Lesson Name: The Principles of Flight

Target Grade-Level: 5th - 8th grade

Materials: The Principles of Flight Guide, Worksheet, Balsa Airplane Kit

General Description: An introduction to the basics principles of heavier-than-air, fixed-wing aircraft flight.

Objective: To foster an understanding of the basic components of an airplane, the forces exerted on an airplane in flight, and the function of control surfaces in controlled flight.

Materials: The lesson provides a balsa glider kit with repositionable tabs to simulate airplane control surfaces, allowing a student to experiment with different control configurations to adjust the glider’s flight path. The lesson includes a worksheet for students to record flight characteristics of the glider in different control surface configurations.

THE PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT LESSON

Description

From the dawn of mankind humans have hurled objects into the air and watched as they succumbed to gravity and returned to earth. The first kite is believed to have been invented in 5th century B.C. in China, but it wouldn’t be until the 19th century that humans began to understand the physics behind heavier-than-air flight. The Principles of Flight Lesson describes the three-dimensional motion of a fixed-wing aircraft in flight: pitch (rotation around a side to side axis), yaw (rotation about the vertical axis) and roll (rotation about the nose to tail axis) and allows students to experiment with a balsa glider’s sustaining surfaces and control surfaces to control the glider’s flight path. Students apply removable tabs, to the glider to replicate the function of an airplane’s rudder, elevators, and ailerons and record the resultant changes in the performance of their glider. Through this hands on process of experimentation and recordation of results, students will achieve a better understanding of aircraft control.