. As I have said before the students were fantastic. The devotion they had to the program showed through. That is why of the airplanes made it into the air and some even took long journeys.



Session 9

Session 9 at Piedmont IB Middle in Charlotte NC.

The primary focus of session 9 was to get some planes in the air. Being that Discovery Place has no good place to fly an airplane, Piedmont will be the location for the remainder of the class sessions. We had 3 planes ready to take out for flight testing by the middle of class during this session. At the

last minute one of the 3 planes had a technical issue that would postpone its flight until the final session, session 10.
 

 

A number of parents showed up to witness the flights, though we were only able to test fly 2 planes. Due to technical issues neither plane flew particularly well. The prime issue was that the instructor, me, installed 2 of the propellers incorrectly. After a brief e-mail correspondence with the Brooklyn Aerodrome this issue came to light. During the weekend the propeller installations were tested in the EMS Lab. Having the propeller facing the correct way produces 100% more thrust than having it installed incorrectly. It was most certainly an embarrassing mistake on my part but one I will never forget. The greatest part about science or trying and doing is that we often learn far more from our failures than from our successes. That same thinking is a driving force for this program. These planes are not perfect but they are the work of each student. Each plane will work as the student constructed it.

Due to challenges faced in session 9 we had a some disappointed and disheartened students. I am also sure we had some concerned parents and teachers. This tension weighed heavy on me as the session came to a close. I went home that evening and told my wife about the challenges of the day. In her wisdom she explained to me how the frustration I saw was a good thing. Those strong feelings are because the students are invested in and really care about what they are doing. If they were apathetic about the challenges then I should worry. That opened my eyes to how much these students love the learning and process they are experiencing in this program.

 

 

The next session, session 10, will be the final session. We will put flight decks on each plane and try to get each student in the air and flying. Some of the flights may be brief but each plane will get into the air. At the end of the session each student will take home their airframes as a reminder of their work. A parts list will also be supplied that gives students the opportunity to reproduce the flight and control deck on their own time. The cost for all of the materials to do this comes to around $160. I hope that those who have the resources available might take this next step of exploration. For those who do not have the resources, I hope this program has opened new windows of possibilities and dreams for their future.

 



 

Session 8

Session 8 at Piedmont IB Middle in Charlotte NC.

The primary focus of session 8 was to finish the airframes and get the planes ready to fly. It is during this session that we also moved the program to Piedmont IB Middle http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/piedmontMS/Pages/Default.aspx . Being that Discovery Place has no good place to fly an airplane, Piedmont will be the location for the remainder of the class sessions. When the planes are flight ready we will head out to Piedmont's soccer field and give them a try. This did not happen by the end of session 8 but it is very likely to happen by the end of session 9.

Today was a catch up day for some students who had missed sessions. It was also a day for attaching 3D printed elevon connectors to planes, using zip ties. Most of the session was building,building, building. One of the key portions of today was also cutting the correct length of control rod to run from the servos, on the power plant and control board, to the elevons on the airframe. Coat hangers are the raw material for the control rods. The proper length of the control rods is very important as each power plant and control board will be removable and used for multiple airframes. These rods will remain with each airframe but should easily work with any of our 5 power plant and control boards.

It was so great to see such a large group of students working so diligently on their tasks. The reward of getting these airplanes in the air will surely be an amazing milestone for all of the students.

The staff at Piedmont IB Middle have been so helpful in making this program a great success. Paul Booth, who we have worked closely with, arranged or on site class space for the final sessions of the program. He also arranged for storage space for 20 very large foam airplanes. I would also like to say thank you to Ms. Burick for the use of her classroom.

During the next session we will finish preparing the airframes and getting the control rods bent for the elevons. The likely hope is to have at least 5 students test fly their airplanes by the end session 9. We also have plans to run a 10th session that is all flight.