Focus on Education - 2004/05

164
THIS MONTH’S COLUMN is a little
different. It’s a team-oriented product review
from Scott Hill’s seventh grade class at Indian
Springs Middle School in Indiana. Scott is one
of those teachers who knows the value of
model aviation in the classroom.
Congratulations to him and his entire class
on a job well done!
—Jack Frost
Seventh grade students from Indian Springs
Middle School built an RC airplane from a kit
containing die-cut pieces of wood. The work
was completed in 30-minute intervals in a
period of nine weeks.
These students had no building experience
prior to this activity. All of the construction is
student-generated with the exception of
covering the model. The covering job allowed
the teacher the opportunity to hide some of the
subtle mistakes made during construction.
The following review was written by the
student builders.
“Rudder/Stabilizer: Russell, Brett, Adam
T., Kory, and Adam H. helped build the
rudder/stabilizer. The first thing that we did
was to get our plans and put waxed paper on
them so that we wouldn’t get glue or
accelerant on them.
“We pinned down the leading edge of the
rudder and the trailing edge of the stabilizer.
We had to glue in between each of the strips
and then pin them down.
“The next thing we did in the construction
of the rudder/stabilizer was put jigs on the
plans so that we could laminate the rudder
with balsa strips. We had to make sure that we
did not glue to the jigs because we removed
them later.
“We had to glue the braces in the alreadylaminated
rudder/stabilizer to add sturdiness.
Adam H. sanded the laminated balsa strips
until they were rounded. Then we cut the
stabilizer from the rudder. Kory then cut a
notch for the elevator to fit in.
“Elevator/Stabilizer: Brian and John built
the elevator/stabilizer for the back of the
airplane. First, we had to put down and fasten
the die-cut molding jigs to the plans. Then we
had to get the supporting mainframe parts
together—mostly balsa—but there was one
piece of basswood.
“Once the supporting mainframe was
together, we had to put the outer shaping
frame together. John used a small bucket of
water to wet the thin pieces of balsa and bend
them around the molding jigs. We had to glue
each piece of balsa inch-for-inch to each other
or it would pop apart easily.
“After this, we took out the molding jigs.
This caused some of the wood to start to
deform, so we put the jigs back in until the
next day. When we took the jigs out the next
day, it was perfect.
“We then began to put the ribs in. This
was hard because of the angles of the wood.
This process took three days. A lot of the ribs
fell out in the finishing, sanding, smoothing,
and patching process.
“Overall this whole thing took two weeks.
The basswood was the hardest to cut.
“Fuselage: Mike, Brandon B., and Zach
built the fuselage. The body was pretty hard
but it was fun. The hardest part was when we
glued the body together.
“When it was time to sheet the bottom,
things got tricky. The other bad part was
decorative braces on the top and the sides.
They kept breaking and snapping apart.
“The engine firewall was hard because the
body wouldn’t bend. We had to have help
holding it together while the epoxy dried.
“The body needed to be sanded in many
spots for some of the formers to fit. Mr. Hill
claimed that the glue would show through the
covering.
“Building the airplane was a fun and
challenging thing to do. It was one of the most
fun times of our lives. We hope the airplane
will fly.
“Servo Installation: Kory worked on
installing the servos and radio gear.
“I had to get the servos for the Old Timer
then I had to pilot the holes for the servo
screws. Next I had to use a Philips
screwdriver to screw in the screws. After I
screwed in the screws I had to route the servo
cords through the die-cut servo tray to the
receiver. Then I installed the pushrods and
centered the rudder and elevator.
“Wing: Aaron, Brandon P., and Blake
built the wing. First we punched out the ribs
then we pinned the main spar on to the plans
over the center wing panel.
“We positioned the W1 though W4 ribs
onto the spar then lined up the W1 ribs behind
the 21/4-inch holes. We cut 6-inch balsa sticks
and glued them to the front of the wings,
making sure it was glued on straight.
“Blake and Aaron used the sanding bar to
round the front edge wing sheet. Then we
pinned the strip of balsa flush against the
trailing edge. We pinned the main spar to the
right wing. I positioned all the ribs on to the
main spar then positioned the top spar to the
ribs.
“We cut and pinned the trailing edge to the
plans, glued the front wing sheet on, then
sanded it smooth. We cut and glued the top
center sheeting to the ribs. Then we put the
wingtip together, making sure the tips were
straight.
“We joined the right wing panel to the
center panel then filled the thin cracks with
micro-fill.
“Aaron thought this airplane was an
excellent one to build.
“Flying (according to Mr. Hill): during the
Christmas break, I took the airplane to a flying
site and tested it without the gallery pressure. I
have learned that students expect the airplane
to start immediately and fly without any
trimming.
“It also can be hard to takeoff and land
with a crowd following you all over the field.
It can also be quite disheartening to crash the
students’ hard work right before their eyes.
“This airplane flies like you would expect
an airplane to fly without ailerons, which can
be enjoyable and relaxing for an experienced
pilot. It can also be nerve racking to a pilot
connected to an inexperienced student on a
buddy cord.
“The instructor should make sure that the
throws are set on the lowest setting for the
student’s buddy box; however, the throws
need to be set to the highest setting on the
instructor’s transmitter. The students tend to
panic on the sticks and over react.
“These students flew a few times on a
trainer and spent quite a few hours on a
simulator. I would suggest building something
with ailerons when attempting to build and fly
a model; however, this model was very
rewarding to build based on the finished
looks.
“The students were quite pleased with the
results and proud of the finished product.”
Focus on Education
Jack Frost
AMA Education
Coordinator
Tel.: (765) 287-1256
Ext. 274
[email protected]
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