Balsa Aircraft Challenge!

Thanks for a great experience with our Glider Challenge. This was a new project for our curriculum so we learned a lot implementing it.


Please complete the following to capture your experience with this project on your online portfolio (blog):


1) Provide a breif description of the activity. Who did you work with? What did you build? What challenges did you overcome to succesfully craft your aircraft?

2) Post a photo of your glider under construction.

3) Post a photo of your finished design.

4) Describe how you tested your aircraft and tuned its flight characteristics.

5) Describe how well your aircraft flew in our competition. Did you win any events (furthest distance, longest time aloft)? Were you competative in our best decorated flier competition?

6) Pick three steps from the PLTW 12 step design process and describe how your team worked through these during the course of this experience.

First!

Sammy showing off his glider, the first one I've seen completed. Nice job!:

Glider Challenge: 2nd Period

Glider Challenge Design Phase revisited for 2nd Period! Click here!

The Firing Line

3rd Period ready to fly!:

The Usual Suspects

Period 4 gliders ready to go:

Gliding High

A music video to celebrate "Launch Day" for the first annual Glider Challenge. We've talked about how to "engineer" a good story. Does this video tell one?:



This song was a pop hit in Europe about the time that young Captain Olson was stationed on the "frontier". It recieved a lot of radio, music video and club play generating the artists/record label/royalty holders a nice paycheck.

How did the producers create the distinctive "hook" on this record? Does this Chaka Khan song sound familiar? What technology would Stardust have used to craft this tune?

Glider Challenge: Deliverables

Post the following to your online portfolio:

1) An image of your completed glider design.

2) Your Glider Challenge: Design Phase notes.

3) Your Glider Challenge: Test Phase notes.

4) Your Glider Challenge competition day results. How did your glider perform? What would you change if we competed again?

Glider Challenge: Test Your Prototype!

Before you're ready to "compete" with your glider, you probably want to try your design out and see how it goes. Use this 4 Quadrant format for collecting notes.

What did you learn from your test flight (post your 4 Quadrant Feedback notes for each iteration of your testing)?

What are your goals for your glider and how did you adjust your design in order to help it better meet them?

Glider Fabrication

Some of our teams in progress on their glider builds.

First?

I think Jake and his team were the first across three classes to complete a glider for the Glider Challenge:

Glider Challenge: Design Phase

1) What's the challenge?

2) Brainstorm solutions:
-What are the rules of brainstorming? (oxymoron)
-List your ideas
-Sketch at least two of them

3) Specify:
-Criteria
-Constraints (be specific about materials available)

4) Develop Solutions:
-Sketch (with labels)
-Model in CAD (Engineering Design courses only)

5) "Prototype the Prototype"
-You can only build once with your balsa/tissue paper materials. Use paper-aircraft to test your ideas. Each memeber of your team will build a paper airplane.