__________________________S LOG BOOK

Design a logo for the cover of your log book.

HOW THINGS FLY

air has to move out of the way. The

object pushes through and the air
pushes back a little. This is called
drag. Drag slows the object down.
You can feel drag when you run into
the wind, or when you run with a
kite to make it take off.
The pilot's job is to control
these four forces. More thrust and
the plane goes faster. This makes
more air flow over and under the
wings. That way, more lift is
created. With more lift, the plane
flies higher.
The pilot also has to control the
way the aircraft moves. This is a
little more complicated than driving
a car. A car can only move backward
or forward. It's not supposed to
roll, or skid sideways. A plane,
however, can move backward and
forward, side to side, and up and
down.
Planes can also roll over. There
are two ways they can roll over. One
is sideways, wing over wing, just
like when you lie out straight with
your arms by your side and roll down
a hill. This is called roll. The
other kind of roll is head-over-tail
(or tail over head). It's called
pitch and is how planes loop-theloop.
Planes don't often do circles in
the sky like that, but even a slight
roll can make a big difference to
the way the plane moves. It is very
important
to
keep
the
plane
balanced. Put a ruler across your
finger and line it up so that it
balances. Then put an eraser on one
end. You'll see that the other end
of the ruler flips up. You need to
move your finger, or put erasers on
both ends to balance it properly.
Pilots and aircraft designers have
to think about how the weight inside
the aircraft is loaded so that the
plane
stays
in
balance.
This
includes any goods and luggage the
plane is carrying, fuel in the
tanks, and of course the passengers.

The science of flight is called

aeronautics.
Aeronautics
is
all
about how aircraft work. Experts
study everything about flight so
they can design safer, cheaper
aircraft that are better for the
environment.
There are many different kinds of
aircraft.
Airplanes,
gliders,
helicopters and even the space
shuttle are all examples. Each kind
is designed for a particular job.
That is why fighter jets can fly
very fast, rescue helicopters can
hover over one area and large
passenger planes can carry heavy
loads.
Humans have been fascinated with
flight for thousands of years.
However, a long time ago we learned
that it was not as simple as just
copying birds or building balloons.
Balloons can fly, but what happens
when you let go of the string? One
strong gust of wind and away it
blows, out of control. We had to
learn about things like airflow and
how certain air forces can help
heavy objects move through the air.
There are four forces in action
when an aircraft flies. These are
called
lift,
thrust,
drag
and
weight.
Lift is the force that pushes the
airplane up as the air flows over
the wings - just like a baseball cap
will fly off your head when you run.
Weight works against this force.
Heavier objects need more lift. If
you were wearing a heavy helmet,
you'd have to run pretty fast before
it blew off. But if it had a long
visor sticking out, it would blow
off sooner. This is why heavy planes
have longer wings that stick out to
get more lift.
Thrust is the force that pushes
the plane forward. Engines on the
aircraft make this force, just like
muscles in a baseball pitcher's arm
thrust the ball toward the batter.
Drag works against this force. When
an object moves through the air, the

Credit: NASAs Future Flight Design

THE FOUR FORCES OF FLIGHT

Label the airplane with four forces of flight.

1. What factors affect the weight of an aircraft?

2. How is lift generated? What factors affect lift?

3. What factors affect drag?

4. How is thrust generated?

What happens if these four forces are balanced?

What happens if these four forces are unbalanced?

OBSERVATIONS 1
Design a paper airplane with your company and test it out. Make
adjustments as you see fit.
What adjustments did you make to your design? Why?

What features seem to affect the performance of paper airplanes?

ROLL, PITCH AND YAW

Label the pictures with the three motions of flight.

1. ____________________________

2. __________________________________

3. ___________________________________

PARTS OF AN AIRPLANE
Match the airplane parts to their function.
______1. ailerons

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.

______2. elevator
______3. rudder
______4. wings
______5. flaps
______6. fuselage
______7. vertical stabilizer
______8. winglet
______9. horizontal stabilizer
Label the parts of the airplane.

generates lift
reduces drag
changes roll
changes pitch
changes lift
holds things together
controls pitch
changes yaw
controls yaw

OBSERVATIONS 2
With your company, build your assigned paper airplane using the
materials and instructions given. Become experts on your design.
Conduct test flights and make adjustments as you see fit.
____________________________________
paper airplane design name

What advice would you give to someone trying to build and fly your
airplane?

What are the advantages of this design? What does your plane do
particularly well?

AIR OLYMPICS EVENT SPECIFICATIONS

Title of Event:
Brief Description:

What are the rules for the participants?

How many trials is each participant allowed?

________________________

What type of quantitative data will you collect? _____________________

(e.g., counts, distances, times)
What equipment is needed? ____________________________________________
How will you determine a winner?
______________________________________________________________________
What are the roles of each member of your company during the event?

Draw a diagram of the area needed for the event. Include a location
for the judges, pilots and bystanders.

_____________________________________
Teacher Signature of Approval

RECORD THE RESULTS

Record the trials of your Air Olympics event in a data table similar
to the one shown below.
Example: Title of Event
Airplane 1

Airplane 2

Airplane 3

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3

SHARE THE RESULTS

Construct a bar chart to display the results of your Air Olympics
event. Your bar chart should include the following:

Include the title of the event.

Label the y-axis with appropriate units.
Arrange the airplane models in your bar chart so first place is
on the left and last place is on the right.
Label each bar with its corresponding airplane model name along
the x-axis.
Draw your final bar chart on piece of typing paper. Use rulers
for straight lines.
Add color and images to make your display unique.

10

Title of Event
16

14

12

10

units

0
Airplane 1

Airplane 2

11

Airplane 3

3-2-1 Blastoff!
List 3 specific things you learned about airplanes, 2 challenges you
faced while working as a team to design paper airplanes and compete in
the Air Olympics, and 1 question you still have about airplanes.

12

One
Questio
n

Two Challenges

Three Lessons

13