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Objective:
Instructional Objectives:
Research Questions:
5. What is a ratio?
a. 8:4
b. 10:5
c. 4:1
a. 1:2
b. 0:5
c. 10:1
e. The glider must have good creative design and use of materials.
Release Point:
The glider will be launched from the top of the stairs in the courtyard.
Research
The Glide Slope Ratio
Glide Slope is a number that indicates how well your designed shoebox
glider
flies through the air in terms of its forward distance vs. its drop in
altitude.
Another way to think of this is to ask, how far did the glider travel
forward for
For example: You released your Shoebox Glider from atop a 10-foot
high ladder.
50/10 = 5/1 = 5 The glider flew forward 5 feet for every 1-foot drop in
altitude.
Basics
Orville and Wilbur Wright built their airplanes over one hundred years
ago. After a lot of testing and experimentation, they made several
successful flights. By today's standards, their designs were simple, but
they discovered a lot about aircraft design and aerodynamics. Now you
have the chance to learn some of these same lessons for yourself. First,
let's look at the parts of a plane.
Wings
For your project, your glider will likely only have the first two things- the fuselage
and the wings. You probably noticed that the above list does not include an engine.
A glider, by definition, has no engine. So what makes it fly? We'll get to that in just a
minute...
Fuselage
Wings
Propeller
Engine
Control Surfaces
Landing Gear
So now let's get back to how airplanes fly. As you can probably guess, the way a
propeller airplane flies is a bit different than the way a glider flies. In both cases,
however, it's all about the forces! Four forces act on propeller airplanes: weight, lift,
drag, and thrust.
On the other hand, only three forces act on a glider: weight, lift, and drag.
Image from NASA
Once a glider is launched, it will gradually slow down until it can no longer generate
enough lift to oppose its weight. A well-designed glider, however, can stay aloft for a
long period of time and fly great distances by taking advantage of lift and lessening
the effects of weight and drag. Propeller airplanes on the other hand can depend on
their propeller and engine- and the resulting thrust- to keep them aloft. One of their
main limits is their fuel supply, which powers the engine and propeller in the first
place! (It's also good for propeller planes to consider the effects of the other forces,
since this can make the propeller and engine work more efficiently.)
How can you use what you know about the forces acting on your plane to make it fly
better? You might want to consider the following:
Weight
o Will a heavy plane or a light plane be more
effective?
Center of gravity
Wing design