Summary

Print Settings

Printer:

Rafts:

Supports:

Resolution:

Infill:

Notes:

How I Designed This

The progression of body designs. Some were broken along the way (too thin).

Overview and Background

I am a pilot. I have loved airplanes since I was old enough to talk. I have built hundreds of model planes, some fly some just look pretty. We need more young people interested in aerospace! So, I set out to design a project to make a practical exploration of wing design by making rubber band gliders with wings that can easily be replaced and tested with new designs.

Objectives

• Learn about aerodynamic forces - lift, drag, weight, thrust
• Learn about flight
• Learn about wing design.

Skills Learned (standards)

• MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (HS-ETS1-1), (HS-ETS1-2), (HS-ETS1-3), (HS-ETS1-4)
• RST.11-12.9 - Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

References

• http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/wing_design_k-12.pdf
• http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/glider_physics.html

Lesson Plan and Activity

Lesson / Activity
Step 1 - Background Knowledge

• Discuss aerodynamic forces
• Discuss how wings work.
• Discuss / show paper wing demonstration (paper taped together around a pencil and blow).
• Discuss air resistance and friction.
• Discuss center of gravity and how that relates to glider performance.
• Discuss different styles of wings: rectangular, elliptical, swept (forward and rear), and delta
• Print and use one or more of the gliders for visual aid.
• Have students develop ideas on what wings are going to work better

Step 2 - Design and/or build
Option 1:

• Have students design a set of wings and print them.
• The wing root has a 2.4mm square design ~18mm long, the wing will need an inside 3mm square ~20mm long to slip onto the root.

Option 2:

• Print one or all the wings I have in the thing files.

Option 3:

• As a class design a consensus set of wings and print it. (Maybe as an addon to Option 2.)

Option 4:

• Let students modify or design their own body and wings.

Step 3 - Practical testing
Option 1:

• Assemble the glider. Left wing slipped onto the root & Right wing slipped onto the root.
  Photos below
  Left Wing -> Body <- Right Wing
  SAFETY NOTE: always be aware of what is down range
• Setup range
• Perform a repeatable scientific collection of data: Launch gliders with same angle, same direction, into same wind conditions.
• Measure the distance to landing. (option to layout a landing grid ahead)
• Record all data in a table of distances.
• Repeat above for so each wing design launches the same number of times.

Option 2:

• Do above with an iterative design process where students design a new set of wings and test those also.

Step 3 - Calculations

• Have students evaluate their data for any trends and come up with the average distance their wing design was able to achieve.
• Graph class wide data and determine which wing design, if any, was the best and why?

Step 4 - Review

• Discuss why we got the results we got.
• Discuss how students think they could do the experiment differently.

Rubric

• What are the aerodynamic forces?
• How does a wing work?
• What is helping our design be more aerodynamic?
• What is creating resistance for our designs?
• How does friction (drag) apply to gliders?
• What is center of gravity and how can the wings affect it?

Tips and Tricks

• I spent many many revisions on the body trying to get a nice flight with a correct center of gravity
• Weight of the wings matters GREATLY.
• The wing root has a 2.4mm square design ~18mm long, the wing will need an inside 3mm square ~20mm long to slip onto the root.
• Watch the video and note how I hold the rubber band and launch the glider. I had a group of elementary and middle school kids play with them and they tried everything, but kept coming back to me to learn my way to launch them
• The glider can put a dent in your dry wall!

Materials Needed

Accessories
The following materials and items can be helpful with this project.

• rubber bands
• long tape measure, roll wheel, or GPS and an app for measuring could get close enough in the right hands.
• tape (if your wings are prone to fall off)
• open space to launch (foot ball field, greenway, gym, use good judgement!)
• calipers, rule, or tape to measure smaller things (if you are doing design-builds)
• SAFETY GEAR

Assets
I have included the body.f3d fusion 360 design files in the thing files. Modifications for other wing sizes or body designs could be made.

• body.f3d
• wing_test1.f3d
• wing_test2.f3d
• wing_test3.f3d
• wing_test4.f3d

Project: Rubber Band Gliders

Assembly: Left wing -> Body <- Right wing