The History and Technology of Flight

HISTORY In the 1480s, Leonardo da Vinci sketched ideas for an ornithopter. It was never built but the design became the inspiration for modern helicopters.

Hot Air Balloons The Montgolfier brothers created the first successful man-carrying free flight machine in Paris in 1783. A balloon, filled with heated gas, floated over five miles across Paris. Soon after, balloons and ballooning became a craze that spread throughout the world. Balloons are known as “lighter than air” flight machines.

ROCKETRY Around 400 BC a man in Greece made a wooden bird fly using steam. About 100 BC another Greek, named Hero, created the “Hero Engine” using a spinning steam. The Chinese were the first to create rockets by filling bamboo with gunpower.

Rocket Science The foundations of rocket science were created by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Most early rockets were used in war, and were very successful. In 1898, a Russian school teacher named Tsiolkovsky came up with the idea of using liquid propelled rockets for space travel.

The Father of Modern Rocketry American Robert Goddard launched the first liquid propelled rocket on March 16, 1926. Goddard used liquid oxygen and gasoline, which was very dangerous!

Into Space In 1957 the Soviet Union became the first to use rockets to launch a satellite into space. The name of the satellite was Sputnik I.

NASA America created NASA and launched its own satellite into space just months after the Soviets. NASA continues “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”

Sir George Cayley Considered the “father of aerial navigation” for his use of control surfaces and stabilizers. In the early 1800s, Cayley (of England) discovered the principles of flight by studying model airplanes. His models used fixed wings instead of the flapping wings most other researchers were using. (They thought wings had to flap like birds’ wings.) The forces of LIFT, THRUST, and DRAG were introduced for the first time.

Otto Lilienthal By 1891, Lilienthal had built and flown several successful gliders. By 1896 Lilienthal flew the first hang glider. He added a small gas motor to keep it in the air longer. Lilienthal was the first person to study gliders, specifically. He was the inspiration for many, include the Wright brothers, a few years later.

The Wright Brothers Built their first glider in 1900. Test flights took place at Kitty Hawk, NC. Learned to control the PITCH, YAW, and ROLL of their gliders. Went on the make and fly the world’s first powered, sustained and controllable airplane in 1903.

MODERN FLIGHT New commercial airplanes can travel easily at 35,000 feet in the air and at over 560mph!

Experimental Aircraft are hitting over 7,000mph!!

New aircraft can utilize the sun or electricity to stay in the air!

The largest Airplanes can hold over 500 passengers!

There are over 10 million commercial flights, per year, in the U. S There are over 10 million commercial flights, per year, in the U.S. alone!

Autopilot is a commonly used technology in flight

The Four Forces of Flight The Physics of Flight The Four Forces of Flight LIFT: created by air moving over the top and bottom of the wing. THRUST: The pulling power of propellers. GRAVITY: The mass of the airplane pulled down towards earth. DRAG: The friction on the plane’s surfaces against the air.

Bernouli’s Principle

Angle of Attack Angle of attack (AOA) is the angle between the oncoming air or relative wind and a reference line on the airplane or wing.

Angle of Incidence The angle of incidence can be increased or decreased by adding or removing “shims” beneath the front edge of the main wing.

CENTER OF GRAVITY (BALANCE)

BALANCE Unlike paper airplanes, hot air balloons, rockets, or other flying project we do in TECH, your powerpole plane must KEEP flying. Because of this, your airplane must be perfectly balanced and fly relatively level! The weight of an airplane should be distributed equally over the center of life (or gravity).

Where is the C.O.G.? Most Powerpole Planes have a C.O.G. about ¼ to ⅓ of the distance from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge of the wing.

However... Your exact C.O.G. will depend on the size of your wing, where you place the wing, the shape and weight of your airplane, and….don’t forget this….the wires that will be taped to the underside of those wings. Therefore, you will need to experiment and take multiple test-flights to find your C.O.G.

Parts of an Airplane What does each part DO?

Building a Powerpole Plane

The Challenge Build an electric airplane. 60 points. To earn your Class I Pilot’s License, you must taxi your airplane around the pole 5 times without stopping or touching the plane in any way. 10 pts. To earn your Class II Pilot’s License, you must fly around the pole 10 times and land. 10 pts. To earn your Class III Pilot’s License, you must take off from an aircraft carrier (using it’s launch device), fly around the pole 10 times and land back on the carrier using its catch system. 10 pts.

CLASS IV PILOT’S LICENSE 5. To earn the rare Class IV Pilot’s License, you must fly around the pole 10 times, carrying a cargo load, and land successfully.

Class V Pilot’s License 6. To earn the even more rare Class V Pilot’s License, you must take off from the aircraft carrier - using its launch system - with cargo, fly around the pole 10 times, and land successfully back on the carrier using its catch system.

Your Supplies Lunch Tray

Foam Block

Propeller Motor Electrical Wire Clothespin Mount Landing Gear

AIRPLANE IDEAS

FUSELAGE Basic Fuselage Shape WING TAIL MOTOR LANDING GEAR

TAIL

MAIN WING

FOAM LUNCH TRAY wing tail tail wing

Wing Shapes

RECTANGLE Easiest to build less lift at the wing tips

ELLIPTICAL Theoretically the most efficient wing shape. The hardest to build.

TRAPEZOIDAL Almost as efficient as an elliptical wing. Easier to build than an elliptical wing. More difficult to build than a rectangle.

CONSTRAINTS 12” maximum length 15” maximum wing span Kelvin 3 blade propeller Kelvin 0-6 VDC motor The cargo will be supplied by your instructor and will likely be a 3D printed box The cargo must be able to be inserted and removed easily without any glue touching the cargo

Put it all Together!

Glue 2 Foam Blocks Together

Trace the Fuselage Template

Trace the Wing and Tail Sections Notice I left enough room on the tray in case I need to make new wing pieces.

Tail Pieces Cut Out

Fit Motor to Slot

Solder Short Wires to Motor

Motor with Wires

Use a Protractor to Install Motor with a 3-5% Outside Angle

Sand the Fuselage

Sand the Wing and Tail

Hot Glue the Wing to the Fuselage

Hot Glue the Tail in Place.

Make Landing Gear out of Wire and Wheels!

Install Landing Gear about 45mm From the Front

Balance Find the center of gravity. I used a pencil poked into where I think the C.O.G. should be and then added weight to the back until it felt balanced. Not scientific, but it might work!

Solder the Short Wires to the Long Wires and Plug

Tweaking After building your airplane, it will need much tweaking. Because of the wires on the right wing, the airplane will want to turn right. Add or adjust weight - and/or adjust the rudder - until your plane will circle the pole 5 times on the ground!

Are YOU Ready to Fly?